NBL1 West Recap | Sunday Round 3

Defending NBL1 West and NBL1 Champions the Warwick Senators got their first win of the women's season on Sunday while there were monster men's wins for the Senators and Geraldton Buccaneers.

The lone women's clash on Sunday to close Round 3 in the NBL1 West saw the Warwick Senators beat the Goldfields Giants 85-65.

The Warwick men also defeated Goldfields 92-60 while the Geraldton Buccaneers beat the Cockburn Cougars 124-87.

WOMEN

Reigning champion Senators notch first win of season 

The defending NBL1 West and National Champion Warwick Senators opened their account for the 2023 season beating the Goldfields Giants 85-65 on Sunday.

The Senators romped to the NBL1 West championship last season by winning their last 18 matches before heading to Melbourne and securing the National Championship in style too, but the start to 2023 hadn't been quite as fruitful.

Warwick lost its opening two matches to Kalamunda and Perry Lakes, but hit back on Sunday at Warwick Stadium enjoying having reigning MVP Stacey Barr back in the line-up in the clash with a Giants team fresh off a strong road win to the Lakeside Lightning.

Building on that momentum after winning at Lakeside on Saturday, Goldfields started strongly to lead 24-17 by quarter-time but the Senators turned things around with 22 points to 11 in the second quarter to go into half-time up 39-35.

From there, Warwick was able to pull away outscoring the Giants 46 to 30 in the second half to win by 20 points and open their account in their championship defence.

Fresh off a WNBL season as a development player at the Perth Lynx, Chloe Forster put up 17 points, seven assists, five rebounds and four steals for the Senators with Lynx teammate Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard delivering 13 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.

The returning Barr came off the bench for 12 points and five rebounds with Nat Burton contributing 13 points and six boards, and 442-game veteran Nicole Jorre de St Jorre 11 points and three assists.

Regan Turnour-McCarty top-scored for Goldfields with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals with Olivia Berry contributing 12 points and four assists, and Rachel Kehoe 10 points and six rebounds.

Regan Turnour-McCarty shot that from Kalgoorlie! ?

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MEN

Senators hammer Giants in statement performance

The Warwick Senators had a long wait from Easter Thursday to resume their NBL1 West season and they came out of the blocks firing on Sunday on the way to a 92-60 win against the Goldfields Giants.

The Senators last played back on Easter Thursday with a tight loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks while the Giants came into Sunday's game after a tight loss the previous night to Lakeside in their first road trip of 2023.

The Senators couldn’t have had a better start with Caleb Davis scoring their first nine points with a 9-2 opening. Captain Cody Ellis then hit their next nine points for an 18-7 beginning.

Ellis would end up with 12 points in the opening quarter with the Senators on top 34-15 by quarter-time and the stage was set for the rest of the afternoon with Warwick going on to score the 92-60 victory from there.

Ellis might have only scored three points the rest of the game but still top-scored for the Senators in what was a strong team performance. He had 15 points, four assists, three rebounds and two blocks with Davis adding 12 points and 11 rebounds on 4/10 three-point shooting.

Hussayn Ford played his first game against his old club from last season for Warwick and had 13 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists.

George Pearl added 10 points, 12 boards, six assists and four steals, Tyler Shand 10 points, and Ash Litterick seven points, three rebounds and two assists in the 201st game of his career. 

Michael Dupree top-scored for the Giants with 12 points with Lafonzo Smith contributing nine points and 10 rebounds, Mayo Malek eight points and four boards, and captain Jerome Reid eight points and four rebounds.

Buccs put a hurting on disappointing Cougars 

The Geraldton Buccaneers put a hurting on the Cockburn Cougars reminiscent of the playoffs last year with the Buccs keeping their opponents winless so far in 2023 with Sunday's 124-87 thumping.

Both teams arrived at Wally Hagan Stadium fresh off losses earlier in the weekend with Cockburn remaining winless going down to Lakeside on Friday while the Buccs had lost the night before on the road to Joondalup after last Saturday's loss in Karratha to the Perth Redbacks.

It was the Buccaneers who got the response they wanted, though, as they backed up their 31-point win over the Cougars in the playoffs last year by putting on an even more emphatic performance on Sunday on the road.

It was a dominant showing from the outset by Geraldton with a 30-20 lead already by quarter-time before going into the half-time break on top 67-41. It was more of the same in the second half with the Buccs romping to the 37-point win.

For every bit as good as Geraldton was, the signs were equally as bad for Cockburn who have still not won in the NBL1 West since the end of last regular season, losing in straight sets in the playoffs and now losing the first four games of 2023.

Malik Meunier finished with 33 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Buccaneers while hitting 5/9 from downtown with Shaun Stewart adding 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Zac Gattorna contributed 19 points and five rebounds, Johny Narkle 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Fletcher Klasztorny 10 points and four assists.

Luke Phillips top-scored for Cockburn with 17 points, four rebounds and four assists while hitting 4/5 from downtown. Courtney Alexander II added 12 points and four rebounds, Taj Benning 11 points, three boards and three assists, and Gavin Field 11 points, three rebounds and three steals.

Watch your head? Zac Gattorna is taking up plenty of airspace ?

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— NBL1 (@NBL1) April 16, 2023