NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Men's Preliminary Final

The first team is through to the NBL1 West Men's Grand Final for 2022 and it's the Rockingham Flames who have another shot at making history after overcoming the Warwick Senators on Saturday night.

The first of the NBL1 West Men's preliminary finals took place on Saturday night with the second of them to take place in Geraldton on Sunday between the Geraldton Buccaneers and Joondalup Wolves.

The Flames had booked their place as hosts of the preliminary final by winning their qualifying final against the Wolfpack last week while the Senators won their way into Saturday's clash with a stunning last gasp semi-final win on the road to the Cockburn Cougars on Thursday.

The Senators were still missing captain Cody Ellis for the encounter while the Flames regained superstar guard Marshall Nelson after his time in Europe with the Belgian national team.

However, it was still a hard fought contest all evening at Mike Barnett Sports Complex until Rockingham were able to do enough late to hold Warwick at bay and claim the eventual 85-74 victory.

The result means that the Flames win their way into a second ever Grand Final in the competition as they chase that elusive first championship.

The Flames are already in the Grand Final now next Saturday night at Bendat Basketball Centre. Their opponents will be determined when the Geraldton Buccaneers host the Joondalup Wolves at Active West Stadium on Sunday.

NBL1 WEST – 2022 MEN'S SEASON
PRELIMINARY FINALS – SATURDAY NIGHT

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 85 defeated WARWICK SENATORS 74

The first place in the NBL1 West Men's Grand Final for 2022 went on the line at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday night.

The Rockingham Flames took on the Warwick Senators and with the current and former NBL talent, and quality players and coaches on either side, it was always going to be quite the fascinating contest.

The Flames are coming off losing last year's Grand Final to the Perry Lakes Hawks as they continue to strive for the club's first men's championship, and they put together another strong regular season.

With the additions of Devondrick Walker and Mashall Nelson to a squad still led by Ryan Godfrey, Greg Hire and Tom Jervis, and coached by WNBL Coach of the Year Ryan Petrik, Rockingham had understandably high hopes coming into 2022.

Rockingham went on to finish the regular season in second spot with an 18-4 record and then beat the Joondalup Wolves in a qualifying final to make it eight straight wins and to earn the right to host the preliminary final on Saturday night.

It's been quite the rollercoaster ride throughout 2022 for the Senators who did win the West Coast Classic championship back in 2020.

With Luke Brennan taking over as coach, it's a new-look team in a lot of ways in 2022 but Brennan himself missed a host of matches this year leaving Stephen Charlton to take over while Bryan Michaels, Majok Majok, Kyle Zunic, Corban Wroe, Cody Ellis and Ash Litterick all spent plenty of time and out of the team.

The Senators went on to finish the regular season in fifth position at 14-8 before beating the Perry Lakes Hawks by 32 points in an elimination final last Saturday, and then winning in remarkable fashion at the death on Thursday night in the semi-final against the Cockburn Cougars.

That set the stage for Saturday night's preliminary final with the Flames welcoming back Marshall Nelson from his stint with the Belgian national team while he also overcame a calf injury to be right to play.

Meanwhile, the Senators were still missing captain Cody Ellis but were full of confidence on the back of how they won on the road on Thursday night to get to the preliminary final.

The Flames were able to open up a handy edge late in the first quarter by going on a 10-0 run to lead by as much as 12 points, and to still be up 21-14 by quarter-time.

Rockingham pushed back out to a 12-point lead during the second quarter but Warwick fired back into the contest with some hot shooting from young gun George Pearl to close the half-time deficit to just nine points.

The Senators were able to then build some momentum throughout the third quarter to go on a 9-0 scoring run to briefly grab the lead before three quarter-time.

Scorers were then all tied at 63-apiece heading into the fourth quarter, but Rockingham proved too strong down the stretch with Greg Hire knocking down two late triples as they outscored Warwick 22 points to 11 to end up winning 85-74.

That moves the Flames into a second straight Grand Final at Bendat Basketball Centre on Saturday night where they will face either the Geraldton Buccaneers or the Joondalup Wolves.

Rockingham put in a strong shooting performance to finish up going 51.6 per cent from the field and hitting 12/30 at 40.0 per cent from three-point range. The Senators went at 38.7 per cent from the floor and 28.1 per cent from deep.

MVP Devondrick Walker delivered another 26 points, six rebounds and three assists for Rockingham while he knocked down 5/12 from three-point land.

Tom Jervis put up 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks, Justin Beard 12 points and seven rebounds, Greg Hire eight points and five boards, Travis Durnin seven points and five rebounds, and Ryan Godfrey seven points and five assists.

George Pearl nailed 3/5 from downtown on his way to 20 points and seven rebounds for the Senators with Bryan Michaels contributing 18 points and six boards, and Majok Majok 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

Kyle Zunic added nine points and four assists, Caleb Davis eight points, five rebounds and three assists, and Ash Litterick six points and four boards.