NBL1 West Recap | Saturday Round 10

Gavin Field inspired his shorthanded Cockburn Cougars to a memorable Saturday night win in Kalgoorlie while the Cougars women also stayed perfect beating the Goldfields Giants and the Rockingham Flames had two big NBL1 West wins over the South West Slammers.

There were two games on Saturday night in the NBL1 West women with the Cockburn Cougars beating the Goldfields Giants 94-76 and the Rockingham Flames defeating the South West Slammers 109-44.

In the corresponding men’s action, the Cougars beat the Giants 97-85 and the Flames defeated the Slammers 117-62.

NBL1 WEST RECAP | FRIDAY ROUND 10

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WOMEN

Flames make another massive statement

The Rockingham Flames continued their scorching run of form in the NBL1 West by making it two wins inside 24 hours, and eight straight victories to beat the South West Slammers 109-44.

Rockingham made it seven consecutive wins on Friday night by beating the third placed Mandurah Magic ahead of playing host to the winless Slammers at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday.

The Flames kept their momentum going from the outset to put up 28 points to 11 from the Slammers in the first quarter.

Another 35 points to 18 in the second period and Rockingham went into the half-time break leading 63-29. The Flames went on to outscore the Slammers 46 points to 15 in the second half as well to go on to win by 65 points.

The victory is an eighth in-a-row for Rockingham who improves to an 8-3 record while the Slammers slip to 0-11 with them having lost 23 in-a-row and 64 of the last 65.

All 11 players that hit the floor for the Flames made a strong contribution and even though Denae Civich was the only player not to score, she still had eight rebounds.

Casey Samuels top-scored for Rockingham with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists while Opal Mader contributed 18 points and five boards, and Pania Davis 12 points and eight rebounds.

Mehryn Kraker also had 12 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and two steals while Chloe Napolitano 10 points and two boards, and Christina Boag 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Bree Chalk top-scored for the Slammers with 13 points on 4/20 shooting from the field and 0/8 from three-point range. Alexis Donovan added 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Grace Adams nine points and three boards.

Cougars stay perfect after overpowering Garbin’s Giants

The Cockburn Cougars again flexed their considerable muscle to shake off a slightly slow start to produce another empathic performance to beat the Goldfields Giants 94-76 on Saturday night.

The Cougars arrived in Kalgoorlie putting their perfect record this season on the line on the back of beating the Joondalup Wolves for a second time this season last Saturday night.

On the same evening, Australian Opals bronze medal winner Darcee Garbin inspired the Giants to a win over the Perry Lakes Hawks and they were back home at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium this Saturday.

Even though Cockburn did start well enough to lead 13-7 after the first five minutes, Goldfields then did well to hit back to outscore the Cougars 16 points to eight the rest of the quarter.

That saw the Giants lead 23-21 by quarter-time but the Cougars took charge in the second quarter with them doing a terrific job of making life difficult for Darcee Garbin with the defensive effort led by Steph Gorman once again.

The Cougars would score 11 straight points to grab the lead and outscore the Giants 27 points to 18 in the second quarter to go into the half-time break on top 48-41.

Cockburn then blew the game wide open with 27 points to 11 in the third quarter with the lead getting out to as much as 25 points before they would go on to win by 18 in the finish.

The result improves the Cougars to a perfect 10-0 record on the season while the Giants are now 3-9 following the defeat.

Jewel Williams put up 24 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Cougars while draining 5/9 from three-point territory with Jessie Edwards adding 24 points, 12 boards, four assists and two steals.

Sarah Mortensen had another 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists with 16-year-old Amelia Corasaniti scoring nine points in her 15 minutes.

Darcee Garbin still contributed 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the Giants despite the stifling Cougars defence led by Steph Gorman.

Regan Turnour-McCarty top-scored for Goldfields with 21 points, four rebounds and three assists with Kiriana Hawaikirangi 20 points, six boards, five steals and two assists, and Aimee Borchet 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

MEN

Flames with emphatic bounce back weekend

The Rockingham Flames backed up their bounce back win on Friday night by beating the South West Slammers 117-62 on Saturday at home while holding their opponents to just four points in the fourth quarter.

Rockingham came into Round 10 in the NBL1 West on a shock three-game losing slide having not lost in almost a full 12 months, but they hit back on Friday night beating local rivals the Mandurah Magic by 28 points.

They then took on the other southern based team in the competition at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday night and regained some confidence further with the emphatic performance.

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Rockingham led 28-19 by quarter-time before turning it on with 37 points in the second quarter to head into the half-time break leading 65-35.

Then with the Flames still leading by 29 points at three quarter-time, they put their foot down in the fourth term with another 30 points to four to end up winning by 55.

The victory improves Rockingham to a 10-3 record with the two wins this weekend while the Slammers are 2-10 unable to back up last week’s win against Mandurah.

Reigning MVP Devondrick Walker bounced back to form for Rockingham with 26 points, eight rebounds and four assists while knocking down 6/13 from three-point range.

Marshall Nelson added 17 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals, Jeremy Combs 14 points, three boards, three assists and two steals, and Justin Beard 14 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Travis Durnin also had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Rivar Evans 10 points, and Tom Jervis nine points, 15 rebounds and four blocks.

Buay Tuach top-scored for the Slammers with 18 points and six rebounds while hitting 4/7 from downtown. Ben Stevens added 15 points, 15 rebounds and three steals, and Manyiel Wugol nine points, three boards and three steals.

Shorthanded Cougars pull off stunning Kalgoorlie win

Not only did the Cockburn Cougars arrive in Kalgoorlie short on manpower on Saturday night, but then were down double figures before producing a remarkable turnaround to come away with the 97-85 victory.

Goldfields came into the clash at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium rightfully full of confidence following last week’s win over the league-leading Perry Lakes Hawks also on their home floor.

The Giants then played host to a Cougars team missing the injured Seva Chan, Luke Phillips, Hayden Bell and Nathan Pond with one player who could have stepped up in their absence, Charlie Dimmock, unavailable due to being in the United States.

That all meant the odds were significantly stacked against the Cougars but it was 307-game captain Gavin Field who helped them off to a fast start and then kept scores level at 28-28 at quarter-time with him hitting four triples in the opening period.

However, Goldfields began to pull away later in the second quarter leading by as much as 13 points and still being up 54-48 at half-time.

The Giants went back up by 10 during the third quarter and it was going to take something special for Cockburn to turn things around, and that’s exactly what they delivered.

Field caught fire once more for Cockburn to knock down a couple of three-pointers to bring his team back into the contest, and he hit yet another bomb from outside just before three quarter-time.

Young big man Kaidon Sander was then making the most of his opportunities too and scored after the Cougars forced another turnover to help them lead 74-70 going into the fourth.

Cockburn then took charge in the fourth period outscoring Goldfields 23 points to 15 to claim the 12-point win that they will be hoping to transform into some momentum the rest of the season.

Captain Gavin Field finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks for Cockburn while knocking down 8/15 from three-point territory.

Keegan Phillips stepped up for 23 points and eight rebounds with Taj Benning contributing 12 points, five assists and three rebounds, and Josh Hunt 22 points, four rebounds and two assists.

It was a tough loss for Goldfields ahead of them also playing host to the Geraldton Buccaneers on Sunday.

Damon Ballantyne top-scored with 23 points and five rebounds with Lafonzo Smith adding 18 points and nine boards, Mayo Malek 14 points and six rebounds, and Jerome Reid 12 points, seven rebounds and three assists.