Recap NBL1 West | Round 2 Friday

Sami Whitcomb hit nine three-pointers in a big Rockingham Flames win in Friday's NBL1 West while Rockingham's men overcame the Mandurah Magic in a dramatic overtime clash and the Warwick Senators came from 19 points down to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks.

The four women's matches on Friday night saw the Rockingham Flames beat the Mandurah Magic 96-52 while the Warwick Senators defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks 72-67, the Cockburn Cougars downed the South West Slammers 101-45 and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns beat the East Perth Eagles 104-101.

Then the men's contests saw Rockingham beat Mandurah 125-116 in overtime while Warwick defeated Perry Lakes 93-92, South West downed Cockburn 89-77, and East Perth beat the Eastern Suns 99-83.

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RECAP NBL1 WEST | ROUND 1 THURSDAY

WOMEN

Mandurah Magic (52) lost to Rockingham Flames (96)

The Rockingham Flames added in two more key players and put in a dominant showing to beat local rivals the Mandurah Magic 96-52 on the road to open Round 2 on Friday night.

The Flames shot out of the blocks at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre with the game's first nine points as their star-studded team came out ready to make a statement to back up their opening night 59-point win against the South West Slammers.

Rockingham added Georgia Pineau and Jess Jakens into the line-up too which already included former league MVP's Sami Whitcomb and Alex Sharp along with Emma Gandini, Nes'eya Parker-Williams, Opal Mader and Shani Amos.

It was a Magic team still awaiting the arrival of trio Nicole Fransson, McKenna Dale and Sam Roscoe as well with the Flames showing no mercy as the night unfolded.

Rockingham ended up leading 24-5 by the end of the first quarter and eventually the lead got out to as much as 59 points in the final period before settling at 54 with the Flames having now won their opening two games of the season by a combined 113 points.

The Flames ended up shooting 45 per cent from the field to 26 from the Magic while Rockingham went 17/32 from downtown to 3/19 from Mandurah.

Sami Whitcomb delivered 31 points, four steals and three assists while draining 9/16 from behind the three-point line.

Alex Sharp added 19 points and 12 rebounds with Georgia Pineau adding 12 points, six boards, four assists, four steals and two blocks, Sophie Doran seven points and six assists, and Nes'eya Parker-Williams six points, eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.

Tiana Palmer was Mandurah's only player to score in double-digits with 12 points and two assists with Casey Mihovilovich finishing with eight points and four assists, Bree Mullenax eight points and five boards while Emma Klasztorny and Rachel Halleen both collected eight rebounds.

The Flames back up on Sunday to host the Goldfields Giants while the Magic are on the road on Saturday night to the Perth Redbacks at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.

MANDURAH MAGIC 52 (Palmer 12, Mihovilovich 8, Mullenax 8)

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 96 (Whitcomb 31, Sharp 19, Pineau 12)

Warwick Senators (72) defeated Perry Lakes Hawks (67)

The Warwick Senators scored the last seven points of the game on their home floor to come from behind and beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 72-67.

Both teams were coming off opening night victories last Thursday with the Senators beating the East Perth Eagles while the Hawks hammered the Kalamunda Eastern Suns by 79 points setting up Friday night's contest at Warwick Stadium.

The Senators took control of the contest in the second quarter outscoring the Hawks 25 points to 13 to go into the half-time break on top 46-33.

The lead for Warwick grew to as much as 18 points in the third stanza but then Perry Lakes began to whittle that deficit down and by the time Grace Stone connected on a couple of free-throws with just over 2:30 to go, it was the Hawks leading 67-65.

However, from that point it was all the Senators and they would score the last seven points of the contest including a huge go ahead three-pointer from new recruit Isabelle Miotti.

Import forward Karly Murphy then pulled down an offensive rebound and scored on the put back to stretch the lead to three before Perth Lynx WNBL guard Chloe Forster iced the game at the foul line for the Senators.

Forster finished the game with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals with Miotti adding 13 points and six rebounds, Stacey Barr 12 points, nine assists, six boards and four steals, and Murphy 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Ash Isenbarger put up 19 points and 11 rebounds for Perry Lakes in the 222nd game of her career with Maddy Dennis adding 14 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals, and Grace Stone 13 points and six rebounds.

The Senators back up on the road to the East Perth Eagles on Saturday while the Hawks are at home to the Rockingham Flames next Friday at 6:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App.

WARWICK SENATORS 72 (Forster 16, Miotti 13, Barr 12, Murphy 12)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 67 (Isenbarger 19, Dennis 14, Stone 13)

South West Slammers (45) lost to Cockburn Cougars (101)

The defending champion Cockburn Cougars kept on winning to start their title defence with Alex Ciabattoni starring in the 101-45 road win over the South West Slammers.

Cockburn arrived at Eaton Recreation Centre on Friday night having won seven straight against the Slammers by an average of more than 56 points, and unfortunately for South West it was more of the same.

While the Cougars were still without reigning Grand Final MVP Steph Gorman and import pair Daniel Raber and Maria Blazejewski, they did welcome back experienced Perth Lynx WNBL guard Alex Ciabattoni.

Ciabattoni was also a player-coach at the Slammers last season so made her Cougars debut against her former team and she formed quite the potent back court combination with Jewel Williams.

Already by quarter-time and Cockburn had opened up a 27-11 advantage with the lead growing to 53-23 by the half-time interval.

The Cougars advantage was 38 points by three quarter-time and then Cockburn outscored South West 23 points to five in the fourth quarter to claim the eventual 56-point win to make it eight consecutive wins dating back to last season.

Ciabattoni delivered 26 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in her first game for the Cougars with Williams producing another 23 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Centre Jessie Edwards also had 15 points and 10 rebounds with Jaya Scafidi contributing 12 points, nine boards, four steals and three assists, and Abbey Hall 11 points and three rebounds.

The Slammers have now lost their last 34 matches and 75 of the last 76 overall with import forward Yasmeen Smith top-scoring with 14 points.

Former Cougar Zaya Black had 10 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three steals but their other import Chervelle Cox struggled with one point and three rebounds in 18 and-a-half minutes.

The Slammers have another tall challenge on the road on Saturday to the Joondalup Wolves at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Cougars don't play again until next Saturday at home to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 45 (Smith 14, Black 10, Vincent 8)

COCKBURN COUGARS 101 (Ciabattoni 26, Williams 23, Edwards 15)

Kalamunda Eastern Suns (104) defeated East Perth Eagles (101)

The East Perth Eagles came ever so close to pulling off a stunning come from behind win but the Kalamunda Eastern Suns held firm to win a high-scoring thriller 104-101.

Both teams were coming off disappointing losses last Thursday night with the Suns losing to the Perry Lakes Hawks by 79 points while the Eagles went down to the Warwick Senators by 15 as they locked horns to open Round 2 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

It was Kalamunda who were in control of the contest most of the evening on their home floor. The Eastern Suns were leading 30-26 by quarter-time before stretching that advantage to 15 during the second quarter.

That lead was as much as 17 in the fourth period with three minutes to go, but the Eagles weren’t about to go down without throwing everything at a miracle fightback.

East Perth was able to score the next six points including a triple from Tessa Morrison and then when Laci Hawthorne scored on a turnaround jumper with 1:40 on the clock, the Eagles had produced a 12-1 run and cut the deficit to six.

The Eagles had all the momentum by that stage and Hawthorne scored again with just over a minute to play to make it a five-point ball game after Bri Bailey drew the charge on Jaymee Firkins up the other end.

Olivia Berry then missed a pair of free-throws to keep East Perth in the contest but three-point attempts from Taylor Roberts and Morrison wouldn’t fall, but still the game had another turn.

Morrison hit a triple and then Roberts scored inside the arc to make it a one-point ball game and in the end Tiahna Sears hit two clutch free-throws for Kalamunda.

That only left East Perth the chance with a prayer at the buzzer that wouldn’t fall and the Eastern Suns held on to win a dramatic contest by three points.

The Suns finished with 28 turnovers but they did shoot 52 per cent from the field and made 25/34 at the foul line with Tiahna Sears delivering 23 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists.

Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant also had 20 points, six rebounds and three blocks with Tessa Marsh adding 11 points, Ashleigh Cole nine points and three rebounds, Ella Fotu nine points and six assists, Abby Rothnie eight points and two assists, and Olivia Berry eight points and four assists.

Laci Hawthorne produced a huge performance for East Perth with 36 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals on 15/23 shooting from the field.

Mary Baskerville also had 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals, Taylor Roberts 13 points and four steals, Tessa Morrison 11 points and seven assists, Mary Goulding 10 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Sarah Allen 10 points and seven assists.

The Eagles play their first home game back at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Saturday night at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Eastern Suns are next in action next Saturday away to the Cockburn Cougars.

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 104 (Sears 23, McGhee-Pleasant 20, Marsh 11)

EAST PERTH EAGLES 101 (Hawthorne 36, Baskerville 16, Roberts 13)

MEN

Mandurah Magic (116) lost to Rockingham Flames (125)

Mandurah and Rockingham put on quite the remarkable show and while the Magic were on top most of the way, once the Flames got it to overtime they proved too strong to win 125-116.

Just the fact that the two teams combined to score 231 points while shooting 34/76 from three-point range between them, and coming up with big play after big play, and it was quite the show between the local rivals at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

Mandurah added new import Joel Murray into the line-up that lost to Cockburn to open the season last Thursday and the first quarter set the tone for the evening with scores tied by quarter-time at 32-32.

The Magic managed to score 12 straight points in the second quarter to open up an 11-point edge and that saw the home team go into half-time leading 62-54.

Mandurah maintained a lead throughout most of the second half too and were still up by six with seven minutes to go, and by four with six to play after a three-pointer from Lachlan Bertram.

Finishes at the rim from Travis Durnin and Gorjok Gak then saw Rockingham tie scores up to set up the dramatic finish.

Two-time MVP Devondrick Walker broke the deadlock with a huge three with a 1:30 to play but Michael Durr finished on a putback for Mandurah to bring it back to a one-point game.

Gak then missed a couple of free-throws for the Flames but Murray did the same for the Magic to only see the tension continue to build. Then on the defensive rebound, Durnin's pass in the back court to Walker went out of bounds for the Magic to get the ball back.

It proved costly too with Murray scoring to put the home team back in front but then Walker scored directly up the other end with Rockingham still up one.

Off-season recruit Jarrod Molnar showed his big shot mentality with a huge three for the Magic to restore a two-point lead but it was back to a one-point game with a foul called on Mandurah before Rockingham inbounded the ball.

Ryan Godfrey made the free-throw and then Walker was fouled going to the basket, and made one at the stripe, and that saw the game into overtime.

It was in the extra period where Rockingham took control outscoring Mandurah 16 points to seven to claim the nine-point win after quite the contest.

Dynamic duo Devondrick Walker (31 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals on 6/11 three-point shooting) and Gorjok Gak (31 points, nine rebounds on 12/16 shooting) came up huge for the Flames.

Travis Durnin also produced 21 points and 14 rebounds with Ryan Godfrey adding 20 points and nine assists, and Justin Beard 13 points and seven rebounds with Quintin Dove to still come in.

It might have been a ninth straight loss for Mandurah dating back to last year, but there was a lot to like with Jarrod Molnar putting up 32 points and five assists on hitting 6/9 from downtown.

Michael Durr also had 26 points, 15 rebounds and four assists, Joel Murray 27 points, seven assists, six rebounds and five steals, Lachlan Bertram 17 points on 5/10 shooting from deep, and captain Chad Miegel 10 points with 3/6 three-point shooting.

The Magic are now on the road to the Perth Redbacks at 7pm local time on Saturday via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Flames host the Goldfields Giants on Sunday at 11am.

MANDURAH MAGIC 116 (Molnar 32, Murray 27, Durr 26)

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 125 (Walker 31, Gak 31, Durnin 21)

Warwick Senators (93) defeated Perry Lakes Hawks (92)

The Warwick Senators dug deep and pulled off a stunning comeback victory hitting back from a 19-point deficit to the Perry Lakes Hawks to snatch the 93-92 win at Warwick Stadium.

Both teams were coming off first up wins last Thursday with the Senators getting 73 points from Michael Harris and Todd Withers against East Perth while Perry Lakes won a tight one on the road to the Eastern Suns.

That set the stage for Friday night's battle at Warwick Stadium and it was Dequan Abrom who came out shooting daggers in his second game with the Hawks after playing the last two seasons at the Mandurah Magic.

Perry Lakes raced out to a 15-point lead and up to that stage Abrom had 11 of the 26 points for the Hawks including a couple of three-point bombs and converting a four-point play.

That Hawks lead was out to a game-high 19 points in the third quarter as well but the Senators weren’t done yet even though it was still a 14-point ball game with 5:30 to play after a triple from Luke Phillips.

From there, the Senators got on a roll and a couple of strong buckets to Brody England were a catalyst, as was a three-point play from Todd Withers and then four quick points to Tyler Shand.

Michael Harris then stole it from Jaylen Key and scored on the turnover to make it a one-point game. Warwick forced another turnover and this time Withers scored for the go-ahead bucket.

The Senators closed the game with a 19-4 run in just over the last five minutes to complete the staggering one-point win on their home floor.

Perhaps most impressive for Warwick was the fact they didn’t have to rely on Michael Harris and Todd Withers this time and there is still Zac Gattorna to come into the team.

Instead, George Pearl came up huge with 21 points and five rebounds with Brody England adding 17 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, and Tyler Shand 10 points, five boards and four steals.

Then there was still solid contributions from Harris (18 points, five assists, four steals, three rebounds) and Withers (15 points, seven boards).

Dequan Abrom finished with 34 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals for Perry Lakes with Luke Phillips adding 15 points and eight boards, Joel Vaiangina 13 points, and Jaylen Key 11 points and five rebounds.

The Senators back up on Saturday away to the East Perth Eagles at 7pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. Perry Lakes next face the Rockingham Flames at home next Friday.

WARWICK SENATORS 93 (Pearl 21, Harris 18, England 17)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 92 (Abrom 34, L Phillips 15, Vaiangina 13)

South West Slammers (89) defeated Cockburn Cougars (77)

The South West Slammers showed they could be the big improvers this NBL1 West season after an impressive 89-77 home victory against the Cockburn Cougars.

Despite a first up loss last Thursday night on the road to the Rockingham Flames, there was a lot to like from the Slammers as they looked to open their season at home on Friday building on that playing host to the Cougars.

Cockburn did win last Thursday at home to the Mandurah Magic, but the Slammers beat them late last season at Eaton Recreation Centre and were looking to repeat the dose.

The Slammers' cause was helped when the Cougars lost club great Gavin Field to injury five minutes into the contest, but it was still a tight first half with Cockburn narrowly leading 40-39 at the break.

However, South West worked its way on top throughout the second half outscoring the Cougars 50 points to 37 to open up a 12-point lead which was the final margin to open their account for 2024.

The Slammers ended up with six players scoring at least nine points with Manyiel Wugol leading the way with 19 points and three steals while hitting 4/5 from behind the three-point arc.

Alex Holcombe added 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks on 8/12 shooting with Pharell Keats adding 11 points, seven steals, five rebounds and three assists, and Buay Tuach 10 points, six boards, five assists, three steals and two blocks.

Mathiang Muo also had 10 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks in the 104th game of his career in the league with co-captain Cory Richardson contributing nine points.

It was a disappointing loss for the Cougars who had 28 turnovers for the game and shot just 34 per cent from the field despite going 29/40 at the charity stripe.

Rhys Vague top-scored with 23 points and nine rebounds with Kiwi Riley Bensemann putting up 13 points and five boards.

Kyle Armour added 10 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals but the loss of Gavin Field early in the game with Seva Chan still absent proved tough to cover.

The Slammers back up on Saturday away to the Joondalup Wolves at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Cougars are next up at home to the Eastern Suns next Saturday.

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 89 (Wugol 19, Holcombe 18, Keats 11)

COCKBURN COUGARS 77 (Vague 23, Bensemann 13, Armour 10)

Kalamunda Eastern Suns (83) lost to East Perth Eagles (99)

The East Perth Eagles opened their account for 2024 winning 99-83 on the road against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The Suns played host to the Eagles at Ray Owen Sports Centre with both teams attempting to win their first games of the season with Kalamunda having lost to Perry Lakes last Thursday and East Perth went down to the Warwick Senators.

The Eagles welcomed Jerami Grace and Perth Wildcats NBL forward David Okwera into the line-up for the first time this season and while still awaiting the arrival of Lee Roberts and Lukas Milner were closer to full strength.

Despite that, it was the Eastern Suns who started the better on their home floor going on an 11-0 run in the opening period to take an 18-13 advantage by the end of one.

The Eagles responded, though, in the second period going on their own 9-0 run and ended up outscoring the Suns 28-19 to take a 41-37 lead into the main break.

East Perth then took further charge in the second half outscoring Kalamunda 58 points to 46 to lead by as much as 17 and win by 16 to win their first game of 2024.

The most impressive aspect of the Eagles performance was the number of contributors they had and how they overcame having 23 turnovers by shooting 51 per cent and pulling down 55 rebounds including 19 at the offensive end.

Adelaide 36ers NBL guard Sunday Dech put up another 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists with Sebit Reath impressive inside with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

David Okwera also had 19 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three blocks with Sharif Watson contributing 14 points and 10 boards, Jerami Grace nine points, and Taylor Young eight points, nine assists and five rebounds.

Marek Nelson put up 25 points and eight rebounds for the Eastern Suns with Bryan Michaels adding 18 points, three boards and three assists, Brendan Dinardo 15 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Reece Maxwell 13 points and nine boards.

The Eagles will play their first home game at Morley Sport and Recreation against the Senators on Saturday at 7pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Suns next play the Cockburn Cougars on the road next Saturday.

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 83 (Nelson 25, Michaels 18, Dinardo 15)

EAST PERTH EAGLES 99 (Dech 20, Reath 20, Okwera 19)