Recap NBL1 West | Round 4 Saturday

There was action everywhere in Saturday's NBL1 West but it was a triple-overtime classic won by Joe Cook-Green and the Perth Redbacks over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns who got 43 points from Bryan Michaels that stole the show.

Saturday night's women's results saw the Perry Lakes Hawks beat the East Perth Eagles 87-79 while the Perth Redbacks defeated the Eastern Suns 107-66, the Warwick Senators downed the Willetton Tigers 95-56, the Joondalup Wolves won 85-69 over the Mandurah Magic, and the Goldfields Giants defeated the South West Slammers 84-64.

The men's fixtures got underway with the Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Lakeside Lightning 89-70.

The Eagles also beat the Hawks 96-69 while the Redbacks won in three overtimes 117-108 over the Eastern Suns, the Tigers defeated the Senators 100-90, the Wolves downed the Magic 107-62, and the Giants beat the Slammers 98-85.

RECAP NBL1 WEST | ROUND 4 FRIDAY

BERTRAM GRATEFUL TO BE LIVING THE DREAM WITH MANDURAH

WOMEN

East Perth Eagles (79) lost to Perry Lakes Hawks (87)

The Perry Lakes Hawks made it the perfect weekend with the 87-79 road win over the East Perth Eagles with Grace Stone putting up 30 points.

Perry Lakes opened Round 4 on Friday night with a 23-point win at home to the Perth Redbacks as they headed to Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Saturday to take on the winless Eagles.

Ash Isenbarger had a career-best 37 points in that win but she wasn’t there on Saturday for the Hawks while East Perth welcomed back Mary Goulding.

Coach Craig Allen inserted her into the starting line-up, but it was the Hawks who got the better of the start opening up a 10-point lead by quarter-time.

The Perry Lakes lead got out to 13 in the second term but East Perth then found its groove and had cut the deficit back to six at half-time.

It set up a fascinating second half and the Eagles even worked their way in front briefly in the fourth quarter after a couple of free-throws to Goulding with just over eight minutes to play.

However, once Stone scored again for Perry Lakes to return the visitors to the lead, that's where the Hawks would stay to end up winning by eight to improve to a 3-2 record with the two wins inside 24 hours this weekend.

Turnovers again proved costly for East Perth with 30 of them a key factor in the Eagles slipping to a 0-5 record despite pulling down 57 rebounds to 29 including 25 at the offensive end to 10.

Grace Stone starred in the win for Perry Lakes with 30 points, seven steals, six rebounds and five assists while hitting 6/14 of her three-point attempts.

Mia Satie added 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals, Maddy Dennis 10 points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and Millie McCarthy 10 points and nine assists.

Mary Goulding was terrific back in the team for East Perth with 25 points and 16 rebounds on 9/15 shooting from the field.

Laci Hawthorne added 12 points and 20 rebounds, Tessa Morrison 12 points, four boards and three assists, and Mary Baskerville 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

The Hawks are away to the Lakeside Lightning on Friday while the Eagles are still chasing that first win on the road to the Willetton Tigers on Saturday.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 79 (Goulding 25, Hawthorne 12, Morrison 12)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 87 (Stone 30, Satie 11, Dennis 10, McCarthy 10)

Perth Redbacks (107) defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns (66)

The Perth Redbacks produced their best performance of the season to win a second game with a dominant showing to beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 107-66.

Both the Redbacks and Eastern Suns came into the contest at Belmont Oasis having just one win on the board so far this season with both having lost on Friday too against the Perry Lakes Hawks and Warwick Senators respectively.

That heightened the stakes for the Round 4 match up and what the Redbacks delivered was their best performance of the season with coach Tim Rendulic up against his former team for the first time as was newly arrived import guard Natalie Chou along with point guard Georgia Denehey.

It proved to be an enjoyable night for the Redbacks who got their second win since the arrival of Perth Lynx WNBL captain Anneli Maley.

The Redbacks raced out to a 15-point lead by quarter-time and never looked back opening up a 31-point lead in the second term, 34 in the third and 41 in the fourth before winning by that 41-point margin to improve to 2-4 on the season.

Shenae Hartree continued her emergence with the Redbacks with 26 points, five rebounds and two steals on 11/18 shooting from the floor.

Anneli Maley added 23 points, 19 rebounds and five assists with Brooke Malone putting up 14 points and six boards, Natalie Chou eight points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Georgia Denehey seven points and five assists.

Mikayla Pirini also dished out 12 assists in the team's biggest win of 2024.

It was a tough night for the Eastern Suns who are now 1-4 with Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant, Olivia Berry, Tiahna Sears and Jaymee Firkins all scoring 10 points.

The Eastern Suns will now host the Willetton Tigers on ANZAC Day starting at 1pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Redbacks are on the road to the Warwick Senators on Saturday.

PERTH REDBACKS 107 (Hartree 26, Maley 23, Malone 14)

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 66 (McGhee-Pleasant 10, Berry 10, Sears 10, Firkins 10)

Willetton Tigers (56) lost to Warwick Senators (95)

The Warwick Senators inflicted some more early season pain on the Willetton Tigers with the 95-56 victory at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

Both teams opened Round 4 on Friday night with Willetton losing on the road to the Rockingham Flames while the Senators beat the Eastern Suns on the road in overtime.

That was a bounce back win for Warwick from going down to Rockingham for its lone loss of the season so far last week, and they came out on a mission against the grand finalists of last year.

Warwick shot out of the blocks with a 10-0 run in the opening quarter before leading by as much as 16 points, and still being up 23-12 by the end of one.

The lead for the Senators continued to grow to 26 points in the second quarter until the Tigers eventually were able to stem the flow with a 9-0 run in the third quarter.

It didn't change the trajectory of the contest, though, with the Senators going on another 11-0 scoring streak to end up leading by 42 in the final period and going on to score the 39-point victory away from home.

After having 27 points the night before, Chloe Forster equalled her career-high with 29 points for the Senators with the Perth Lynx WNBL guard also having 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists on 11/20 shooting from the floor and 3/6 from downtown.

Two-time MVP Stacey Barr also had 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals against her former team while knocking down 7/11 three-pointers.

Karly Murphy added nine points and 12 rebounds, and Nat Burton eight points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals.

The Tigers are now in unfamiliar territory at 1-3 with the defeat with Claire Jacobs finishing with 14 points and five rebounds, Melisa Brcaninovic 11 points, four boards, three assists and two steals, and Desiree Kelley 10 points and four rebounds.

The Tigers will take on the Eastern Suns in the traditional ANZAC Day match up now on Thursday at 1pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Senators will host the Perth Redbacks on Saturday night.

WILLETTON TIGERS 56 (C Jacobs 14, Brcaninovic 11, Kelley 10)

WARWICK SENATORS 95 (Forster 29, Barr 24, Murphy 9)

Joondalup Wolves (85) defeated Mandurah Magic (69)

The Joondalup Wolves maintained their unbeaten start to the season with the 85-69 home victory against the Mandurah Magic.

The Magic were attempting to bounce back from a home loss to the Cockburn Cougars on Friday while the Wolves were fresh and on the back of that were leading 20-16 by quarter-time.

The Wolfpack then pushed further ahead with 33 points to 16 in the second period to go into half-time on top 53-31.

The Joondalup lead grew to 24 in the third quarter and while Mandurah did keep fighting, the Wolves still ended up winning by 16 to improve to 4-0 for the season after the opening four rounds with Emma Clarke still to arrive.

Julia Chandler is settling in nicely with the Wolfpack and delivered 28 points, 10 rebounds and three assists with Darien Huff contributing 18 points and five boards, Jorjah Smith 14 points and six assists, and Sirena Tuitele eight points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Three of Mandurah's most experienced players all had strong nights, but just didn’t get enough help in the finish.

Emma Klasztorny put up 27 points, nine rebounds and two steals on 12/17 shooting in the 259th game of her career, but first against the Wolves this year since returning to the Magic.

The league's games record holder Casey Mihovilovich put up 18 points and eight assists in game No. 559 while Rachel Halleen had 10 points and six rebounds in her 369th appearance.

The Magic will be back home to host the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday while the Wolves are away to the South West Slammers on Saturday.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 85 (Chandler 28, Huff 18, Smith 14)

MANDURAH MAGIC 69 (Klasztorny 27, Mihovilovich 18, Halleen 10)

Goldfield Giants (84) defeated South West Slammers (64)

The Goldfields Giants scored their first win of the season under new coach Jaymi Worthington beating the South West Slammers 84-64.

Both teams came into the contest at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium winless so far in 2024 but the Giants were strengthened with the arrival of Jhazmin Joson while the Slammers headed to Kalgoorlie without second import Chervelle Cox.

It was a spectacular start at home for the Giants opening up an early 18-point lead and they would never look back from there.

Goldfields were still leading 52-34 by half-time and then the advantage blew out to as much as 30 in the second half before the Giants won by 20 to win for the first time in 2024.

Lauren Fech top-scored in the win for the Giants with 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots with Alex Clinch Hoycard adding 17 points, five boards and two assists.

Chloe Zorzi also had 12 points and six rebounds with Ash Sidebottom contributing 16 points and six boards, Anne Zipser nine points and 10 rebounds, and new arrival Jhazmin Joson five points, 10 boards and seven assists.

The Slammers are now 0-4 for the season and going back further lost 36 in-a-row and 77 of the past 78.

Bree Chalk top-scored for South West with 18 points to go with five rebounds with Zaya Black contributing 14 points and six rebounds, and Yasmeen Smith 12 points, nine boards and two steals.

The Giants are down in Perth next Sunday to take on the Redbacks while the Slammers are on the road to the Lakeside Lightning on Friday.

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 84 (Fech 18, Clinch Hoycard 17, Sidebottom 16)

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 64 (Chalk 18, Black 14, Smith 12)

MEN

Geraldton Buccaneers (89) defeated Lakeside Lightning (70)

Geraldton remains one of just two remaining unbeaten teams this season while the Lakeside Lightning are the lone winless side with the Buccs winning 89-70 at home.

The Buccs were back home to Active West Stadium after their road wins to the Slammers and Magic last weekend hosting a Lightning team hunting a first win still of 2024.

Geraldton welcomed former SBL MVP Josh Braun into the line-up for the first time too but it took three quarters for the reigning champs to shake off the Lightning for good.

The Buccaneers did lead by as much as 18 points in the first half, but by half-time the Lightning had done well to cut the deficit back to six.

The margin was then just five at three quarter-time, but Geraldton delivered 26 points to 12 in the final period to end up winning by 19 to improve to 4-0 on the season with the Lightning slipping to 0-4 as the last remaining team without a victory.

Nik DeSantis finished with 24 points, eight assists and five rebounds on 8/11 shooting for the Buccs with 4/4 from downtown.

Johny Narkle added 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks with Fletcher Klasztorny 10 points, four boards and three assists, Aaron Ralph 10 points, four rebounds and two assists, and Liam Hunt eight points, five boards and three assists.

Josh Braun played his first game for the Buccaneers and had nine points on 3/5 three-point shooting in 12 minutes.

Josh Davey finished with 18 points and 19 rebounds for Lakeside with Marshawn Blackmon adding 14 points, six boards and three assists, Dom Jackson nine points, Mike Adewunmi nine points and two steals, and Michael Garbellini eight points, three rebounds and two steals.

The Buccs remain at home to host the Goldfields Giants next Saturday night while the Lightning are home on Friday to the South West Slammers.

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 89 (DeSantis 24, Narkle 12, Ralph 10, Klasztorny 10)

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 70 (Davey 18, Blackmon 14, Jackson 9, Adewunmi 9)

East Perth Eagles (96) defeated Perry Lakes Hawks (69)

You can see the signs of something starting to build at the East Perth Eagles after a first win on their new home floor beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 96-69.

It's been a frustrating 1-3 start to the season for the Eagles coming into Saturday's match up with the Hawks on the Peter Campbell Basketball Arena at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

They missed a golden opportunity last Saturday against the Perth Redbacks and had a whole week to stew over that while the Hawks came into the contest on the back of beating that same Redbacks team on Friday night at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The Eagles threatened to blow the game open early with an 11-point lead but the Hawks responded and were down just one by quarter-time.

East Perth again pushed out to an 11-point advantage in the second period and this time maintained most of it to be leading 42-34 at half-time.

The Eagles then dominated the second half outscoring the Hawks 28 points to 18 in the third stanza, and 26 to 17 in the fourth on the way to the eventual 27-point victory.

The win improves East Perth to a 2-3 record on the season with Perry Lakes now 2-3 as well with the defeat.

The Eagles had a host of strong contributors including Taylor Young delivering 18 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds while Sunday Dech added 18 points, seven boards, six assists and two steals.

Sebit Reath also had 18 points, three rebounds and two assists with David Okwera contributing 14 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and three assists, and Sharif Watson eight points, 11 boards, three assists and three steals.

Dequan Abrom top-scored for Perry Lakes with 12 points to go with three assists with Luke Phillips adding 11 points, five boards and four assists, and Kyiah O'Donohue 11 points and seven rebounds.

The Hawks are next in action away to the Mandurah Magic on Friday night while the Eagles are on the road to the Willetton Tigers on Saturday.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 96 (Reath 18, Young 18, Dech 18)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 69 (Abrom 12, L Phillips 11, O'Donohue 11)

Perth Redbacks (117) defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns (108)

It took a remarkable three overtime periods but in the end Joe Cook-Green helped lift the Perth Redbacks to the 117-108 win against his former Kalamunda Eastern Suns team after 55 minutes.

Cook-Green was coming up against the team he previously played in the league with for the first time and what was to eventuate was quite the incredible contest at Belmont Oasis.

Both teams needed a win too with Perth coming into the game at 1-4 and Kalamunda at 1-3 which only heightened the stakes the longer the game went.

In the end it was Cook-Green along with Miles Gibson who lifted the Redbacks in the third overtime period with Marek Nelson, Jack Exeter and Seb Salinas all having fouled out for the Eastern Suns.

The Eastern Suns shot out of the blocks with a 14-0 run in the first quarter to be leading by 17 at quarter-time, but the Redbacks responded with their own 11-0 run in the second term and it was never a double-figure margin again the rest of the way.

Kalamunda led 47-40 at the half but it was just a three-point ball game by three quarter-time and in the end the ball was in the hands of Bryan Michaels who was on his way to 43 points for the Eastern Suns at the end of regulation.

He did put up a tough contested jumper with the Suns down two, but Marek Nelson was there for the offensive rebound. He tapped it back in and that forced the game to the first overtime.

This time, the Redbacks managed to be up three after an and-one from Miles Gibson, but Rob Huntington scored to bring the Suns back within one, and then after an offensive foul call on Jack Exeter that saw him foul out, the home team had a chance to seal the deal.

However, Cousteau Kyle's three ball didn’t go but up the other end it did for 308-game Kalamunda veteran Reece Maxwell to put the visitors back up by two.

This time it was an offensive rebound and put back from Gibson that levelled scores after he cleaned up the three-point miss from former Sun Joe Cook-Green.

The Eastern Suns had a couple of good looks at the end of the first overtime, but it wasn’t to be and in the second extra period, it came down to a massive triple from Michaels that brought Kalamunda back level late in the piece.

Cook-Green missed one up the other and the game went to a third overtime.

Finally it was in the third extra period where the Redbacks got the job done with Cook-Green and Gibson proving the difference in the eventual nine-point win that gave them a second victory for the season to improve to 2-4.

Joe Cook-Green finished with 34 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the win for the Redbacks with Miles Gibson adding 33 points and 17 rebounds.

Ioannis Dimakopoulos also had 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists with Tevin Jackson contributing 13 points, seven boards and three assists, and Maris Colton 11 points, three boards and two assists.

Bryan Michaels continued his stunning form for the Suns with 43 points, five rebounds and three steals on 13/40 shooting from the field, 6/19 from deep and 11/12 from the free-throw line.

Marek Nelson added 21 points, 17 rebounds and three assists, Jack Exeter 15 points, eight boards and three assists, Reece Maxwell 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Rob Huntington 11 points, six boards and three assists.

The Eastern Suns will now host the Willetton Tigers on ANZAC Day starting at 3pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Redbacks are on the road to the Warwick Senators on Saturday.

PERTH REDBACKS 117 (Cook-Green 34, Gibson 33, Dimakopoulos 19)

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 108 (Michaels 43, Nelson 21, Exeter 15)

Willetton Tigers (100) defeated Warwick Senators (90)

The Willetton Tigers continue to be one of the hotter teams in the league after four rounds dominating the second half against the Warwick Senators to end up winning 100-90.

Willetton came into the match up at home on the back of wins against the Perth Redbacks and Rockingham Flames with the only loss the Tigers had suffered was on the road to the defending champion Geraldton Buccaneers.

Warwick came into the match up still missing Zac Gattorna but regaining Cody Ellis attempting to snap a two-game losing slide, but by quarter-time it was the Tigers leading by five.

The Senators turned the tide with Michael Harris and Todd Withers leading the charge in the second period as they outscored the Tigers 29 to 16 to end up leading by as much as nine points early in the third term.

Willetton responded, though, and took charge the rest of the way including putting up 36 points in that third quarter.

The Tigers' lead got out to as much as 13 in the fourth frame and eventually they won by 10 to improve to 4-1 on the season with the Senators now 3-3.

Michael Dupree gave Willetton 44 points in the win over Rockingham on Friday, but he was limited to nine on 4/17 shooting on Saturday, but the Tigers still had enough others stepping up.

Marshall Nelson delivered 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals with 6/11 shooting from three-point land.

Michael Vigor also had 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, Roosevelt Williams 14 points and four assists, Josh Ibukunoluwa 12 points and five rebounds, and Deng Gak 10 points, six boards, four steals and two assists.

Michael Harris top-scored for the Senators with 26 points to go with eight rebounds and three assists while Todd Withers contributed 21 points, 12 boards, four blocks and two assists.

George Pearl also had 18 points and 10 rebounds with Tyler Shand fighting hard for 10 points, 10 boards, five assists and three steals.

The Tigers will take on the Eastern Suns in the traditional ANZAC Day match up now on Thursday at 3pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Senators will host the Perth Redbacks on Saturday night.

WILLETTON TIGERS 100 (Nelson 22, Vigor 15, Williams 14)

WARWICK SENATORS 90 (Harris 26, Withers 21, Pearl 18)

Joondalup Wolves (107) defeated Mandurah Magic (62)

A fresh Joondalup Wolves welcoming back Jonathan Wade were able to maintain their unbeaten start to the season beating the shorthanded Mandurah Magic 107-62.

The Wolfpack were playing their lone game of the weekend putting their perfect record on the line at home at HBF Arena against a Magic team who has been in some hot form, but missing some key players.

Mandurah were fresh off beating the Cockburn Cougars on Friday but from that team were without Joel Murray against the Wolves with Julian Pesava missing a second straight game as well.

That proved a bridge too far for the Magic to cover especially considering Murray has so far been averaging 28.0 points, 8.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds in his five games this season.

Joondalup also welcomed back Jonathan Wade into the team for the first time since his shoulder injury that took him out of all of 2023, and it was a smooth running Wolfpack machine on their home floor.

The Wolves built a 17-point lead in the opening period and that continued to grow throughout the night getting out to 20 points in the second quarter, 32 in the third and 45 in the fourth.

Joondalup would end up winning by that 45 points to improve to 4-0 on the season with the Magic now 3-4.

Not only did Wade return for the Wolves, but he starred with 22 points, five assists and four rebounds with 4/5 three-point shooting.

CJ Turnage also had another 22 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists with Caleb Davis contributing 17 points and five rebounds while knocking down 5/10 from beyond the arc.

Ethan Elliott added 12 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Jordan Wellsteed 11 points, nine boards and three assists.

It was tough going for the Magic with the absence of Murray and Pesava, but Lachlan Bertram continued his career-best run of form with 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals.

Michael Durr put up 15 points, 16 rebounds and three assists with Jermaine Malie scoring nine points and Dion Collins up against their former teams.

The Magic will be back home to host the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday while the Wolves are away to the South West Slammers on Saturday.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 107 (Wade 22, Turnage 22, Davis 17)

MANDURAH MAGIC 62 (Bertram 19, Durr 15, Malie 9)

Goldfield Giants (98) defeated South West Slammers (85)

Goldfields Giants imports Randy Bell and De'Sean Parsons combined for 54 points to lead their team to the 98-85 home victory over the South West Slammers.

The Giants were back home at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium to host the Slammers but it was the visitors who started the better going up nine in the opening period.

Goldfields needed to score 10 straight points to regain the lead briefly but by quarter-time it was South West narrowly on top 23-20.

It remained a close contest with Goldfields just clinging to a 48-45 lead at the main break and then the Giants worked their way on top through the second half.

The home team would lead by as much as 12 points in the third stanza and 13 in the fourth which would be the final winning margin which sees the Giants improve to a 2-2 record after four rounds.

Randy Bell was tremendous in the win for Goldfields with 30 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists on 12/21 shooting from the field, 3/6 from behind the three-point line and 3/4 at the foul line.

De'Sean Parsons added 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists on 9/13 shooting as well for the Giants with Kon Anguik adding 18 points and three rebounds with 4/8 three-point shooting.

The Slammers are now 1-4 after the loss but Buay Tuach produced 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Mathiang Muo added 19 points, four rebounds and four assists, Alex Holcombe 14 points and 13 boards, Manyiel Wugol 13 points and three rebounds, and Pharell Keats 11 points and eight assists.

The Giants now take on the Geraldton Buccaneers on the road on Saturday night while the Slammers are away to the Lakeside Lightning on Friday.

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 98 (Bell 30, Parsons 24, Anguik 18)

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 85 (Tuach 21, Muo 19, Holcombe 14)