Three-point record last thing on Ralph's mind

Image credit: Arctic Moon Photography

The last thing Geraldton Buccaneers captain Aaron Ralph is focused on is becoming NBL1 West three-point leader with his focus on getting rid of that sour taste of 2024 and embracing playing alongside someone like Johny Narkle.

Ralph continues to build a remarkable legacy with the Buccaneers with the Geraldton living out his dream representing his hometown club that is a genuine contender year after year.

Ralph has now played 467 games at the Buccs and is a championship captain from 2023, championship winner in 2019 and was a key member of teams that made two other grand finals, and has been knocking on the door virtually every other season.

Along the way he has become a lethal knockdown three-point shooter renowned for his ability to continue to hit his shots in bundles once that first one goes down, and hitting the miraculous and none more so than against the Goldfields Giants back in 2023.

Ralph has now made 1093 three-pointers across his SBL and NBL1 West career to be hot on the heels of the league's leader Ryan Neill who made 1097, but that's the last thing on the mind of the 36-year-old right now.

Instead, his focus is on helping the Buccs put behind them losing a preliminary final at home last year after finishing the regular season four games clear and the signs are especially encouraging with them fresh off handing the Warwick Senators a first loss of 2025.

Handing Senators a first loss

Going back two weeks and the Buccs had lost their first home game of the season to the East Perth Eagles so that meant that Ralph and his Geraldton team were extra motivated to not lose on that home floor again.

They had hit back the previous Saturday night beating the Perry Lakes Hawks by 28 points ahead of hosting Elijah Pepper and his Senators this past Saturday who arrived putting their undefeated record to start the season on the line.

In the end, the Buccaneers produced a terrific performance to score the 100-87 and holding a Senators team who had been averaging 108 points to just the 87 and holding Pepper who had been averaging 40 to just the 29.

Ralph was proud of his team in the statement win with Johny Narkle finishing with 30 points and 11 rebounds, Josh Keyes 20 points and 14 boards, Verle Williams 20 points and eight assists, and Nik DeSantis 14 points and eight assists even with losing Akeem Springs to a hamstring injury.

"I know I was looking forward to the game and we've always had good battles against them, and we know they are a really good team," Ralph told The Hoop Hour on 91.3 SportFM.

"When you can hold a guy like Pepper to 29 points and say it's a good defensive job that's saying something, but it was a good game and we were pretty excited for the challenge after we dropped a game at home a couple of games.

"One thing we don't like doing up here is dropping home games and we knew it was going to be tough from the start, and it was, but a bit of Johny Narkle magic in the third helped us and we pulled away, and it was pleasing to get the result."

Playing alongside Johny Narkle

Speaking of Narkle, the versatile swingman is having another standout season with the Geraldton averaging 22.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists as he continues to prove one of the standout local talents in the country.

At just 23, he does have a bright future as well considering he's already a championship winner with the Buccs, he's a Grand Final MVP and is coming off a season in 2024 where he put up 23.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists on the back of 13.3 points, 5.7 boards and 2.6 assists in 2023.

He is an excitement machine who can get up and finish at the rim, but can also score in the mid-range and step out beyond the arc where he is shooting it at a career-best 42 per cent this season while his defence with his length is another of his strengths.

Ralph continues to marvel at what he's capable of and hopes that an NBL opportunity is just around the corner for him.

"I'm very surprised he hasn’t got an opportunity. I thought last year was definitely the year he was snapped up and he's still trying to get to that next level," Ralph said.

"He's definitely got the talent and the work ethic and everything, he just needs that opportunity I think. And when he gets it, he's the kind of kid that can take it with both hands and has that X-factor about him.

"He can do anything on the court and everything he does still amazes me. I was coaching him from 15, 16, 17 and then started playing with him when he's 18, and it's been a good journey. He's a good kid who does all the right things so I hope he gets that chance."

Adding another point guard

The new point guard duo Geraldton has in 2025 was also at its best in the win over the Senators with DeSantis and Williams combining for 34 points and 16 assists.

Ralph is enjoying having Williams on board this year as is everyone in Geraldton with him making the move West for the first time after previous stints at the South West Metro Pirates, Mackay Meteors, Red City Roar, North Adelaide Rockets, USC Rip City and the Darwin Salties.

Then there's DeSantis in his second season in Geraldton and Ralph is glad to see him starting to rediscover some of the form he had in 2024.

"Verle has been on our radar for a while. We tried to get him last year as well and it has been great having him come in," Ralph said.

"Him and Nik do play two different styles but it's good to have that as well. Nik did have a bit of a slow start to the year but he's starting to find his feet, and we know how good he can be when he's fully going.

"And Verle is just an excitement machine. We knew the crowd would fall in love with him instantly and everyone in Geraldton loves the guy already. He's just a great bloke to have around the club as well."

Last year's tough pill to swallow

Coming off the championship triumph in 2023, Geraldton went up a gear in the 2024 regular season finishing with 20-2 record including being perfect on the road before beating the Mandurah Magic at Active West Stadium in the first week of the finals.

That saw them staying home for a preliminary final, but the Willetton Tigers came to town and delivered a brilliant performance to end the season of the Buccs short of reaching a third straight grand final.

That's something that still doesn’t sit well for Ralph and the rest of his teammates, and it's all the motivation they need every time they step out on the floor in 2025.

"It was a very tough pill to swallow how we went out last year," Ralph said.

"Taking nothing away from Willetton, they came up with a game plan and they kicked our arse really so full credit to them.

"But that didn’t sit well with a lot of us all summer and we've got a lot of the same team back on track just with a couple more pieces in areas we felt like we needed to get better and hopefully we can right the wrongs this year."

On verge of three-point record

Given Ralph has always been about putting the team first and not individual glory, it's so surprise that he's rather uncomfortable with the attention his chasing down of the league's all-time three-point record is drawing.

It's become a hot topic around Geraldton and he can scarcely bump into anyone without it coming up, but he's close to achieving the record now especially after knocking down six triples against the Perry Lakes Hawks.

He hit another on Saturday against the Senators to now be on 1093 in his career to be just behind Ryan Neill who hit 1097 of them in his 487-game career with the Cockburn Cougars and Perth Redbacks.

There's a good chance Ralph sets the new record with Geraldton having a double-header on the road this weekend against the Lakeside Lightning and Willetton Tigers, but it's something he wouldn’t be thinking about if others didn’t keep bringing it up.

"It's definitely not something I'm thinking of but I'm constantly getting reminded about it so I can't really escape it," Ralph said.

"It's one of those things that when my career's done it will be something to look back on and be proud of, but at the moment I'm just more focused on getting the wins for the boys and us getting better each week really."

Taking pride in road doubles

Speaking of those road doubles as the Buccs prepare to face the Lightning this Saturday night and then the Tigers on Sunday in a preliminary final rematch, it is something Ralph and his team have taken great pride in.

They didn’t lose a single game on the road in 2024 and it has been since the Buccs did have a rare off season in 2021 coming out of Covid that they have lost two games on the same weekend in a road trip.

In every one of them since in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, they have at the very worst split the road doubles and one thing you can rely on is that if you are playing the Buccs on Sunday after they've lost the previous night, you are in for a tough day.

That has been the case so far in 2025 with the Buccaneers losing to the Wolves in overtime in the first game of the season before then storming home to beat the Eastern Suns on the Sunday.

Then over the Anzac Day weekend, Geraldton lost to the Rockingham Flames on the Saturday night but then dominated the Perry Lakes Hawks on the Sunday with the 33-point win.

It is something that Ralph takes great pride in how the Buccs conduct themselves on the bus trips down the Perth.

"It's always a thing in our mind when we head down that we always want to at least get one. Our main focus is always on the Saturday night and then we take on the Sunday game as it is," Ralph said.

"You always want to get one win on a road trip double because if you come home with one it sucks on the track that week because you've got lots to learn.

"Hopefully we can get away with two because that makes it a pretty good weekend and you can have a couple of quiet ones on the bus back home to enjoy it."

Sharing basketball with young family

Ralph's life is certainly vastly different now to what it was in the early parts of his SBL career with the Buccaneers as a husband to Erin, and father to son Max and daughter Molly.

It makes for a hectic weekend when he is at home in Geraldton, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Continuing to create lifelong memories with his kids like after the 2023 championship celebration is a big driving force to keep on playing.

"They're at the age now where they are all playing their sports so my Saturday mornings before a game at home aren’t very relaxing anymore," Ralph said.

"I'm running around between different sports dropping the kids and picking them up, and watching them play so it's a bit different to how it's used to be. But it's good seeing them running around having a smile on their face playing all different sports.

"That's something I'll remember forever with the kids coming down on the court with me after we won that one.

"I even remember when my dad won lots of hockey premierships up here in Geraldton and I ran out on the field with him when I was a kid so hopefully my kids always remember that when they get older. It's just something pretty cool for us to share and hopefully we get to do it again."

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