West Recap | Anzac Round Saturday

Image credit: Erin Tuckey @etmmedia

NBL1 West duos Abby Cubillo/Sasha Goodlett and Sam Lubcke/Teige Morrell created winning combinations while Laquinton Ross delivered for Rockingham Flames, but the star was again Elijah Pepper with another 50 points for Warwick Senators.

WEST RECAP | ANZAC ROUND FRIDAY

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FIELDO REACHES 350 BUT GIVING BACK TO SLAMMERS THE FOCUS

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South West Slammers (67) lost to Perry Lakes Hawks (84)

It was a significantly more competitive showing from the South West Slammers in Kate Fielding 350th game on Saturday night but it was the Perry Lakes Hawks who fought hard for the 84-67 victory.

The Slammers were back home at Eaton Recreation Centre looking to respond to a tough Thursday night outing to the Mandurah where they went down by 71 points.

They were hosting a Perry Lakes team having won two of three matches this season but now without Sami Whitcomb who has departed for the WNBA even though Grace Stone came into the line-up for the first time in 2025.

It was a better start from the Slammers but the Hawks did work on top in the first quarter going on a 12-0 scoring run on the way to the 20-11 lead by quarter-time.

The lead for Perry Lakes did get out to 26 points in the second quarter and things were starting to look ominous once again for the Slammers with the Hawks heading into half-time leading 43-23.

Even though that lead for the Hawks was out to 30 early in the second half, to the Slammers credit they fought the game out strongly even going on a 10-0 scoring streak.

South West did end up outscoring Perry Lakes 44 points to 41 in the second half but the Hawks still closed out the deal for the 17-point victory to improve to a 3-1 start to the season.

Amy Jacobs stepped up for 19 points and four assists in the win for Perry Lakes with Alex Fowler adding 16 points and six rebounds, Jayda Clark 15 points, seven boards, three assists and three steals, and the returning Grace Stone nine points, five assists and four steals.

It was a vastly improved performance from the Slammers on a night where they were celebrating the 350th game in the league of the club's games record holder and playing assistant coach, Kate Fielding.

Mykea Gray came up with a big performance for South West with 24 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists with 4/9 three-point shooting.

Alexis Donovan added 16 points and two assists, Nyidier Riak seven points and seven rebounds, Cayla King six points, four boards, two assists and two steals, and Addison Edwards six points, 11 rebounds and two assists.

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 67 (Gray 24, Donovan 16, Riak 7)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 84 (Jacobs 19, Fowler 16, Clark 15)

Warwick Senators (86) defeated Perth Redbacks (81)

Natalie Chou and Patty Brossmann did their best to cover the Perth Redbacks' absence of Anneli Maley, but it wasn’t quite enough with two-time MVP Stacey Barr delivering 29 points as the Warwick Senators won 86-81.

The Senators were back home at Warwick Stadium looking to improve on their 2-1 start to the season while awaiting the arrival of Emma Gandini and Kiara Waite.

They took on a Redbacks team who won their first two games but that was with Maley averaging 33.0 points, 26.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists in the wins over the Joondalup Wolves and Perry Lakes Hawks before departing for the WNBA with the LA Sparks.

It would turn out to be a rollercoaster ride of a contest throughout the evening with the Redbacks starting well leading 9-2 early before the Senators responded with their own 15-2 run to be leading 17-11, and by quarter-time they clung to a 25-24 advantage.

It remained a tight affair leading into half-time where Warwick went in leading 44-42 but the Redbacks worked on top with 26 points to 20 in the third quarter to be up two by three quarter-time.

The Redbacks looked on track for the win in the first game without Maley when Natalie Chou hit a three ball to put them up 11 with seven minutes to play, but the Senators turned the game on its head by going on a 16-0 run in response.

That included two three-pointers to Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard including one that she turned into a four-point play and another from Stacey Barr.

The Senators were able to keep the momentum from there to score the five-point victory to improve to 3-1 on the season with Barr brilliant with 29 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Clinch Hoycard also ended up with 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals on 4/7 three-point shooting with Nat Burton adding 13 points and five rebounds, Chloe Forster 11 points, seven assists and six boards, and Isabelle Miotti eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

It's a first loss of the season for the now 2-1 Redbacks with Natalie Chou coming up big with 31 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Patty Brossmann also had 23 points, 16 rebounds, five steals and four assists, Georgia Denehey 10 points, eight assists, three boards and three steals, and Alaska Rhebok eight points and two steals.

WARWICK SENATORS 86 (Barr 29, Clinch Hoycard 19, Burton 13)

PERTH REDBACKS 81 (Chou 31, Brossmann 23, Denehey 10)

East Perth Eagles (88) defeated Joondalup Wolves (80)

The East Perth Eagles remained undefeated to start the 2025 season with Abby Cubillo and Sasha Goodlett once again proving a tremendous one-two punch in the 88-80 victory against the Joondalup Wolves.

It was a battle of the unbeaten Eagles and winless Wolfpack when the northern suburbs rivals locked horns at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Saturday night.

East Perth was looking for a fourth straight win to start the season under new coach Tim Symons while still awaiting Emma Clarke to suit up and having fully rehabilitated a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Joondalup might have been winless but did add new import Maddie Sutton for the first time this season but they did have their work cut out with East Perth starting well to be leading 16-7 when Madison Torresin drained a three-pointer in the first quarter.

The Wolfpack did well to respond and were even leading 19-18 by quarter-time before being able to move out to a nine-point advantage in the second term.

It was East Perth's turn to respond and the home team managed to narrowly work on top to be just in front at 41-40 by the half-time break.

The momentum changes continued with the Wolves opening up a six-point lead in the third quarter but then the Eagles worked their own way back on top with nine consecutive points to end up leading by seven.

That East Perth lead grew to 12 in the fourth quarter and they were able to complete the job to win by eight and improve to a perfect 4-0 record on the season.

The combination of point guard Abby Cubillo and centre Sasha Goodlett for the Eagles to be built around is proving to be a masterstroke and both of them came up huge in the win.

Cubillo finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and six assists with Goodlett adding 22 points, 10 boards and three assists on 10/14 shooting.

They had plenty of help too with Awatea Leach finishing with 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals, Madison Torresin 12 points, three assists and two steals, and captain Tessa Morrison nine points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Despite the strong performance against an unbeaten opponent, Joondalup are now 0-4 to start the season with new arrival Maddie Sutton playing 27 minutes for 10 points, 16 rebounds and four assists.

Jorjah Smith top-scored with 20 points with 4/7 three-point shooting while Jhazmin Joson contributed 19 points, three assists and two rebounds, and Ella Thornton-Elliott 14 points, four boards and two assists.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 88 (Cubillo 24, Goodlett 22, Leach 15)

JOONDALUP WOLVES 80 (Smith 20, Joson 19, Thornton-Elliott 14)

Lakeside Lightning (87) defeated to Goldfields Giants (75)

The Goldfields Giants were on track for a rare road victory leading by 12 points in the third quarter but the front court pair of Teige Morrell and Sam Lubcke ended up delivering Lakeside Lightning the 87-75 victory.

The Lightning were back on their home floor at Lakeside Recreation Centre looking for consecutive victories after losing their first three matches of the season.

The Giants were playing their first road game of the season after splitting their first two matches on their new home floor with a win over the South West Slammers and loss to the Cockburn Cougars.

It was a tight contest throughout the first half with the Giants leading 23-20 at quarter-time and then they were able to build on that further to go into the half-time break on top 50-44.

Goldfields then made their move to start the second half and opened up a 12-point advantage to appear to have the game in control, but that's when the pairing of Morrell and Lubcke took charge the rest of the way.

With one a league MVP and the other a former Grand Final MVP at the Willetton Tigers, it was no surprise to see how dominant they proved to be but no less impressive all the same.

Lakeside ended up dominating the fourth quarter with 22 points to six to turn that 12-point deficit in the third quarter into a 12-point victory to make it back-to-back wins.

Morrell finished the night with 31 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals on 13/23 shooting while Lubcke delivered 26 points, 13 boards and two assists on 9/18 shooting.

Sarah Allen also delivered 17 points, five rebounds and three steals with Kennedy Williams contributing six points and four assists.

The Giants are now 1-2 having lost their first road game of the season ahead of taking on the Perth Redbacks on Sunday before returning to Kalgoorlie.

Nici Gilday put in an impressive showing for the Giants showing the quality that saw her have strong previous stints at the Mandurah Magic and Perry Lakes Hawks finishing with 23 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Chloe Zorzi also had 17 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists, Rachel Pettit 13 points and five boards, Kate Sidebottom eight points and six rebounds, and Josephine Odude eight points, 14 boards, two assists and two blocked shots.

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 87 (Morrell 31, Lubcke 26, Allen 17)

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 75 (Gilday 23, Zorzi 17, Pettit 13)

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Rockingham Flames (99) defeated Geraldton Buccaneers (85)

The Rockingham Flames and Geraldton Buccaneers resumed their rivalry and it was the home team who took charge in the third quarter with new import Laquinton Ross starring on the way to the 99-85 victory.

Rockingham and Geraldton have had a string of fascinating battles in recent years most notably the Grand Final of 2022 where the Flames roared home to claim a first ever men's championship.

They took on one another again on Saturday night at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with Rockingham fresh off a thumping Anzac Day win over the Cockburn Cougars while the Buccs were starting their road double having won their last two games.

Rockingham was holding a slender 25-22 lead by quarter-time before the Buccaneers delivered 29 point to 25 in the second period to go into the half-time break leading 51-50.

The momentum swings continued with the Flames producing a game defining third quarter by putting up 26 points and holding Geraldton to just the 17.

That saw Rockingham open up an 18-point lead which they were able to convert into the 14-point win on their home floor to improve to a 5-1 record to start the season.

New Flames import Laquinton Ross was playing his third game and produced a dominant showing for 26 points and five rebounds on 11/13 shooting from the field and 4/5 at the free-throw line.

Isaac White hit another 4/9 from three-point territory for 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists with his partner-in-crime Emmett Naar adding eight points, 12 assists and nine rebounds.

Justin Beard also had 15 points and three rebounds, Jervon Pressley 12 points, seven boards and two blocked shots, and Tevin Jackson six points, nine rebounds and five assists.

The Buccaneers are now 2-2 with the loss and they will be back in action on Sunday against the Perry Lakes Hawks before returning home to Geraldton.

Liam Hunt fought valiantly for 24 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Buccs on 10/14 shooting from the floor.

Josh Keyes also had 14 points and nine rebounds, Johny Narkle 13 points, three boards and three assists, Verle Williams 12 points and four assists, and Aaron Ralph 13 points while hitting four three-pointers to now be just 16 behind the all-time league record.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 99 (Ross 26, White 22, J Beard 15)

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 85 (Hunt 24, Keyes 14, Ralph 13, Narkle 13)

South West Slammers (86) lost to Perry Lakes Hawks (98)

The Phillips brothers ensured the Perry Lakes Hawks had a winning trip south on Saturday night with the 98-86 victory against the South West Slammers.

The Slammers had been in action back on Thursday night as well losing to the defending champion Mandurah Magic while Perry Lakes arrived at Eaton Recreation Centre attempting to avoid a third successive defeat.

The Slammers were still chasing a first win of 2025 as well but stopping teams has been a challenge for them and that was again the case in the first quarter with Perry Lakes piling on 35 points.

The lead for the Hawks got out to 17 points in the second quarter as well but the Slammers responded well before half-time to cut the Perry Lakes advantage to 48-43 at the half.

Perry Lakes got back out to a double-digit lead in the third quarter and maintained that advantage through most of the second half on the way to the eventual 12-point victory.

The win improves the Hawks to a 2-2 record with the Phillips brothers combining for 40 points, six rebounds and four assists with Keegan delivering 20 points, four assists and three boards, and Luke 20 points and three rebounds.

Matt Leary added 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals on his old home floor with Nick Floyd contributing 12 points, 10 rebounds and two assists, and Jaden Staley-Williams eight points and seven boards.

The Slammers are now 0-5 to start the new season with Jamal Poplar impressive once again with the import big delivering 24 points, 16 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots on 10/18 shooting.

Devan Craig added 17 points, Pharell Keats 11 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists, and Calvin Whipple 10 points on another tough 3/13 shooting night.

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 86 (Poplar 24, Craig 17, Keats 11)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 98 (L Phillips 20, K Phillips 20, Leary 19)

Warwick Senators (119) defeated Perth Redbacks (83)

The phenomenal shooting and scoring display of Elijah Pepper to start the season continued on Saturday night as he put in another 50-point outburst for the Warwick Senators to stay unbeaten downing the Perth Redbacks 119-83.

Fresh off his rookie season and having re-signed to stay at the Perth Wildcats, Pepper has made the most remarkable start to his career in the NBL1 West at the Senators already averaging 49.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists over the wins against Lakeside. Rockingham and Joondalup.

With the Senators still missing the injured Cody Ellis and with Mitch Clarke still playing in the United Kingdom, Pepper was ready to put on another show on Saturday night with Warwick playing host to the Redbacks at Warwick Stadium.

Warwick put that unbeaten record on the line against a Perth team fresh off a win against the Perry Lakes Hawks back on Easter Thursday, but they had no answers for Pepper or the Senators.

Pepper scored 14 of Warwick's 25 points in the first quarter for them to already be leading by seven at quarter-time before he had nine of the 28 in the second term with the lead out to 53-38 at the half.

He added nine more out of 31 points in the third quarter and then 18 of 35 in the fourth with the Senators piling on another 119 points as a team for the 36-point victory.

Pepper had another remarkable display consisting of 50 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals on the back of shooting 11/28 from the floor, 7/20 from three-point range and 21/23 at the free-throw line.

Warwick ended up knocking down another 18/44 from three-point land for the game and 29/37 at the foul line with Todd Withers adding 14 points on 4/7 shooting from deep with Kye Chamberlain contributing 10 points and four rebounds, and George Pearl 10 points, six assists, five boards and five steals.

The Redbacks are now 2-2 on the season following the loss with Jonah Underwood finishing with 16 points and five rebounds, Joe Cook-Green 11 points and two assists in just 17 minutes, Emmanuel Kanwei 11 points, four rebounds and three assists, Mathiang Muo 10 points and three steals, and Lochlan Cummings 10 points and six rebounds.

WARWICK SENATORS 119 (Pepper 50, Withers 14, Pearl 10, Chamberlain 10)

PERTH REDBACKS 83 (Underwood 16, Kanwei 11, Cook-Green 11)

East Perth Eagles (98) lost to Joondalup Wolves (108)

The East Perth Eagles blew a chance to close the game out in regulation with the Joondalup Wolves dominating overtime for the 108-98 road victory.

Both teams were playing their first games since Easter Thursday with the Eagles looking to build on their first win of the season while the Wolfpack were attempting to bounce back from a loss to the Warwick Senators.

The two teams locked horns on Saturday night at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and it was quite the up tempo first quarter as they combined to put up 60 points with East Perth leading 31-29 by quarter-time.

No more than four points was then between them in the second period which ultimately saw the Wolves narrowly on top 53-51 heading into the half-time break.

East Perth managed to put together an 11-0 run in the third quarter to reclaim the lead and they were in front by five points early in the fourth when Nick Filpo scored.

A Caleb Davis three-pointer saw Joondalup back in front a couple of minutes later but buckets in response for the Eagles from Max Rice and Lee Roberts saw the home team back in front.

Davis made another triple for the Wolves to level scores back up but over the next three possessions the Eagles got to the foul line to open up a three-point lead.

The Wolves had the last possession and the first rule from coach Carl Filpo would be no matter what, don't foul a three-point shooter. That's exactly what Rice did and sent Joey Baker to the line where the Wolves import made all three and the game went to overtime.

It was in the extra period where the Wolves dominated with 18 points to eight to end up winning by that 10-point margin to improve to 3-1 on the season as a result.

There were some huge performances in the win for the Wolfpack too with Caleb Davis hitting 5/11 from three-point range for 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

His fellow former Senator Ethan Elliott produced 27 points, five rebounds and five assists with CJ Turnage producing 24 points, six boards, three steals and two assists, and Joey Baker 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.

East Perth is now 1-3 following the loss with the Eagles having to get creative without captain and point guard Taylor Young with a lot of the playmaking duties falling to Matthew Lang who had 15 points, 10 rebounds and two assists with 4/9 three-point shooting.

Fellow new import Max Rice had a tough shooting night going 1/6 from deep while Chier Maker delivered 25 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks, Lee Roberts 23 points and nine boards, Sharif Watson 10 points and six rebounds, and Nick Filpo nine points, six assists and four boards.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 98 (Maker 25, Roberts 23, Lang 15)

JOONDALUP WOLVES 108 (Elliott 27, Davis 27, Turnage 24)

Lakeside Lightning (79) lost to Goldfields Giants (90)

Corey Shervill did his best to lift the Lakeside Lightning to a second straight win but the Goldfields Giants had too many weapons with Shaun Stewart and Joshua Duach combining for 55 points in the 90-79 road win.

The Giants had won their opening two games of the season on their new home floor in Kalgoorlie ahead of taking on a Lightning team looking to back up the Easter victory against the South West Slammers.

The Lightning were back home at Lakeside Recreation Centre too but it was the Giants ending up leading the entire way.

It was a tight first quarter with Goldfields only on top 24-22 by the end of it before the Giants took charge with 26 points to 10 in the second term to go into the half-time break leading 50-32.

That lead for the visitors got out to as much as 22 points in the third quarter and even though Lakeside kept on fighting and did get back within nine after three-pointers to Michael Garbellini, Justin Bennett and Tim Hollick, Goldfields again steadied.

The Giants secured the 11-point victory to improve to a perfect 3-0 record on the season ahead of completing their first road trip of the season against the Perth Redbacks on Sunday.

Shaun Stewart has settled in nicely at the Giants after previous stints in the league with Mandurah and Geraldton, and delivered 30 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists and five steals on 13/21 shooting.

Joshua Duach also produced 25 points on 7/13 three-point shooting with De'Sean Parsons providing 17 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals, and Leigh Rickwood-Pitt 11 points and four rebounds.

The Lightning are now 1-4 on the season following the defeat with Corey Shervill starring with 32 points, five rebounds and three assists while knocking down 7/12 from three-point range.

AJ Wilson also had 23 points, five rebounds, three blocks and two assists, Michael Garbellini eight points on 2/3 shooting from deep, and Isaiah Lewis seven points and two rebounds.

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 79 (Shervill 32, Wilson 23, Garbellini 8)

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 90 (Stewart 30, Duach 25, Parsons 17)