West Recap | Round 1 Saturday

Image credit: @jlgphotographics

South West Slammers women broke through for a first NBL1 West win in three years while Joondalup Wolves and Geraldton Buccaneers had another classic, and Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard banked in a winner before Perth Wildcats guard Elijah Pepper put up 50 for Warwick Senators.

WEST RECAP | ROUND 1 FRIDAY

HOW WOMEN'S NBL1 WEST IS SHAPING UP

HOW MEN'S NBL1 WEST IS SHAPING UP

LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE REIGNITES MANNY'S DRIVE

WOMEN

South West Slammers (84) defeated Eastern Suns (66)

It has been almost three full years since the South West Slammers won a women's NBL1 West game but that all changed to open the 2025 season with new imports Mykea Gray and Cayla King inspirational in the drought breaking 84-66 win over the Eastern Suns.

The last time the Slammers had won a game was May 21, 2022, and since then they had lost 52 straight matches coming into the 2025 season.

But even prior to that breakthrough win three years ago against the East Perth Eagles at Mirrabooka, the Slammers had lost their previous 41 matches so entering Saturday's match with Kalamunda they had lost 93 of their past 94 matches.

The last time South West had won at Eaton Recreation Centre was May 17, 2019, against the Rockingham Flames and that was when the league was still under the SBL banner.

It didn’t look like it would be their night on Saturday early either with the Eastern Suns leading 22-17 by quarter-time with Olivia Berry on fire.

However, the Slammers had turned the tide by half-time to go into the break leading 36-33 and then proved unstoppable throughout the second half with 20 points to 12 in the third period, and 28 to 21 in the fourth to win by 18 and set off some wild celebrations.

The celebrations were justified too given the three-year wait for a win of any type and a six-year wait for a win on their home floor.

The new import pairing were key for the Slammers but so was the work done by new coach Mark Edman to see him now have a perfect 1-0 record in charge.

Mykea Gray delivered 24 points, seven steals, four assists and three rebounds on shooting 7/11 from the floor, 3/5 from downtown and 7/9 at the foul line.

Cayla King was tremendous as well with 21 points, seven rebounds and three steals on 5/11 three-point shooting with Nyidier Riak producing a breakout performance with 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals on 6/8 shooting.

It was a tough start to the new season for the Eastern Suns with Olivia Berry finishing with 23 points, three rebounds and three assists, Karly Murphy 19 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals, and Denae Civich seven points, five assists and three steals.

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 84 (Gray 24, King 21, Riak 14)

EASTERN SUNS 66 (Berry 23, Murphy 19, Civich 7)

Lakeside Lightning (81) lost to Warwick Senators (83)

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard banked in a three-pointer just before the buzzer as the Warwick Senators completed a remarkable comeback from trailing by as much as 23 points to beat the Lakeside Lightning 83-81.

There is great expectations on the Senators coming into the new season after their top two finish last year, but they were well short of full strength on Saturday night with Emma Gandini, Stacey Barr and Kiara Waite all unavailable.

Lakeside were on their home floor and looking to hit back from Friday night's season-opening 25-point loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks, and for most of the evening it did appear they would be getting their wish.

Lakeside blew the game open in the second quarter by going on a 13-0 scoring run having already been up double-figures by that stage, and seeing their lead grow to 23 and it did appear there would be no stopping them.

The Lightning were still in control leading 54-31 at half-time and even early in the fourth quarter the home team was still in control up by 17.

The Senators had plenty of work to do, but had the weapons to pull it off and Perth Lynx WNBL forward Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard got the ball rolling with a three ball.

She hit another minutes later and so did Chloe Forster and it was back to a single-figure ball game with five minutes to play.

Forster hit the next four points before Morrell did at least make a free-throw to stop the 10-0 run from the Senators.

That's when Nat Burton scored inside on the find from Forster before it was Forster's turn to not only hit a three, but turn it into a four-point play and give Warwick the unlikely lead with just over two minutes to go.

Morrell returned Lakeside to the lead shortly after before Clinch Hoycard and Sarah Allen traded long balls for their respective teams.

That left the Lightning still leading by a point and with possession, but the Senators were able to force the turnover through Kyana Weir. She got the ball to Clinch Hoycard and with time expiring, she jacked up another three-point attempt that banked in.

It gave the Senators the lead and gave them the two-point win on the back of finishing the game scoring 27 of the last 35 points.

Last year's MVP runner-up Chloe Forster was tremendous for the Senators with 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists on shooting 7/13 from the field, 4/9 from deep and 10/13 at the foul line.

The hero of the night Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard marked her return with 25 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals with 7/9 long-range shooting.

Kyana Weir had 11 points, four boards, four assists and two steals, Isabelle Miotti 10 points, seven boards and three assists, and Nat Burton six points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

It was one that got away at home for Lakeside with new import pair Oceane Kounkou and Kennedi Williams showing significantly better signs than 24 hours earlier.

Kounkou finished with 21 points, four rebounds and three steals with 5/11 long-range shooting while Williams had 17 points, four boards, three assists and two steals.

Reigning MVP Teige Morrell put up 15 points and 10 rebounds with former Grand Final MVP Sam Lubcke adding 15 points and nine boards.

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 81 (Kounkou 21, Williams 17, Morrell 15, Lubcke 15)

WARWICK SENATORS 83 (Forster 28, Clinch Hoycard 25, Weir 11)

Goldfields Giants (54) lost to Cockburn Cougars (92)

The Cockburn Cougars have played in the past two NBL1 West grand finals and despite a change in coach, there is no reason to expect they won't be around the mark again after beating the Goldfields Giants 92-54.

It was a momentous occasion for the Giants as they unveiled their redeveloped new home venue to start the new season with the Cougars making the trip to Kalgoorlie's Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.

It was a big challenge for Goldfields up against the champions of 2023 and runner-up of 2024 and the Cougars under new coach Russell Hann wanted to make a statement even with Ruby Porter and Sarah Mortensen not yet available.

It was a hot start from Cockburn with a 10-0 run in the first quarter on the way to opening up a 15-point lead which grew to as much as 27 in the second frame, 34 in the third and 43 in the fourth.

The Cougars ended up scoring the 38-point victory to open the new season in emphatic fashion and even though they lost the rebound count, Cockburn took 19 extra shots and eight more free throws while forcing the Giants into 27 turnovers.

A big part of that was the defensive presence of Steph Gorman, who bafflingly wasn’t a finalist in the WNBL Best Defensive Player award, but she finished her first game in a third season with Cockburn with 16 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Cockburn's other player fresh off a WNBL season, Daniel Raber, also ended up with 18 points and seven rebounds with Jaya Scafidi contributing 17 points, 10 boards and two assists, Amelia Corasaniti eight points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Regan Turnour-McCarty six points, eight boards and two steals.

It was a rough way for the Giants to open the season on their fresh new home court with Kate Sidebottom putting up 16 points and 10 rebounds, Nici Gilday 15 points, seven assists and five boards, and Josephine Odude six points and 12 rebounds.

Tamsyn Pentland also went 3/5 from beyond the three-point arc for nine points.

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 54 (K Sidebottom 16, Gilday 15, Pentland 9)

COCKBURN COUGARS 92 (Raber 18, Scafidi 17, Gorman 16)

MEN

South West Slammers (61) lost to Eastern Suns (81)

The Eastern Suns have loaded up for the 2025 season under coach Aaron Trahair and Marshall Nelson and Terrico White both were instrumental in the 81-61 win over the South West Slammers.

The Slammers and Eastern Suns opened their NBL1 West seasons at Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday night with both attempting to rise up the table in 2025 having only combined for a 13-31 record in 2024.

There's great excitement over the Kalamunda team built under coach Trahair this season with Perth Wildcats championship winner and grand final MVP White on board along with Nelson and fellow new faces Lewis Thomas, Travis Fee and Joel Vaiangina.

Experienced trio Rob Huntington, Seb Salinas and Reece Maxwell are back on deck as well, and they were on top virtually from the start in the season-opener against the Slammers.

The Suns were leading 21-17 by the end of the first quarter having had to overcome an early eight-point deficit with their lead getting out to 10 in the second frame, and being 41-32 at half-time.

The Eastern Suns advantage continued to grow through the second half getting out to as much as 24 points in the third period and 26 in the fourth before they settled on the first up 20-point victory away from home.

Despite the win, the Suns didn’t have a great shooting night going 42 per cent from the field along with just 4/15 from three-point range and perhaps most frustrating, 15/32 at the free-throw line.

They did pull down 61 rebounds to just 36 from the Slammers with seven players all collecting at least six boards.

Marshall Nelson top-scored with 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals with Travis Fee contributing 14 points, seven boards and three assists, Terrico White 13 points and six rebounds, and Lewis Thomas 10 points, seven boards and three assists.

New Slammers imports Jamal Poplar (16 points, eight rebounds, 7/14 shooting) and Calvin Whipple (six points, five boards, 3/13 shooting) had mixed nights while Devan Craig put up 13 points and three rebounds.

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 61 (Poplar 16, Craig 13, Wugol 7)

EASTERN SUNS 81 (Nelson 20, Fee 14, White 13)

Lakeside Lightning (79) lost to Warwick Senators (117)

Elijah Pepper made quite the scintillating NBL1 West debut with 30 first-half points and going for 50 for the night with nine three-pointers as the Warwick Senators won big 117-79 over the Lakeside Lightning.

Lakeside had started its season the previous night with a heartbreaking overtime loss on the road to the Perry Lakes Hawks before hosting the Senators on Saturday at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Warwick were playing their first game of the 2025 season and while championship winning point guard Mitch Clarke isn’t here yet, they had added Perth Wildcats guard Pepper to a team still featuring his NBL teammate Todd Withers.

Coach Andrew Cooper had his team playing an offensively minded game in 2024 that got them to the finals and clearly pushing the pace will again be the focus, and it paid off in spades on Saturday night.

With Lakeside having lost Rowan Mackenzie to injury the previous night and then import big AJ Wilson going down hurt after playing less than seven minutes, they had no answers for the firepower of the Senators.

Pepper is coming off his rookie NBL season and made quite the statement putting up 30 points with six three-pointers alone to half-time which saw Warwick already leading 69-45.

The Senators lead continued to grow through the second half with them showing no signs of slowing despite a calf injury scare to championship winning captain Cody Ellis.

The lead for Warwick grew to 32 points in the third quarter and 38 in the fourth, which would remain the final score.

Pepper finished the night with 50 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on shooting 9/15 from three-point range and 18/25 overall from the field while making all five of his free throws.

George Pearl also had 16 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Senators, Kye Chamberlain 11 points on 3/5 shooting from downtown, Todd Withers 10 points and five rebounds, and Cody Ellis seven points, four boards and three assists.

Corey Shervill again top-scored for Lakeside with 20 points and nine rebounds with Isaiah Lewis adding 19 points and two assists, Josh Davey 10 points and 10 rebounds, and AJ Wilson 10 points in less than seven minutes before getting hurt.

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 79 (Shervill 20, Lewis 19, Davey 10, Wilson 10)

WARWICK SENATORS 117 (Pepper 50, Pearl 16, Chamberlain 11)

Goldfields Giants (106) defeated Cockburn Cougars (66)

The Goldfields Giants men celebrated the opening of the new Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium in style with a commanding season-opening 106-66 victory over the Cockburn Cougars.

It was a big night for the Giants following the redevelopment of their home stadium being completed and ready to go for the opening game of the 2025 season.

The Goldfields team wanted to make sure it played to honour the occasion too with the Giants coming into 2025 looking to build on what they did last year reaching the semi finals and now with Lennon Smartt appointed the permanent head coach.

With De'Sean Parsons back and Joshua Duach and Shaun Stewart on board, it was quite the big three combination for the Giants as well and they would end up combining for 77 points, 29 points and 14 assists.

The Giants made a statement right from the outset with 33 points to 13 in the opening quarter and continued on with that momentum to lead 59-31 at half-time.

It was another 47 points to 35 in the second half with Goldfields ending up leading by 42 points and winning by 40 to make their intentions clear for the season ahead.

Joshua Duach produced 28 points, 10 rebounds and four assists with 5/12 three-point shooting in the win for the Giants with Shaun Stewart adding 25 points, seven boards, five assists and five assists.

De'Sean Parsons also had 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists with Michael Jok contributing 16 points, five steals, three boards and two assists, and Sam Morrow eight points, five rebounds and two steals.

There was always going to be some early season pains for the Cougars in 2025 following the departures of Gavin Field, Seva Chan, Rhys Vague, Kyle Armour and Hunter Clarke from last season.

Cockburn have also started the season with just one import, Kortland Martin, and he had 14 points and three assists on 5/14 shooting.

Chan Nai top-scored with 18 points and five assists while hitting 3/5 from downtown while another shining light was young gun Harrison Fitzgerald who had 11 points and two rebounds.

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 106 (Duach 28, Stewart 25, Parsons 24)

COCKBURN COUGARS 66 (Nai 18, Martin 14, Fitzgerald 11)

Joondalup Wolves (111) defeated Geraldton Buccaneers (107)

Their rivalry might well be the strongest that there is in the men's NBL1 West competition and there was another chapter written with a season-opening overtime cracker with the Joondalup Wolves ending up beating the Geraldton Buccaneers 111-107.

The Wolves and Buccs have played one another in the grand finals of 2019 and 2023 as part of a rivalry that is showing no signs of slowing down based on their overtime clash to open the 2025 season at Arena Joondalup.

Both teams were the losing preliminary finalists last year so are not short on motivation coming into 2025 having finished the regular season in the top two spots, and they combined for 65 points in the first quarter.

With new import Akeem Springs making an immediate impact, Geraldton led 33-32 by the end of one but it was Joondalup leading 56-55 at the half-time break.

The Buccs turned that around to be leading by four at three quarter-time and it was an eight-point lead for the visitors with four minutes left in the fourth after another bucket from Springs, and it was still eight 30 seconds later after a dunk from Johny Narkle.

However, the Wolves had CJ Turnage and he knocked down a pair of three-pointers while also scoring inside to make it a one-point ball game.

The teams then traded free throws and the scores ended up tied by the end of regulation after both teams had some good looks at a game winner.

Then in extra time, the Buccaneers scored the first five points but the Wolfpack responded with a triple to Ethan Elliott, and then he made two foul shots and Turnage scored inside to tie scores up.

The rollercoaster ride continued with Damon Ballantyne making his mark at his new team with a huge three with just over a minute to go to give Joondalup the three-point lead, which turned into a four-point win.

CJ Turnage delivered 34 points, nine rebounds and three steals in the win for Joondalup with Ethan Elliott putting up 30 points, six assists, three boards and three steals while making 5/10 from three-point land.

Damon Ballantyne ended up with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists, Caleb Davis 14 points, 10 assists and three boards, and Joey Baker 13 points, four rebounds and two assists.

It might have been a loss for the Buccaneers, but there was a lot to like especially with Akeem Springs putting up 32 points, 11 rebounds and two steals.

Johny Narkle started another season strongly with 28 points and eight rebounds while Liam Hunt contributed 16 points, eight boards and three assists, and now they face the loaded up Eastern Suns in the hills on Sunday.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 111 (Turnage 34, Elliott 30, Ballantyne 15)

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 107 (Springs 32, Narkle 28, Hunt 16)