The two dominant defensive teams lived up to the billing in the inaugural NBL1 West Women’s Grand Final on Friday night but the Willetton Tigers had a few more offensive threats and that saw them prevail 65-54 over the Joondalup Wolves.
The Tigers and Wolves had been the two dominant teams of first ever NBL1 West Women’s season and it proved to be a fitting Grand Final after they finished tied on identical 15-3 records at the end of the regular season before two emphatic finals performances to reach the decider.
The Grand Final in front of a record women’s crowd at Bendat Basketball Centre certainly lived up to expectations with the defences of both teams shining.
The Tigers gave up just 63.4 points a game during the season and the Wolves 64.1 and that’s pretty much how the Grand Final played out but Willetton held Joondalup to just the 54 points on 26.7 per cent shooting from the field and 16.7 per cent from three on 6/13 which was pivotal in the result.
The Tigers had enough offensive threats to get the job done with captain Desiree Kelley outstanding with 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Her partner in crime and vice-captain Emma Gandini was a defensive dynamo backing up being named Best Defensive Player for the season to finish with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists – with her three offensive boards especially telling.
They are both now dual championship winners with the Tigers backing up their win from 2016 along with teammate Sophie Maines and head coach Simon Parker.
As a club, Willetton continues to now be the trendsetter in the women’s competition taking out the first NBL1 West championship on the back of the record eight SBL titles.
League MVP Alex Sharp, fresh off being named to represent the Australian Opals at the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup, was named Grand Final MVP after putting up 13 points, 15 rebounds and four assists for the Tigers.
Leading scorer Sam Lubcke had to fight hard against Kayla Steindl but still had 13 points and eight rebounds with Hayley Winter contributing 11 points, six rebounds and five assists, and 300-game veteran Taryn Priestly four points and four assists.
Parker is now a two-time championship winning coach during his tenure that started at the Tigers midway through 2014 and this triumph could very well take the cake.
“I think the big thing was just staying with the program and just rebuilding to get the next person ready, and the person ready after that to step into those roles,” Parker said.
“So to have stuck to our philosophy and now achieve this, it means a lot and it means more even than the last one to be honest because now it’s for Desiree, Emma and Sophie Maines who were the bench girls in 2016, and then you have Taryn Priestly who played her 300th game and gets this reward.
“This means a lot more I think for a lot of reasons because I was pretty fresh back in the day. We had some good quality WNBL players at that stage when we got that job done, and it was good for all the local girls to get this championship.”
In her last game for the Wolves before joining husband Clint in Tasmania, Kayla Steindl battled valiantly for 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Nes’eya Williams added nine points, eight rebounds and three assists for the Wolfpack, Chelsea Belcher nine points and three rebounds, and Tia Ucich seven points.
The Wolfpack made the perfect start with a bucket inside to Kayla Steindl and then a triple to sharpshooter Chelsea Belcher. Willetton responded through Alex Sharp and Desiree Kelley and the game settled into a defensive struggle with the two best defences in the competition.
Joondalup threatened to open up a handy lead at 16-11 after an and-one from Steindl and then three-pointer from Laniesha Paddon, but Willetton hit the last four points of the term thanks to Hayley Winter and Emma Gandini to cut their lead to one at quarter-time.
It would be Willetton who threatened open up a handy gap in the second quarter, going on an 11-1 run to go from being down 17-18 to up 28-19 when Kelley knocked down another three ball.
That lead continued to grow to 11 for the Tigers with Kelley ailing another three-pointer, and then to 13 when 300-game veteran Taryn Priestly connected form downtown.
The Wolfpack had to respond and they did with the next eight points including a three-point play from Belcher, three from Tia Ucich and bucket to Nes’eya Williams but still Willetton led 38-31 by half-time.
The Tigers went up 40-31 to start the third term with a basket to Sharp, but the Wolves had come out desperate and they worked back into it starting with another long bomb from Belcher.
Steindl then threatened to take the game the over the rest of the third quarter proving too big and too strong down low for the Wolves. She scored 10 points alone in the third quarter and that saw a big finish set up with the Tigers up 50-49 by three quarter-time.
The game was right up for grabs but the game took a turn that proved pivotal with a mid-court turnover for the Wolves from 233-game veteran Rebecca Benson. On the break she was called for unsportsmanlike on Gandini who hit both for the Tigers.
Then on the same possession, Kelley hit her third three of the night to make it a five-point play and Willetton was up 56-51.
The Wolves were still close enough with 2:30 on the clock, but Willetton were not going to be denied and the Tigers went on to score the last seven points of the Grand Final with a couple of baskets to Sam Lubcke and Gandini before Sharp and Kelley iced it for the 65-54 triumph.
NBL1 WEST WOMEN’S GRAND FINAL
WILLETTON TIGERS 65 (Kelley 16, Lubcke 13, Sharp 13)
JOONDALUP WOLVES 54 (Steindl 16, Belcher 9, Williams 9)
Grand Final MVP: Alex Sharp