When: 7.30pm (AWST), Friday September 3
Where: Bendat Basketball Centre, Perth
Broadcast: Kayo Freebies, www.nbl1.com.au
The last time
Joondalup 85 (Steindl 22, Belcher 16, Benson 14) d Willetton 79 (Sharp 18, Lubcke 16, Winter 15) – Round 16, HBF Arena Joondalup (Saturday July 31)
If this meeting late in the regular season is any indication of what is to come in the Grand Final on Friday night between the Joondalup Wolves and Willetton Tigers, then we are in for quite a treat.
Willetton had worked themselves into a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter on the road and they were threatening to open up a match-winning advantage. Sam Lubcke then put them up 11 and it was up to Joondalup to respond.
That response started courtesy of Kayla Steindl who converted a three-point play and then hit a three ball. Nes’eya Williams then hit a triple as well and suddenly the Lady Wolfpack were back within two points with five minutes on the clock.
Emma Gandini and Williams then traded three-pointers to keep Willetton up two with four minutes left. Gandini made another bucket and a free-throw to Hayley Winter put the Tigers up 68-63 with a minute to go and again it was up to the Wolves to find an answer to keep themselves alive.
Eventually after Winter continued to make her free-throws, the Tigers led 73-70 and the Wolfpack had one last possession to try and force overtime.
It was 229-game veteran Benson who delivered for the Wolves. Georgia Denehey got her the ball and jumping off her left foot, she threw up a prayer and banked it in for three to make it 73-73 and force the game into overtime. And in the extra period, it was all Joondalup outscoring Willetton 12 points to six to come away with the 85-79 win.
It was a high-pressure game illustrated by the combined 46 turnovers between them but the Wolves just ended up shooting a little better at 38.0 per cent from the field and 34.5 per cent from deep while the Tigers went at 34.2 from the floor and 23.5 from beyond the arc.
Kayla Steindl finished the evening with 22 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots for Joondalup while Chelsea Belcher added 16 points, three rebounds and three steals.
Rebecca Benson ended the night with 14 points and nine rebounds with Nes’eya Williams contributing 13 points, eight boards, three assists and three steals, and Georgia Denehey eight points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Alex Sharp finished with 18 points, 16 rebounds and five assists for the Tigers while Sam Lubcke delivered 16 points and three assists, Hayley Winter 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. Desiree Kelley also had 14 points, 11 rebounds and four steals for Willetton and Emma Gandini 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
How they got here
Both teams finished the regular season in this inaugural NBL1 West campaign on identical 15-3 records to be four games clear of the next closest challenger so it’s hard to argue we’ve got the right Grand Final participants for 2021.
Add in the fact that both teams have had relatively dominant finals performances now to get to the Grand Final winning their qualifying finals by a combined 46 points and the preliminary finals by 62, throw in how well coached they are by Simon Parker and Charles Nix respectively, and that the game could feature the league’s best three players in Sam Lubcke, Alex Sharp and Kayla Steindl, and there’s so much to look forward to.
It was only percentage that saw the Tigers claim the regular season championship over the Wolves, but it was the Wolfpack that won the only meeting between the two teams during the season so really, there’s no bragging rights of any note for either team coming into the Grand Final.
Willetton did get a real scare in their qualifying final against the East Perth Eagles. At Willetton Basketball Stadium, the Tigers found themselves 18 points down and needed to respond and they did to hit back strongly in the second half to win 77-73.
The Tigers then had a much more comfortable time of it in this past Saturday’s preliminary final hammering the Perth Redbacks 90-65 to book a place in the Grand Final on a five-game winning streak.
Meanwhile, the Wolfpack hammered the Redbacks 90-48 in the qualifying final at HBF Arena in the qualifying final, and then were similarly dominant in Saturday’s preliminary final also at home, beating the Warwick Senators 98-61 to enter the Grand Final in remarkable form and on a nine-game winning streak.
Championship history
The Willetton Tigers took until 1997 to win a first Women’s SBL championship but they would go on to make a habit of it winning titles also in 1999, 2004, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011, and then most recently in 2016.
That has the Tigers as the most successful club in the history of the competition with eight championships from 12 Grand Final appearances.
In terms of their current players, only captain Desiree Kelley, Sophie Maines and Emma Gandini along with coach Simon Parker remain from that Willetton team that won a thriller 60-58 over the Joondalup Wolves thanks to the brilliance of Kate Malpass.
Meanwhile, from that Wolves team that lost in such heartbreaking fashion that night, Chelsea Belcher will be the lone player to back up this Friday night who hit the court in that game.
The Joondalup Wolves won SBL championships in 1990, 1992, 1995 and 2013 along with taking out the West Coast Classic title in 2020. They also reached Grand Finals in 1997 and 2016, both of which they lost to Willetton. That gives the Wolfpack five championships from seven Grand Final appearances heading into Friday night.
The stats
– The Tigers come into the Grand Final on a five-game winning streak and having won their two finals by a combined 29 points while the Wolves have won nine straight and won their two finals by 79 points
– Willetton won 15 games during the regular season with a winning margin of 28.1 points while Joondalup also won 15 matches at an average of 16.0 points
– Joondalup averaged 75.3 points a game this season while conceding 64.1 while Willetton scored 85.1 themselves and gave up just 63.4 per game
The key women
Sam Lubcke – Alex Sharp might have been named the league’s MVP and obviously will be key to the Tigers’ chances in the Grand Final averaging a remarkable 19.4 points, 13.5 rebounds and 5.6 points a game, but it’s unlikely Willetton wins without a big showing from Lubcke. The Murray Bridge in South Australia product has been a revelation this season leading the league in scoring 25.1 points to go with 8.5 rebounds a game. She needs to score and crash the boards again on Friday night, but more importantly help lessen what Kayla Steindl delivers for the Wolves.
Nes’eya Williams – Of course, Kayla Steindl will be critical for the Lady Wolfpack in her final game for the club, but Williams is playing the best basketball of her budding career right now. She is playing with great confidence and is proving a real difference maker with her shot always improving, and as she learns to make the most of athletic gifts better. She is rebounding the ball well, defending strongly and her ability to read the play to block shots and create steals is becoming a key part of her game. She is playing so well now where it would almost be criminal should a WNBL club not snap her up for the upcoming season and that could become even more obvious come Friday night.
The quotes
Willetton Tigers captain Desiree Kelley is looking forward to her first Grand Final since winning the championship in 2016, but is fully aware of the threat the Wolves pose as highlighted from their only meeting of 2021.
“I didn’t like the result in that last game and I would like it to be very different this Friday, but I definitely think it’s going to be a tough game,” Kelley said.
“We both have been top of the table all season for a reason and I’m actually really excited that they are our opponents for the Grand Final. You want it to be a good, hard fought game and it’s definitely going to be that. They are definitely the best opponents this for us to take on and we are looking forward to it.”
Given both teams have been the dominant clubs this NBL1 West season, Kelley is looking forward to the Tigers and Wolves going to battle in the Grand Final on Friday night.
“I think that they are a great team and they’ve come together at the right time, and I think we both have had a similar pathway into the Grand Final,” she said.
“We both have a high calibre of talent but I do think it’s a very good match up for us personally. We just need to lock down on defence, know where their strengths come from and try to play better so we can take out the win.”
Grand Finals were a regular occurrence for much of the 20-year stretch from their first title in 1997 to their last in 2016, but this is their first time back since and Kelley wants to ensure they make the most of it.
“I think if anything since we last won the Grand Final in 2016 we’ve missed out marginally just about each year and for me, that’s made me even hungrier to get that opportunity again,” she said.
“Now being captain, it has been something I’ve been striving for since the start of the season to lead the team to have that opportunity. I think, if anything, not making it in previous years having been close has made us even hungrier to get there. It makes that little bit more exciting for us to be there as well.”
One of the greatest sources of pride for Willetton is that they are a mostly local squad just topped up by Sam Lubcke and Alex Sharp.
“I think for us at Willetton, aside from Sam and Alex who we have brought in and have been amazing additions, we are all Willetton juniors and we’ve been here all our lives pretty much the majority of us,” Kelley said.
“I think that is something truly special for us and as a club, and we’re all very proud of being Willetton home growns. I think for us to bring a title back given who we’ve got out on the court, I think it means even more.
“I know teams can go out and recruit whatever players they like and that’s part of the sport, but for us it’s special knowing that we’ve been able to do from the players who have been here since we were juniors.
“I’ve been here since I was five and there’s a lot of girls who have been here their whole basketball lives. I think that’s something that gives us a fair bit of extra hunger and motivation to come through with the goods for the club.”
Joondalup Wolves coach Charles Nix understandably couldn’t be happier with the form his team is bringing into the Grand Final.
“We tried to build in the back half of the season and changed a couple of things, and made some tweaks to assist us to complete our ultimate goal which was to compete in this game on Friday night,” Nix said.
“We’re really happy with where we’re at but we understand we are coming up against a bit of a juggernaut in Willetton. We respect that they have and the coaching that they have so I think this week will be a lot about preparing for their individuals and making sure we understand where we think our points of difference are, and try to hone in on making sure we can get to those spots.”
While from the outside it’s easy to say this is the Grand Final this NBL1 West season deserved, for Nix his focus is on how to now try to beat the Tigers on Friday night.
“To be 100 per cent honest we would have just been stoked to play anyone in a Grand Final and to get there, but if you are look at it from a spectator’s perspective and you look at the game in the regular season, Bec Benson hit a trans three to push it into overtime, and then we have an overtime game,” Nix said.
“It definitely sets it up to be a pretty exciting spectacle for the fans and I’m hoping people get out and buy tickets, and fill the place up. I feel like it has the potential to be one of the best Grand Finals in probably the last 10 years just in terms of how close the two teams are.
“We finished on the same records, we had that overtime game and the preliminary finals were pretty similar in terms of us both winning by fairly big margins. I think the best two teams are in the Grand Final without being disrespectful to anyone and it should be a really good game. We’re excited about the challenge in front of us too.”
For Nix and players like Kayla Steindl, Alix Hayward and Nes’eya Williams and the majority of the coaching staff, the quest for this championship started at the Perth Redbacks back in 2018.
“It would be reward for three years with this group of grinding it out. If you look at the journey just within the group that we have, there are a bunch who were with me at Redbacks and we all know how that season finished with a combined two-point loss in the semi-final series,” Nix said.
“A few things happened there and that really cut deep for a lot of us, particularly Kayla and myself. Then in my first year at Wolves were three games clear and then Kayla was lucky enough to get pregnant so we lost her and Amy Kidner.
“We still finished top four that year but were dumped pretty viciously in the first round. Then we navigated the Covid season last year and had some success, there’s a bunch of people that look at last season and don’t put any value on that so we have that drive to be good this year so people know we have succeeded no matter the circumstances.”
While on the outside it has appeared a near perfect season for the Wolves, they have lost Isabelle Miotti and Amy Kidner along the way, have had to blend in Jasmine Martin and Rebecca Benson, and Nix is looking forward to now getting the ultimate reward for the journey they’ve been on.
“We have been fortunate enough to keep our squad together and grow, and that set us up really well for this year but then in our pre-season one of our most popular members of the team, and most athletic players in the league, Izzy Miotti, does an ACL a week out from the season,” Nix said.
“Then we are three weeks in with Amy Kidner having completed her comeback to play really well to be a massive part of our team again as one of our captain before going down with an ACL as well. The adversity that this group has had to navigate over the time I’ve been with them has been pretty significant.
“So that would make it a really nice reward if we can win this championship for how strong and resilient this group has been. I think you can tell from my voice, that it would mean the world to me and I’ve formed a really strong bond with this group and I genuinely love them, and care for them and want them to do well not just in basketball, but in life.
“Winning on Friday would be just reward but we know it’s not just going to happen. We’ve got a Willetton team who everyone is on which is fair because they have some super talent so we will have to be at our best and we are definitely preparing for them to be at their best. We’ll need to be really good and it’s going to be a cracking Grand Final.”