The stunning momentum of the Perth Redbacks has seen them set up quite the tantalising preliminary final now with the Perry Lakes Hawks while the Rockingham Flames flexed their muscles also to set up a clash with the Lakeside Lightning.
The two semi finals of the NBL1 West Men’s Division took place on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks and Rockingham Flames advancing to preliminary finals on Saturday while the seasons for the Mandurah Magic and Willetton Tigers came to an end.
The finals of the inaugural NBL1 West season got underway last weekend beginning with the elimination finals that saw the Mandurah Magic make history defeating the Cockburn Cougars with the Perth Redbacks impressing in a road win against the Warwick Senators.
The qualifying finals then saw the Perry Lakes Hawks beat the Rockingham Flames, and the Lakeside Lightning down the Willetton Tigers with the two winners booking in the rights to host preliminary finals this Saturday night.
Meanwhile, the two losers still had earned a second chance and that meant they were the hosts for Friday night’s semi finals with a spot in the preliminary finals up for grabs.
That saw the Rockingham Flames prove too strong for the Mandurah Magic winning 99-76 to book in a preliminary final battle on Saturday night against Lakeside at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
Travis Durnin came up huge for the Flames with 15 points with Justin Beard adding 14, Cirkook Makuac Riak 13, Ryan Godfrey 11 and Brendan Redhead 10. Jerami Grace fought valiantly for the Magic with 24 points.
The other semi-final took place at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Perth Redbacks causing their second upset inside six days to bundle out the Willetton Tigers in straight sets with the 92-90 victory.
Louis Timms delivered again for the Redbacks with another 36 points and 21 rebounds while Tevin Jackson was instrumental in controlling the game’s tempo with 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Damien Scott had 17 first quarter points and 27 for the night with Michael Vigor adding 24 and 11 rebounds.
That means the Redbacks take on the Hawks in Saturday night’s preliminary final at Bendat Basketball Centre.
SEMI FINALS
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 99 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 76
The two Peel rivals had never met in a game meaning so much in the Men’s competition setting the stage for a night to remember at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.
The Flames and Magic were fighting over a spot in the preliminary final against the Lakeside Lightning with Rockingham getting to play host on the back of earning a double chance by finishing fourth at the end of the regular season despite losing last week to the Perry Lakes Hawks.
The Magic, meanwhile, made history last Friday night by beating the Cockburn Cougars and advancing out of the first round of the playoffs for the first ever time in club history.
Mandurah won that game despite the absence of Cairns Taipans NBL superstar Scott Machado while the signing of Perth Wildcats young gun Luke Travers never saw him hit the court.
While the Magic weren’t able to turn out their NBL stars for the cut-throat semi-final on Friday night, the Flames came out with plenty of NBL championships between two of their veteran stars, Tom Jervis and Greg Hire.
However, it was the depth and number of strong contributors that ultimately proved the difference on the night with the Flames just having too much quality, experience and firepower for the undermanned Magic.
The Magic had come a long way in 2021 after years in the wilderness and they had finally advanced to the second round of the playoffs, but this would be the night of the Flames.
Rockingham came out on fire putting up 36 points in the opening quarter to just 19 from the Magic. Another 27 points to 19 in the second term and the game was all but over at the half-time break with the home team in control leading 63-38.
Rockingham closed out the deal with the 99-76 victory to book in a fascinating Saturday night preliminary final battle with the Lightning at Lakeside Recreation Centre with a spot in the Grand Final up for grabs.
It was an impressive display from the Flames who shot 50 per cent from the field and 41 per cent from deep opposed to 42 and 38 per cent from the Magic. They also won the rebound count by nine and forced them into 16 turnovers.
The fact so many Rockingham players contributed to the win was the most impressive aspect and what will make them hard to stop on Saturday night for the Lightning.
Travis Durnin missed much of the second half of the season but showed his quality by top-scoring with 15 points and three rebounds on shooting 6/11 from the floor.
Justin Beard also delivered 14 points on 4/7 shooting from downtown with Cirkook Makuac Riak contributing 13 points and three rebounds, Ryan Godfrey 11 points and six boards, and Brendan Redhead 10 points.
Tom Jervis also put up nine points, seven rebounds and four assists in less than 15 minutes while Callum Beard had nine points and seven boards, Atem Bior seven points and three assists, and Greg Hire two points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Jerami Grace did what he could to try and give Mandurah a chance with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists including hitting 3/6 from downtown.
Fred Williams added 17 points and two steals as well for the Magic while Xavier Shaw produced 12 points and three rebounds, and Akau Deng eight points, six boards and two blocked shots.
WILLETTON TIGERS 90 lost to PERTH REDBACKS 92
The Willetton Tigers and Perth Redbacks put on quite the show with a preliminary final spot on the line on Friday night, and played in front of a tremendous atmosphere at Willetton Basketball Stadium, it was a shame one team had to lose and see their season end.
The stage was set for a tremendous contest with Willetton coming into the game on their home floor on the back of a narrow qualifying final loss to Lakeside but having earned a second chance after a standout regular season under Coach of the Year Adam Nener.
Then there were the Redbacks who have been the great enigma of this NBL1 West season. Their best basketball has been as good as anyone but they haven’t been able to find the consistency they were searching for.
A big reason for that was that rarely did they have their outstanding starting five of Joel Wagner, Marshall Nelson, Zac Gattorna, Tevin Jackson and Louis Timms.
However, they had that five last Saturday night for a tremendous win in the elimination final on the road to the Warwick Senators and they were back to lead their charge against the Tigers with a spot in the preliminary final on the line against Perry Lakes.
The Redbacks continued their momentum from last week with two aggressive moves to the basket from Zac Gattorna and Louis Timms before the game’s first four points, but Damien Scott responded with the next four for the Tigers.
Then after Tevin Jackson put the Redbacks up 14-6 and Adam Nener called a timeout, Scott came out and hit the next eight points for Willetton and on the back of his 17 opening quarter points, it was the Tigers leading 28-25 by quarter-time.
It didn’t take long in the second quarter for Perth to regain the lead, though, and it was all on the back of Jackson, Gattorna and Nelson attacking the backet, and the powerful presence of Timms inside.
However, Willetton stayed within touch courtesy of triples from Hunter Clarke and Connor Mincherton, but Perth went into half-time on the back of the last five points to Timms leading 50-48.
It had been a tremendous first half contest with the result tough to pick at the break but it was the Redbacks who threatened to break the game open during the third quarter.
Timms came out to hit his team’s first seven points of the second half before a couple of strong drives and makes from Jackson saw them up four midway through the third period.
Then a Jackson three-point play, Nelson tech foul conversion, and Gattorna bucket had the visitors up five, and then nine on the back of consecutive and-ones going the way of Gattorna where he was awarded for attacking the bucket despite a Willetton defender in his way.
The job was ahead of Willetton to find a way to stop the Redbacks momentum at three quarter-time and that became tougher when Timms drained a three ball. Timms then helped the Redbacks to a 12-point lead with 6:30 left but Michael Vigor kept Willetton in touch with a three-pointer.
It would be Mincherton who would be the spark to give the Tigers a sniff down the stretch showing why he is one of the best young talents in the country and why he belongs on an NBL roster somewhere.
Despite Vigor and then Scott eventually fouling out down the stretch, it was Mincherton who threatened to be the hero for the Tigers.
He hit a three with 5:30 left to make the margin six and then drained another to bring it back to five with 1:15 on the clock. He then attacked the basket and scored soon after to make it a three-point game but couldn’t convert the and-one.
Timms scored a steadier for the Redbacks but Mincherton wasn’t done yet and hit yet another three ball to make it a two-point ball game with the shot clock turned off.
Willetton fouled Jackson and CJ’s oldest son showed ice in his veins to hit both to seal the eventual 92-90 win for the Redbacks to get them into a preliminary final with Perry Lakes while eliminating Willetton six days after doing the same to Warwick.
Louis Timms was just an unstoppable force for the Redbacks even though Michael Vigor still played well for the Tigers. Timms was a monster, though, with 36 points and 21 rebounds while showing good control of his shot selection going at 16/23 from the field and 3/6 from beyond the arc.
It was Tevin Jackson who truly was the spark behind the Redbacks performance. He was able to put the clamps on Damien Scott somewhat after quarter-time while also controlled the tempo his was playing at while delivering 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
Zac Gattorna appears on the brink of signing his first deal at an NBL club and showed why with his 19 points and five assists with Marshall Nelson adding nine points, 11 rebounds and four assists, and Joel Wagner four points and four assists.
Willetton will be disappointed to see its season end, but the Tigers have an enormous amount to be proud of with the way they were so good in 2021 largely on the back of young, local products and without an import.
Damien Scott ended the night with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists with Michael Vigor putting up 24 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
Connor Mincherton finished with 17 points and four rebounds, Hunter Clarke 10 and eight boards, and Roosevelt Williams four points, five rebounds and five assists.
NBL1 WEST MEN’S DIVISION 2021
FINALS WEEK 1
FRIDAY – QUALIFYING FINAL
Lakeside Lightning 95 defeated Willetton Tigers 92
FRIDAY – ELIMINATION FINAL
Mandurah Magic 63 defeated Cockburn Cougars 62
SATURDAY – ELIMINATION FINAL
Warwick Senators 88 lost to Perth Redbacks 111
SATURDAY – QUALIFYING FINAL
Perry Lakes Hawks 90 defeated Rockingham Flames 75
FINALS WEEK 2
FRIDAY – SEMI FINALS
Rockingham Flames 99 defeated Mandurah Magic 76
Willetton Tigers 90 lost to Perth Redbacks 92
SATURDAY – PRELIMINARY FINALS
Lakeside Lightning v Rockingham Flames – Lakeside Recreation Centre 7pm
Perry Lakes Hawks v Perth Redbacks – Bendat Basketball Centre 7pm
FINALS WEEK 3
SATURDAY – GRAND FINAL
Lightning/Flames v Hawks/Redbacks – Bendat Basketball Centre 7pm