GAME 1 – Away vs Slammers
After the bye week, it was straight back into it for both of our Willetton Tiger teams with a double header. Friday night saw the teams travelling down to Bunbury to take on the Slammers on their home deck.
While the women’s game remained close at quarter time with the Tigers having a 3 point advantage, they shot into a 20 point lead by the half. The Tigers continued their strong performance in the third quarter, and despite being outscored 17-9 in the final term, they finished with the victory over the Slammers by 29 points.
With a fairly even scoring spread, and 4 players reaching double figures it was a team effort down in Bunbury. Desiree Kelley contributed across the board with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Tayla Hepburn and Emma Gandini scored 14 points a piece, with Hepburn pulling down 10 rebounds to give herself a double double for the game. Grace Foster scored 11 points off the bench, and Sam Lubcke was a welcomed return in this game with 9 points and 3 rebounds.
The men entered into an arm wrestle with Bunbury, with a slow start seeing them down by 10 points at quarter time. After a strong second quarter, they managed to put their noses in front by 3 points at the half. With teams scoring an equal 23 points each in the third quarter, Willetton maintained their 3 point advantage, and the stage was set for a big final quarter.
Cometh the moment, cometh the men! Some big shots from 3 point land by Damien Scott and Michael Vigor, along with the great touch around the basket from Oliver Hayes-Brown, and multiple contributors off the bench saw the men storm home by 17 points.
Damien Scott finished with an impressive 21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, while Hayes-Brown added to his double double tally with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Hunter Clarke contributed 12 points and 9 boards, and Joshua Ibukunoluwa put up an efficient 10 points and 5 rebounds in just 13 minutes.
Game 2 – Home vs Magic
The Tiger women were coming into this game with their full squad with Sam Lubcke back in this weekend, and Alex Sharp back into the rotation after missing the game against Bunbury. Though this game was looking like a tough match up with the Magic having some great form recently, the Tigers jumped to a 10 point lead at quarter time with an impressive opening display.
They didn’t back down in the second quarter, holding onto a 12 point lead at half time. The Tigers’ team rebounding effort, along with the seamless transition offence kept the Magic at bay for the remainder of the game, and the Tigers came home with the chocolates winning by 31 points.
With 5 players in double figures, and a total of 34 points from the bench, the game demonstrated the depth of the roster. Emma Gandini put up 15 points, along with 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Alex Sharp had a double double with 15 points and 11 rebounds as well as 8 assists and 3 blocks in a stellar performance. Other double figure contributors were Desiree Kelley with 15 points, Hayley Winter with 11 points, and Sam Lubcke with 15 points. Young guns Sophie Doran, Imogen Ayliffe, Sophie Maines, Eva Cooke and Monique Williams all hit the scoreboard.
In between the 2 games, we celebrated the 250 game milestone reached by Michael Vigor a few weeks ago. In our first home game since the milestone was reached, it was great to be able to acknowledge the contribution he has made to the league over the course of many seasons in front of our home crowd.
The Tiger men faced a tough task against the 5th ranked Magic side without Oliver Hayes-Brown. They started well, going into quarter time with a 2 point lead, and they held the momentum at half time with an 11 point lead. In the third quarter that momentum shifted, and the Tigers were outscored by the Magic 14 – 31 for the quarter. The game continued to be physical in nature, and the boys showed grit and resilience to keep the scoring even in the final quarter.
Despite an incredible display by Damien Scott, and an impressive shooting clip from Michael Vigor, the boys went down by just 7 points. Scott finished with 37 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. Michael Vigor had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists shooting at 58% from the field, and 42% from the 3 point line. Josh Ibukunoluwa continued his form, with 7 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists off the bench in 13 minutes.
Next week the men travel up to Geraldton to take on the Buccaneers, and the women have a bye. Look out for the men’s team sporting orange socks next weekend for the NBL1 Mental Health round in partnership with Lifeline. For more about this round and information surrounding mental health in our community, click here.
Game Night Photos
Thanks to June for the great shots on Saturday night. Check out the full gallery for the women’s game here, and for the men’s game here.
