One of Western Australian’s greatest basketball players celebrated her 500th state league match in style on Friday night as Casey Mihovilovich led her Mandurah Magic to a road win over the South West Slammers as the NBL1 West action resumed.
Action in the NBL1 West competition took a forced break last weekend due to the COVID-19 restrictions, but the season resumed on Friday night to start Round 13 in the Women’s Division highlighted by the milestone of Mihovilovich.
She became just the second woman and third player overall to reach 500 games either in the SBL/NBL1 West competition and she showed she still has plenty left to offer as the games record of 512 held by Sue Williams is now well within reach.
Mihovilovich was instrumental in the Mandurah Magic beating the South West Slammers 89-68 at Eaton Recreation Centre as well with 14 points, four steals and three assists.
Also on Friday night in Round 13, the Perth Redbacks scored an impressive win on the road defeating the league-leading Joondalup Wolves 75-64 at HBF Arena.
Makailah Dyer was huge for the Redbacks with 27 points and four steals while Kayla Steindl put up 18 points and 14 rebounds for the Lady Wolfpack.
The Kalamunda Eastern Suns then snapped their four-game losing streak and ended the five-game winning run of the Warwick Senators with the 87-73 victory at Ray Owen Sports Centre.
Jewel Williams delivered 24 points and six assists for the Eastern Suns with Stacey Barr putting up another 28 points and 10 boards for the Senators.
The Willetton Tigers continued their winning form at home as well scoring the 93-79 victory against the Rockingham Flames at Willetton Basketball Stadium.
Sam Lubcke had another 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Alex Sharp 20 points and 14 boards for the Tigers. Alex Ciabattoni finished with 26 points and eight rebounds for the Flames.
Round 13 in the NBL1 West Women’s Division will now conclude on Saturday night with the Perth Redbacks hosting the Willetton Tigers, the East Perth Eagles facing the Perry Lakes Hawks, the Mandurah Magic hosting the Joondalup Wolves and the Cockburn Cougars at home to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN’S SEASON
ROUND 13 – FRIDAY NIGHT
SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 68 lost to MANDURAH MAGIC 89
It was milestone night for the Mandurah Magic as they headed to Eaton Recreation Centre on Friday night and they celebrated in style with the 21-point win over the South West Slammers.
The Magic were on their own four-game losing streak as they took on the winless Slammers on Friday night but with the motivation of celebrating the 500th game of the legendary Casey Mihovilovich, and Mandurah was able to record its third win of the NBL1 West season.
Mihovilovich was playing the 500th state league game of her remarkable career with the Magic that started when she was a 14-year-old in 1996.
It has been one of the great careers in WA basketball ever since including winning the 2011 MVP and named to the All-Star Five on five occasions and to the SBL 25th Anniversary Team.
Mihovilovich has been part of plenty of good teams across the 23 seasons she’s now played too including getting to Grand Finals in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2017 and 2018, but that elusive championship remains.
However, now that she has reached 500 games she is closing in on the all-time record of 512 held by Sue Williams and based on her current form, there’s no reason she can’t get there.
Mihovilovich was instrumental again in the win for the Magic on Friday night against the Slammers with 14 points, four steals and three assists in her 20 minutes of court time. Her aggressiveness in taking the ball to the rack was key and she ended up with 9/10 from the foul line.
It was an important win for the Magic too after they had lost their previous four matches and the victory improves them to a 3-7 record on the season under new coach Vlad Alava.
Carly Boag also delivered 15 points, 16 rebounds, four steals and three assists in a big performance for Mandurah while Georgia Adams was impressive with 15 points, four steals, three assists and two rebounds.
Rachel Halleen, who has been a teammate of Mihovilovich through her own 316-game career, also had eight points with Rachel Pettit contributing nine points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
It was a 13th consecutive loss for the season for the Slammers and once again their 34 turnovers proved costly and only allowed them to get off 57 field goals for the game along with 18 foul shots opposed to 61 field goals 40 free-throws for the Magic.
Zaya Black continued to fight hard for the Slammers and top-scored again with 15 points, six steals, three assists and two rebounds.
Cian Parsons also had 11 points and nine rebounds, Adele East 10 points and four boards, and Javene Fitch seven points and four rebounds.
JOONDALUP WOLVES 64 lost to PERTH REDBACKS 75
It was a big challenge for the Perth Redbacks on the road to the Joondalup Wolves on Friday night, and they were up to the task with Makailah Dyer firing up against her former coach.
There’s a natural rivalry there between the Lady Wolfpack and Redbacks with Charles Nix having left Perth to coach Joondalup and then with a host of players joining him headlined by Kayla Steindl, Nes’eya Williams and Alix Hayward.
You can’t argue with the results with Nix leading the Wolves to a West Coast Classic championship triumph last year and then an 8-1 record to be leading the NBL1 West Women’s Division coming into Friday night’s game at HBF Arena against the Redbacks.
But it was a motivated Redbacks outfit to open Round 13 looking to build on their past two wins against the South West Slammers and Perry Lakes Hawks.
It was a tight opening to the game with the Lady Wolfpack leading 14-13 by quarter-time and only narrowly extending that advantage to 31-29 by the half-time break.
But the Redbacks came out an inspired outfit for the second half and took charge of the contest with 24 points to 18 in the third quarter, and 22 to 15 in the fourth to come away with the impressive 75-64 victory.
Getting to the foul line 30 times and shooting 40 per cent from the field while holding the Wolves to 19 free-throws and 27 per cent shooting was a big factor in the eventual win for the Redbacks.
Makailah Dyer had another standout night for the Redbacks finishing with 27 points, four steals, three assists and two rebounds, but she had plenty of help too.
Captain Jess Jakens put up 15 points and 10 rebounds with Maddie Allen contributing 10 points, 11 rebounds and three assists, Shenae Hartree nine points and two steals, Raya Thompson five points and seven rebounds, and Denielle Ashworth five points and 12 boards.
It was just a second loss of the season for the Lady Wolfpack with Kayla Steindl playing 34 minutes and producing 18 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and two assists including hitting 3/5 from downtown.
Chelsea Belcher added 14 points, three rebounds and three assists for Joondalup, Amber Land 10 points, six rebounds and four steals, and Georgia Denehey eight points.
The Wolves have also welcomed back to the league import point guard Jasmine Martin. She had two points, three rebounds and two assists in 12 minutes.
KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 87 defeated WARWICK SENATORS 73
The form line was thrown out the window at Ray Owen Sports Centre on Friday night with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns taking out the win over the Warwick Senators.
The week off last weekend seemed to work a treat for the Eastern Suns while halting the momentum the Senators had been building.
The Suns came into the game having lost their past four matches while it was the opposite story for the Senators who entered on a five-match winning run, but it was a different story on Friday night.
It wasn’t an immediate hot start from the Eastern Suns though. The Senators did start the better away from home with 21 points to 17 in the first quarter, and then another 24 to 19 in the second to head into the half-time interval in control leading 45-36.
Things took a dramatic turn after the break, though, with the Eastern Suns coming out and taking control of the contest and producing what was likely their best half of the season under returning coach Craig Mansfield.
Kalamunda put up 25 points to 13 from Warwick in the third quarter, and then finished the job continuing the momentum in the fourth term with 28 points to 15 to come away with the impressive 87-73 victory on their home floor.
Jewel Williams was outstanding again for the Eastern Suns finishing with 24 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Mia Jacobs continues to grab her opportunities too producing 19 points, six rebounds and four assists while Sam Roscoe contributed 17 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, and Rebecca Motroni nine points, eight boards, four assists and three steals.
Stacey Barr continued her standout form for the Senators despite the eventual loss with 28 points and 10 rebounds while knocking down 5/11 from three-point range.
Mackenzie Clinch-Hoycard also had 14 points and nine rebounds for Warwick, Caitlyn Jones 11 points, four assists and three rebounds, and Nicole Jorre de St Jorre nine points, four boards and four assists.
WILLETTON TIGERS 93 defeated ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 79
The Willetton Tigers went a long way to securing a top two position while making that possibility tough for the Rockingham Flames with their 14-point win on Friday night.
Willetton came into Friday night’s game at Willetton Basketball Stadium with a 7-2 record while Rockingham was 8-4 and both sitting in the top four, so it was always going to be an important battle in the race for those spots at the pointy end of the standings.
It was a hot opening to the game too with both teams keen clearly to get back into action after having the week off thanks to the COVID-19 restrictions the week before.
They combined for 61 points in the first quarter which saw the Tigers score 32 points and the Flames 29 with some especially entertaining basketball on show.
It was more of the same in the second quarter even if not quite as many points going up with the Tigers still holding onto a 53-49 advantage by the half-time break.
Willetton broke away further in the second half including holding Rockingham to just the eight points in the third quarter with the Tigers going on to score the 93-79 win on their home floor.
The Tigers improve to an 8-2 record with their third straight win while the Flames are now 8-5 having lost two in-a-row.
The star Willetton pairing of Sam Lubcke and Alex Sharp again proved a match-winning combination. Lubcke finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and Sharp 20 points, 14 boards and four assists.
Emma Gandini led the Tigers well as point guard with 15 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three assists with Desiree Kelley contributing 11 points and six boards, and Hayley Winter eight points, six assists and four rebounds.
Alex Ciabattoni continues to show what a key signing she will be for the Perth Lynx in the WNBL with another 26 points and eight rebounds for the Flames.
Zoe Richards also had 10 points, three rebounds and three steals for Rockingham, Paris Duffield 10 points and two steals, and Christina Boag eight points and eight rebounds.