Milestone nights for Ryan Godfrey with the Rockingham Flames or Aaron Ralph with the Geraldton Buccaneers didn’t quite go to plan as the NBL1 West season resumed on Saturday night but there were plenty of impressive performances with all 14 teams back in action.
After two weeks of postponements after the first ever NBL1 West got underway back on Round 1, the restrictions thanks to COVID-19 were finally lifted for the action to resume across Western Australia on Saturday night.
As a result, all 14 teams in the Men’s NBL1 West competition were in action with games from Kalgoorlie to Mandurah and throughout the Perth metropolitan area.
There was plenty to look out for too across the huge night of action including Rockingham Flames captain Ryan Godfrey reaching his 250-game milestone and Geraldton Buccaneers’ championship hero Aaron Ralph reaching 400 matches.
Neither were able to celebrate the occasion with a victory as the Willetton Tigers defeated Godfrey’s Rockingham Flames 83-65 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex while the Goldfields Giants beat Ralph’s Geraldton Buccaneers at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium 103-69.
Also on Saturday night, the team who played in the last five ever SBL Grand Finals, the Joondalup Wolves had a commanding 84-61 victory against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at HBF Arena.
Last year’s West Coast Classic Grand Finalists the Perry Lakes Hawks had a big 96-51 win against the shorthanded Perth Redbacks at Belmont Oasis while the Mandurah Magic won a close one 88-81 against the Cockburn Cougars at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.
The West Coast Classic champion Warwick Senators continued their strong start to life in NBL1 West as well beating the South West Slammers 96-60 at Warwick Stadium while the Lakeside Lightning thumped the East Perth Eagles 121-60 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.
NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN’S SEASON
ROUND 4 – SATURDAY NIGHT
JOONDALUP WOLVES 84 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 61
The Joondalup Wolves kept their perfect start to the NBL1 West season going on Saturday evening with a 23-point victory against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.
The Wolfpack opened up the season back in Round 1 with a 76-55 victory against the East Perth Eagles also on their home floor at HBF Arena as they prepared to host an Eastern Suns team on Saturday making their first appearance in NBL1 West.
The Suns were scheduled to travel to Geraldton to take on the Buccs back in Round 1, but that game was postponed thanks to the town still dealing with the effects of Cyclone Seroja last month before the last two weeks of the NBL1 West competition as a whole was also forced to be rescheduled.
So that set the stage for an interesting game on Saturday evening with the Eastern Suns getting off to an impressive start as they used all that pent up energy they’d built up over the previous month just eagerly awaiting to get their season in NBL1 West underway.
The Suns did well to open up a three-point lead by quarter-time and they still went into the half-time break on top of the Wolves 37-34.
They had thrown the gauntlet right down to the Wolfpack but couldn’t quite maintain the rage through the second half with the Wolves working their way on top to outscore Kalamunda 50 points to 24 after half-time to come away with the 84-61 victory.
The longer the game went the more the Wolves’ dominance on the glass came into play and they finished with 65 rebounds for the game to 44 from Kalamunda, with 19 to nine of those at the offensive end.
Former Wildcat, Cockburn Cougar and Perry Lake Hawk Lochlan Cummings was impressive for the Wolfpack with 18 points and three assists while hitting 4/9 from three-point territory.
Jonathan Wade showed he’ll bring plenty to Joondalup this year too with 18 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals while Sioeli Vaiangina contributed 13 points and 10 boards, and Rob Huntington nine points and six rebounds.
Bang Majok ended up with 11 points and three rebounds for Kalamunda, and Chris Johnson 11 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals despite going 4/15 from the field and 0/5 from deep.
Chuatwech Reath finished with eight rebounds for the Eastern Suns, Ryan Blanchett seven points and six boards, and Carl Aylett seven points and three rebounds.
PERTH REDBACKS 51 lost to PERRY LAKES HAWKS 96
The Perry Lakes Hawks backed up their strong start to the season in the opening round with another road victory on Saturday night, this time beating the Perth Redbacks by 45 points at Belmont Oasis.
Perry Lakes opened its NBL1 West season back in Round 1 with a road win in Kalgoorlie against the Goldfields Giants while the Redbacks were looking to bounce back from a tough first up performance away to the Warwick Senators.
And it was the Hawks who shot out of the blocks quickly despite the Redbacks being at home at Belmont Oasis for the first ever time for an NBL1 West match up.
Perry Lakes led 27 points to 15 by quarter-time and then didn’t let up the rest of the way, in fact only putting their foot down more and more as the evening unfolded.
The Hawks ended up leading by 15 points at half-time and 31 by three quarter-time before another 23 points to nine in the fourth quarter to take away the eventual 96-51 victory.
The win improves Perry Lakes to a perfect 2-0 record to start the new season on the back of reaching the West Coast Classic Grand Final in 2020.
If anything summed up the gap between the two teams the most it was the three-point shooting. Perry Lakes caught fire from deep going at 16/37 on the night at 43 per cent while Perth managed to hit just 2/24 at eight per cent.
Matt Leary hit 4/6 from downtown for the Hawks, Mitch Clarke 3/5, Ben Purser 2/5, Bailey Cole 2/5 and Rob Cassir 2/2.
Clarke finished the game with 22 points and three rebounds with Purser adding 14 points and 10 rebounds, Lewis Thomas 15 points, four boards and three assists, and Leary 12 points, four rebounds and three steals.
Perth Wildcats development player Andrew Ferguson also had nine points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks while Cassir had nine points, nine boards, two assists and two steals.
The Redbacks are still awaiting the arrival or availability of key players Marshall Nelson, Caleb White, Denzel Jackson and Ethan Vlahov, and struggled for the second time to start the season but will be hoping to only keep improving as the 2021 unfolds.
Louis Timms is one new arrival at the Redbacks up and going early in the season, and he top-scored with 15 points, six rebounds and two steals.
The league’s all-time assists leader Joel Wagner played his first game of the season as well for 12 points, four rebounds and two assists with Zac Gattorna adding nine points, five boards, two assists and two steals.
Lachlan Bertram added seven points and eight rebounds for the Redbacks and Tevin Jackson four points, four boards and three assists.
MANDURAH MAGIC 88 defeated COCKBURN COUGARS 81
The Mandurah Magic continued their good start to the 2021 season with a seven-point win at home over the Cockburn Cougars on Saturday night.
Mandurah has been battling for competitiveness in recent seasons and the retention of players a constantly frustrated battle for coach Aaron Trahair, but the Magic appear to have now got through those tough times and are going to start seeing some rewards on the court.
That’s at least based on the way their opening three matches in the NBL1 West have gone. Going back to the opening round and the Magic beat the South West Slammers before a narrow defeat to the East Perth Eagles.
They were back at home at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre against a Cockburn team on Saturday night who had some high expectations coming into the season, but who started off with a loss at home to the Rockingham Flames back in Round 1.
The Cougars were hunting their first win in the NBL1 West and they started well in Mandurah to lead by five points at quarter-time, and they were still up by four at half-time.
The Magic came out a different outfit after the break, though, to put up 28 points to 19 in the third quarter and that was enough to set up the eventual 88-81 victory as they improved to 2-1 on the season.
Jerami Grace had a solid opening round for Mandurah but he took things up a notch on Saturday night to show the talent that’s had him on the verge of following his father’s footsteps into the NBL, and already spent most of last season as a training player with the Adelaide 36ers.
Grace delivered a standout performance against the Cougars for the Magic with 33 points, six rebounds and four steals on the back of shooting a stunning 6/9 from three-point range.
He got plenty of help too in the win for Mandurah with Brian Carlwell producing 15 points and five rebounds, Xavier Shaw 15 points and six boards, Ben Smith 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Fred Williams seven points and 10 assists.
Jaarod Holmes has been quite the warrior for the Cougars over the course of 160 games now and has started off the new season well producing 23 points, five rebounds and three steals on Saturday night in Mandurah.
Nic Pozoglou added 15 points, six rebounds and four assists, Gavin Field 15 points, five boards and three assists, and Seva Chan 11 points, six steals and two assists.
GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 103 defeated GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 69
The Goldfields Giants might have spoiled the 400-game celebration of Aaron Ralph by beating the Geraldton Buccaneers by 34 points on Saturday night, but they showed exciting signs of what 2021 could hold for them at the same time.
The Giants were back at home in Kalgoorlie at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium for the second time already in the NBL1 West season while the Buccs were making their first appearance of 2021 having had their opening round match up at home postponed.
The Buccs’ first game of 2021 was always going to be a memorable one for championship winning veteran Aaron Ralph as he brought up his 400th game for the club.
It has been a remarkable journey for Ralph with his hometown Buccaneers. His career started back in 2006 and he has been a mainstay ever since eventually getting to celebrate that elusive championship in 2019 in what was his 399th game.
He did play during the West Coast Classic last season and had some games where he caught fire in remarkable fashion, but those matches didn’t count officially so he had to wait until Saturday night to reach his 400-game milestone.
But the Giants ensured that Ralph wouldn’t celebrate his milestone with a win as they opened their account for 2021 with the eventual 103-69 victory on their home floor in Kalgoorlie.
Goldfields extended their lead at every break leading by seven points at quarter-time and they then really blew the game open with 35 points to 13 in the second quarter to go into half-time leading 55-26.
The Giants still outscored the Buccaneers 48 to 43 in the second half to run out 34-point victors in the finish on the back of hitting 17/37 from three-point range and dominating the boards with 53 rebounds to 32, including 17 to 10 at the offensive end.
There were some huge performers for the Giants too with Deng Kuany putting up 28 points and six rebounds while hitting 6/11 from three-point land.
Julian Pesava also had 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists with Jerome Reid contributing 19 points and three boards, and Tom Atkinson eight points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Ralph had just five points and three rebounds for the Buccaneers in his milestone appearance with Taine Wattie top-scoring with 19 points and two assists.
Tomas Dobson also had 13 points and three rebounds for Geraldton and 438-game championship winning captain Mat Wundenberg nine points, nine rebounds and three assists.
WARWICK SENATORS 96 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 60
The Warwick Senators have brought their momentum from last year into the NBL1 West competition in 2021 after another commanding win against the South West Slammers on Saturday night.
The Senators turned out to be the dominant force in the West Coast Classic last season going on to win the championship with a star-studded line-up led by coach Mike Ellis, and now they have started the NBL1 West season in 2021 in flying form too.
On the back of opening round victories at home to the Perth Redbacks and away to the Slammers, the Senators were back to Warwick Stadium on Saturday night and came away with the 36-point victory in their second meeting already of 2021 with South West.
The Senators put themselves on track for the third straight win to start the season with a 30-point opening stanza to already lead the Slammers by 11 points by quarter-time.
Warwick then scored 15 point to nine in the second term to go into half-time leading 45-24.
It was more of the same in the second half with the Senators outscoring the Slammers 51 points to 32 to come away with the eventual 96-60 victory.
Caleb Davis was the top-scorer on the night for Warwick with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists with Justin King delivering 18 points and four boards, and Cody Ellis 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
Jarrod Hodge added 11 points and five rebounds with former Perth Wildcats championship winner Corban Wroe contributing four points, nine assists, four steals and three rebounds.
Young gun Ethan Elliott also impressed with eight points, five steals, three rebounds and three assists.
Ngor Nai finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in an encouraging showing for the Slammers with Cody Hill adding 14 points, five boards and four assists.
LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 121 defeated EAST PERTH EAGLES 60
The Lakeside Lightning showed why they were seen as one of the favourites to go all the way in the NBL1 West in 2021 by putting on a dominant showing at home on Saturday night beating the East Perth Eagles by 61 points.
Lakeside did lose their opening game of the season back in Round 1 but that was a competitive effort away to the Willetton Tigers while East Perth headed to Lakeside Recreation Centre on the back of a big loss to the Joondalup Wolves and narrow win against the Mandurah Magic.
With Corey Shervill joining the Lightning line-up for the night on the back of what he’s been doing with the Perth Wildcats this NBL season, it was just the boost they needed to become an unstoppable force against the Eagles.
Lakeside played an exciting, up-tempo game that was built around the three ball and coach Dave Daniels has made no secret that is how he wants his teams to play.
They put up 57 three-point attempts for the game in the finish and made 28 of them at an impressive 49 per cent as a team.
By the end of the evening, Jack Isenbarger knocked down 9/11 from three-point territory, Shervill 6/9, Ben Lee 3/9, Kayden Malseed 2/2 and Byron Pearson 2/8.
Shervill has proven himself a more than capable NBL player this season with his court time at the Wildcats, and now stepping back into the NBL1 West action on Saturday night he delivered 29 points and six rebounds for the Lightning while going 11/15 from the floor.
Isenbarger also finished with 29 points and three assists for Lakeside while Kyle Armour had 19 points and eight assists, Malseed eight points, two assists and two steals, and Nick Palleschi eight points and three assists.
It was a tough night out for East Perth with Matt Vinci finishing with nine points and three rebounds. Isaac Offereins also had nine points and four rebounds, Logan Thwaites eight points and Mitch Benger eight points.
ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 65 lost to WILLETTON TIGERS 83
The Willetton Tigers took their good form from home to start the season onto the road to beat the Rockingham Flames by 18 points on Saturday night.
Willetton started the NBL1 West season beating the Lakeside Lightning at home, and then under new coach Adam Nener, continued on with that momentum despite it being three weeks later at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.
Rockingham had also started its season with a road win over the Cockburn Cougars in Round 1, and had the added motivation on Saturday night with inspirational captain Ryan Godfrey celebrating his 250th game for the Flames.
The Tigers shot out of the blocks quickly too against the Flames putting up 24 points to 12 in the opening quarter. Willetton continued on with the momentum in the second term with another 26 points to 15 to see them head into half-time leading 50-27.
That proved to be a match-winning advantage and the second half was relatively even with the Tigers ending up cruising to the 83-65 victory.
Damien Scott showed he’s still a more than capable big-time scorer in the league by putting up 25 points, five rebounds, five steals, three assists and two blocks for Willetton while shooting 11/19 from the field and 2/4 from downtown.
Michael Vigor impressed as well as he settles into his life at a new club with the big man delivering 24 points and 12 rebounds with Andrew Black contributing 11 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Dylan Hampson eight points and four boards.
Brendan Redhead top-scored for Rockingham with 17 points with Cirkook Makuac Riak adding 12 points and nine rebounds, Travis Durnin 11 points and nine boards, and Justin Beard 10 points and six rebounds.
Ryan Godfrey finished with seven points, tree steals, two assists and two rebounds in his 250th appearance.