The Zambrero Willetton Tigers women began their 2023 campaign with a strong 9 point win over the Rockingham Flames on Friday night.
The Tigers were without their import, as well as having the likes of Jess Jakens, Grace Foster and Imogen Ayliffe out injured. This allowed the opportunity for some young gun Tigers like Ella Murdoch to have their NBL1 debut, and some second year girls to really shine.
Kiara Waite, only 16 years of age, contributed 11 points and 8 rebounds for the team. Alex Sharp led the way for the Tigers, with an impressive 24 points, 15 rebounds and 3 assists, showing her dominance in this league on the back of her solid WNBL season.
Following her WNBL debut as a Perth Lynx DP, Desiree Kelley was at home in the Tigers uniform and showed real fight when her team needed it, with 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.
Young Eva Cooke came off the bench to hit some big three’s when the Tigers’ backs were against the wall in the third quarter. She finished with 9 points, as did Sophie Doran along with a handy 6 rebounds.
It was a great start to the season for an undermanned women’s side.
The men were up against the reigning national champions in the Rockingham Flames Men. Despite leading by 4 at the 3 quarter time break, a 5 minute dominant display by Devondrick Walker in the final quarter stole the game from the clutches of the Tigers, with a final score of 89 – 80.
With import Darnell Hoskins Jr arriving just a week before the game, the group was still gelling, but managed to have a significant input from both the new additions in Hoskins, Gak and Worthington, as well as the core Willetton group of Scott, Fee, Black and Vigor.
Gak had an impressive first hit out finishing with 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Hoskins Jr finished with 15 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Damien Scott continued his great form with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals, while Hunter Clarke pulled down 10 rebounds.
There were promising signs from the group, and they were ready for a second challenge at Cockburn Saturday night.
The men came out firing at Cockburn, starting the first 2 minutes with an 8 – 0 scoring run. From there it was pure dominance by the Tigers, stretching the lead further and continuing to put a stop to any sort of scoring momentum that the Cougars could muster up. The Tigers took the win, with a final margin of 42 points.
Darnell Hoskins Jnr found his scoring rhythm with 10 points in the first quarter, finishing with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 steals in his 28 minutes. Gak had another stellar performance with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks in 20 minutes of court time.
The dominant performance by the Tigers saw contributions from the majority of the roster, with Damien Scott having 14 points and 6 assists, Hunter Clark was feeling it from the 3 point line, shooting 3 from 4 beyond the arc and finishing with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Youngsters Tom Gerovich and Josh Ibukunoluwa had 12 points and 6 rebounds each, while Worthington had 10 points, and Captain Andrew Black had a solid 7 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
The girls were up against a tougher challenge at the Cougar Den, with their undermanned side unable to overcome the Cougars. Despite the 17 points, 14 rebounds and 3 assists from Sharp, the Tigers were unable to stop the likes of Jewel Williams, Jessie Edwards, and Import Stephanie Gorman for the Cougars.
Another few young Tigers got their chance to debut in this game, as Bethany Banister-Jones and Piper Hearn hit the court for the first time.
Captain Desiree Kelley had another commendable performance with 18 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals. Kaya Wardle played some of her biggest minutes in her NBL1 career, scoring an impressive 9 points.
The Tiger women will look to recharge for round 2 with some special short term contract players to be added to the roster.
Keep an eye out for this announcement in the coming days!
ACTION SHOTS FROM THE GAME
Full photo galleries for both games can be found at the links below;