The playoffs started early between the Lakeside Lightning and Willetton Tigers on Saturday afternoon as they resume hostilities in this Friday’s NBL1 West qualifying final as both teams looking to take advantage of the double chance they earned.
The Lightning and Tigers went to battle on Saturday afternoon at Lakeside Recreation Centre with second position up for grabs in the final game of the regular season with the winner to earn the right to host this weekend’s qualifying final.
Both teams went into the contest guaranteed of finishing either second or third and thus having a finals double chance locked away, but the all important home court advantage for the qualifying final to open the NBL1 West Men’s Division playoffs was up for grabs.
Both teams were coming off playing the night before to open Round 18 in the NBL1 West Men’s Division with Willetton winning big by 61 points at home to the Geraldton Buccaneers while the Lightning suffered a disappointing road loss to the Mandurah Magic by 19 points.
So in a lot of ways it was the start of a series between the Lightning and Tigers with Lakeside getting to start on their home floor, but they were minus key players Jarrad Prue, Jay Bowie, Ben Lee and Corey Shervill.
The stage was set for a thrilling finish to the regular season and the game delivered, played at playoff intensity from the outset and going right down to the wire.
Jack Isenbarger nailed another triple coming out of a timeout with 1:30 left in the contest for Lakeside and that would prove the killer blow.
That sealed the win and second position for the Lightning with a 17-5 record while Willetton finished the regular season in third at 15-6. The two teams now battle on Friday back at the same venue in a qualifying final.
Jack Isenbarger came up huge for the Lightning finishing the afternoon with 34 points on 12/18 shooting from the field and 6/9 from the three-point line.
Kyle Armour also delivered 20 points and six assists against his former club with Rowan Mackenzie finishing with 18 points and four steals, Tom Parkinson 14 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Kayden Malseed six points and two assists.
Willetton has still done enough to earn a finals double chance with Damien Scott ending the afternoon at Lakeside with 26 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Connor Mincherton also produced 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds with Tom Gerovich contributing 12 points and seven boards, Michael Vigor 11 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Hunter Clarke six points, three boards and three assists.
Lightning coach Dave Daniels couldn’t have been prouder of the performance of his team to book in the home court advantage for the return encounter with the Tigers.
“It felt like a playoff game and while home court might not be everything, it sure is an important factor especially with this new finals format,” Daniels said.
“So I couldn’t be prouder of our guys who just dug in and fought to get this win to earn that home court advantage.
“We were missing some guys and a bunch of our guys who stepped up haven’t always been playing a ton, but they showed what they can do like Tom Parkinson who was huge. Kayden Malseed was monstrous and then there was Jack and all the guys, but I thought our bench really stepped up.”
Daniels couldn’t be happier to now going into the playoffs on the back of that win that was full of heart against the Tigers which came little over 12 hours after a disappointing Friday night loss in Mandurah.
“I just love these guys and they are an incredible bunch of men. We did not play our best game against Mandurah and they got us into their game, and had us playing at their tempo, but we just didn’t have it,” Daniels said.
“So to bounce back the next day after our guys played a lot of minutes in that game for a 2pm start playing for home court so for those guys to turnaround and do that I’m super proud.
“We’ve been through so many ups and downs and different line-ups, but the culture pulls us through and we’re proud of where we’ve finished up at the end of the regular season.”
The Lightning have no shortage of championship winning veterans in their squad like Jarrad Prue and Kyle Armour along with quality imports Jay Bowie and Jack Isenbarger, but it’s the depth with the local emerging talent that Daniels is most excited about.
The likes of Rowan Mackenzie, Josh Davey, Kayden Malseed, Tom Parkinson and Nick Palleschi provide a good blend of local Lightning talent with youth and experience to highlight just what Daniels is talking about.
“That’s what you want, you want to build those championship programs where obviously you have guys who can be your stars and do special things, but when the opportunity is there for those other guys you want them to be ready,” Daniels said.
“I still think that’s one of the benefits of what we went through with the WCC last year. Guys got to play key minutes and big roles when they might have never normally done that.
“They developed quicker because of that and now when we call on them this year, they are much more ready than they otherwise would be. Josh Davey is the most obvious example.
“With Jarrad not playing any doubles this year, he’s really a three or four but he’s playing against bigger guys and he is battling, and is just a warrior. I’m so proud of him and he had eight rebounds in the second half of this game.”
Daniels knows that a significant challenge awaits the Lightning on Friday night against the Tigers to open the playoffs and they aren’t looking beyond that, but he couldn’t be prouder with the chance his group have given themselves by finishing the regular season in second place.
“We just start over again now. It’s a new season and you get through the regular season and we know Willetton are a really good team. We’re 1-1 with them and we know this game could have gone either way,” Daniels said.
“I just think it’s going to be a battle. Vigor got in foul trouble early so that did change his game a bit so we don’t know if that will happen again.
“We’ll have Jay back, we’re hoping to have Jarrad and we hope to be just about full strength and either way, I trust that our guys are going to come out and compete, and have a chance to win. That’s all you can ask for.
“When we got together in January to start training camp, we set the goals we want to achieve and we wanted to finish one or two by the end of the regular season. To now be able to have that home court for this first playoff game is a reward for the hard work these guys have put in.
“Jay has only played half the games so we haven’t had him much, Shervill has been out and only played six, Jarrad has played less than half, and it’s not just having them. It’s about shuffling line-ups and roles, and I’m just so proud of their resilience. I know we’re not the only ones with injury, but I’m really proud of how they’ve handled it.”
NBL1 WEST MEN’S DIVISION 2021
ROUND 18
FRIDAY
Willetton Tigers 103 defeated Geraldton Buccaneers 42
Perth Redbacks 70 lost to Cockburn Cougars 96
Perry Lakes Hawks 97 defeated Warwick Senators 88
East Perth Eagles 81 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 55
Mandurah Magic 93 defeated Lakeside Lightning 74
Rockingham Flames 96 defeated Joondalup Wolves 85
SATURDAY
Perth Redbacks 94 defeated Goldfields Giants 79
Lakeside Lightning 97 defeated Willetton Tigers 95
Joondalup Wolves 94 lost to Geraldton Buccaneers 100
Cockburn Cougars 101 defeated South West Slammers 59