NBL1 West Recap | Sunday Round 6

The Warwick Senators women are looming ominously with another big win in the NBL1 West on Sunday while the Perry Lakes Hawks men made another statement and so did the Kalamunda Eastern Suns with Seb Salinas shutting the door on Warwick in game 499.

There was the one women's match to close Round 6 on Sunday with the Warwick Senators beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 82-56.

The Eastern Suns men then beat the Senators 77-69 while the Perry Lakes Hawks defeated the Geraldton Buccaneers 86-75.

NBL1 WEST RECAP | SATURDAY ROUND 6

NBL1 WEST RECAP | FRIDAY ROUND 6

WOMEN

Defending champs keep building with fourth straight win

The return of Sam Roscoe wasn’t enough to lift the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at home on Sunday as the defending NBL1 West and National Champion Warwick Senators took out the 82-56 win.

The Senators might have lost their opening two games of their championship defence this season while awaiting the arrival of some key players, but despite not having MVP Stacey Barr, they have welcomed in new import Karly Murphy this weekend.

She was outstanding on debut on Saturday night in the win at Warwick Stadium against the South West Slammers, and backed it up on Sunday at Ray Owen Sports Centre against the Eastern Suns.

While the Suns did welcome back Roscoe for a second stint with the club having also played with Lakeside and Warwick, and winning a championship with the Lightning, they didn’t quite have enough up against the Senators.

Warwick pulled away to a 10-point lead already by quarter-time and continued to build on that advantage throughout the afternoon to record a first road win of the 2023 season.

The Senators went on to lead by 15 points at half-time, 19 at three quarter-time and to win by 26 to improve to 4-2 on the season having won four in-a-row with Kalamunda slipping to 3-4 with three successive losses.

On the back of her 22 points and six rebounds on debut in less than 15 minutes the previous night, new Senators import Karly Murphy delivered 17 points, 14 rebounds and two assists while this time being out there for nearly 28 minutes.

Chloe Forster added 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard 16 points, nine boards, three assists, two steals and two blocks, Nat Burton nine points and nine boards, and 445-game veteran Nicole Jorre de St Jorre eight points, seven assists and four rebounds. 

Sam Roscoe battled hard in her first appearance of the season for the Eastern Suns with 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals on 10/17 shooting in 33 minutes.

Makailah Dyer added 16 points and four assists, Ella Thornton-Elliott seven points, five boards and three assists, and Georgia Denehey seven points and four assists.

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard got 'em jumping ?

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MEN

Salinas helps sink Senators for Suns ahead of game 500

Two trademark jumpers from Seb Salinas as he approaches his 500th game helped close the deal for the Kalamunda Eastern Suns to score the impressive 77-69 home win over the Warwick Senators.

The Suns were fresh off beating the Lakeside Lightning on the road the night before with dynamic New Zealand guard Joe Cook-Green going off for 43 points as they prepared to host a Senators team at Ray Owen Sports Centre they have traditionally struggled with.

With the Senators still missing their two main ball handlers Ethan Elliott and Uche Dibiamaka, it opened the door for the Eastern Suns and they were able to walk through it on their home floor where they are yet to lose this season.

Kalamunda started well and maintained the lead virtually the whole afternoon including being up by as much as 14 points in the fourth quarter.

While the Senators kept on fighting, they could never quite seriously threaten down the stretch and ultimately it was two dagger jumpers, including a three ball from Salinas in his 499th game that helped seal the deal for the Eastern Suns.

He will become just the second man in league history to reach 500 games next Saturday at home to the Mandurah Magic, and he reminded his old coaching staff Luke Brennan and Ben Ettridge now in charge at the Senators what he's still capable of.

It was an all-round strong showing from the Eastern Suns as they improved to 5-3 on the season in Aaron Trahair's first season in charge while building a strong fortress at home.

On the back of his 43 points the night before, Joe Cook-Green was again terrific for Kalamunda with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists. 

Albert Almanza had an especially strong first half on the way to 21 points, four boards and three assists with captain Rob Huntington adding nine points and five rebounds, and Reece Maxwell seven points, two boards and two assists.

Caleb Davis battled valiantly for the Senators with 20 points, five rebounds and two assists with George Pearl adding 14 points and eight boards, Cody Ellis nine points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Hussayn Ford six points and nine boards.

Hawks stay dominant at home with win over Buccs

The Perry Lakes Hawks continued their ominous form this season even with yet to be at full strength beating the Geraldton Buccaneers 86-75 on Sunday afternoon.

Perry Lakes came into the contest fresh off beating the East Perth Eagles on Friday night for a fourth straight win even without Ben Purser, Rob Cassir and with Andrew Ferguson yet to play awaiting his season to finish in Japan.

The Hawks did get back both Purser and Ferguson on Sunday at Bendat Basketball Centre to welcome a Buccs team who started their road double this weekend beating the Mandurah Magic the previous evening despite the absence of import guard Shaun Stewart.

Stewart tried to play on Sunday but clearly was well short of 100 per cent and went scoreless in his 18 minutes, but Geraldton still threw everything at Perry Lakes.

Ultimately the home team was too strong to remain unbeaten this season at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Geraldton was able to stick with Perry Lakes for the first three quarters even leading by a point at quarter-time, by five at half-time and still by four at three quarter-time.

However, Perry Lakes turned on the gas in the fourth period and Geraldton had nothing left in the tank themselves with the Hawks outscoring them 22 points to seven to go from four points down to win by 11.

It's a fifth consecutive win for Perry Lakes who remain second at 8-1 while Geraldton is 5-3 after another road trip where they go home with a win and a loss.

Mitch Clarke has returned to Perry Lakes this season a better player than the one who already was starting point guard on two championship teams, and finished with 25 points, six rebounds and two steals in Sunday's win.

Daniel Alexander put up 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds with Matt Leary scoring another 13 points while Andrew Ferguson made his first appearance of the season with the Grand Final MVP putting up three points in 13 and-a-half minutes.

Liam Hunt backed up a season-best performance from the 2019 Grand Final MVP against Mandurah on Saturday with another 16 points, nine boards and three assists for the Buccs.

Malik Meunier also had an especially strong first three quarters to end up with 22 points, five boards, four assists and two steals with Zac Gattorna adding 10 points and three assists.

What a dime by Zac Gattorna ?

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