Recap NBL1 West | Round 2 Saturday

The Warwick Senators spoiled the homecoming of the East Perth Eagles in NBL1 West on Saturday while the Mandurah Magic had a double against the Perth Redbacks, and the Geraldton Buccaneers enjoyed a night of celebrations at home.

Saturday night's women's NBL1 West results saw the Warwick Senators beat the East Perth Eagles 94-79 while the Mandurah Magic defeated the Perth Redbacks 68-57, the Joondalup Wolves downed the South West Slammers 85-45, and the Lakeside Lightning beat the Goldfields Giants 105-47.

The men's contests then saw the Geraldton Buccaneers raise their championship banner and celebrate the 500th game of Mat Wundenberg beating the Willetton Tigers 102-95.

The other games then saw the Senators beat the Eagles 104-88, the Magic down the Redbacks 99-96, the Wolves prevail 98-82 against the Slammers, and the Giants open their season defeating the Lightning 83-80.

RECAP NBL1 WEST | ROUND 2 FRIDAY

WUNDENBERG WANTS FOCUS ON BANNER AS HE REACHES 500

EAGLES BEGIN NEW ERA BY RETURNING TO MORLEY

RECAP NBL1 WEST | ROUND 1 THURSDAY

WOMEN

East Perth Eagles (79) lost to Warwick Senators (94)

The East Perth Eagles unveiled their redeveloped home at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Saturday but the Warwick Senators weren’t in a charitable mood going on to win 94-79.

East Perth has called Mirrabooka's Herb Graham Recreation Centre home for the past five years, but Morley Sport and Recreation Centre has undergone a revamp in the process and the Eagles returned for a first home game there on Saturday against the Senators.

The two teams played back on Thursday night at Warwick Stadium with the Senators winning by 15 points before both teams also opened Round 2 playing on Friday night.

The Eagles lost a tight one to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns while the Senators stayed unbeaten to start 2024 beating the Perry Lakes Hawks.

After Warwick started well on Saturday, East Perth went on a 7-0 scoring run to lead by six late in the first quarter.

East Perth was still clinging to a 46-44 advantage at the half and were up by six again during the third period, but Warwick were working its way on top and then dominated the final quarter.

The Senators put up 27 points to 13 in the fourth period to claim the 15-point win to improve to 3-0 on the season and send the Eagles to 0-3.

Two-time MVP Stacey Barr was made to earn every point but finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Senators on the back of knocking down 8/16 from three-point range.

Chloe Forster added 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists with Isabelle Miotti adding 14 points, nine boards and six assists, and Karly Murphy 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Laci Hawthorne top-scored once more for the Eagles with 19 points and 11 rebounds with Bri Bailey hitting 3/5 from three-point range on the way to 15 points.

Sarah Allen also had 14 points and six assists with Mary Goulding contributing 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Tessa Morrison 10 points, four assists and three rebounds.

The Eagles are back on the road to the Perth Redbacks next Saturday at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App while the Senators are on the road to the Rockingham Flames.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 79 (Hawthorne 19, Bailey 15, Allen 14)

WARWICK SENATORS 94 (Barr 26, Forster 21, Murphy 14, Miotti 14)

Perth Redbacks (57) lost to Mandurah Magic (68)

The Mandurah Magic showed their character by bouncing back from Friday night's heavy loss to beat the Perth Redbacks 68-57 on the road less than 24 hours later.

It was a night to forget on Friday for the Magic at home to the Rockingham Flames where they were blown away to lose by 44 points as they faced the challenge to bounce back away to the Redbacks at Belmont Oasis on Saturday.

The Redbacks had started the season with a loss away to the Joondalup Wolves but it was a competitive showing while they await the arrival of Perth Lynx WNBL captain Anneli Maley.

Mandurah did welcome Nicole Fransson into the line-up on Saturday while still awaiting Sam Roscoe and McKenna Dale, and they were able to open up a seven-point advantage during the opening period.

The Magic were still leading 35-28 by half-time and then outscored the Redbacks 18 points to 12 in the third frame to set up the eventual 11-point victory for a first win of 2024.

Fransson made her mark in her first appearance too with 15 points, 16 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks while Emma Klasztorny top-scored with 17 points along with nine boards, five steals and two assists.

Casey Mihovilovich continued to lead the way in her 556th appearance with 10 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals with Rachel Halleen contributing nine points and four steals, and Tiana Palmer six points.

Brooke Malone top-scored for the winless Redbacks with 18 points and six rebounds while Mikayla Pirini finishing with 11 points, three steals, three rebounds and two assists, and Shenae Hartree eight points, seven boards, six steals and two assists.

The Redbacks remain home to host the East Perth Eagles next Saturday at 5pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Magic are away to the Lakeside Lightning on Friday.

PERTH REDBACKS 57 (Malone 18, Pirini 11, Hartree 8)

MANDURAH MAGIC 68 (Klasztorny 17, Fransson 15, Mihovilovich 10)

Joondalup Wolves (85) defeated South West Slammers (45)

The Joondalup Wolves kept their unbeaten start to the season going proving too strong for the South West Slammers at home, winning 85-45.

The Wolfpack opened their season last Thursday beating the Perth Redbacks and backed that up against the Slammers at HBF Arena Joondalup on Saturday.

It was a tough task for the Slammers who had taken on the defending champion Cockburn Cougars the night before and arrived at Joondalup on a 34-game losing streak.

It didn’t take long for Joondalup to take control with a 13-0 run in the first quarter to open up a 15-point advantage.

That lead for the Wolves grew to 25 points in the second quarter, 30 in the third and 40 in the fourth with the final margin that 40 points.

Sarah Toeaina continued her hot start to the season at a new club leading the Wolves with 24 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Darien Huff also had 19 points, six boards, four assists and three steals, Laniesha Paddon 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, and Julia Chandler seven points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Zaya Black has come back to the Slammers this season having been part of Cockburn's championship last year. She top-scored with 15 points to go with six rebounds and four assists.

Yasmeen Smith battled hard for 13 points, five rebounds and two steals but fellow import Chervelle Cox again struggling going scoreless on 0/8 shooting and five rebounds in 14 minutes.

The Wolfpack head to Kalgoorlie next Saturday to play the Goldfields Giants at 6pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Slammers have the bye before also heading to Kalgoorlie on Saturday April 20.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 85 (Toeaina 24, Huff 19, Paddon 11)

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 45 (Black 15, Smith 13, Fitch 8)

Lakeside Lightning (105) defeated Goldfields Giants (47)

The Lakeside Lightning welcomed new import Marnelle Garraud and kept their impressive start to the season going beating the Goldfields Giants 105-47 at home on Saturday night.

Lakeside opened its season beating the Willetton Tigers last Thursday and were at home to a Giants team playing their first game of 2024 on Saturday night.

The Lightning got a huge performance out of Teige Morrell last week and welcomed another import, Garraud, into the line-up for Saturday and they proved quite the unstoppable combination.

Lakeside were already leading 28-14 by the end of the opening quarter before another 25 points to eight in the second period to open up a 53-22 half-time advantage.

It was another 35 points to 15 in the third quarter, and 17 to 10 in the fourth with the Lightning's lead getting out to as much as 60 points before settling at 58 at the final buzzer.

Marnelle Garraud starred in the win for Lakeside with 30 points, six rebounds and four steals while hitting 7/18 from behind the three-point line.

Teige Morrell produced another 24 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and four steals with Tia Ucich adding 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Latysha Derecourt 13 points, three boards and two assists.

It was a tough initiation to the season for the Giants with Anne Zipser top-scoring with 19 points to go with 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.

The road double to open the season for the Giants wraps up on Sunday against the Rockingham Flames at 11:30am local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Lightning play host to the Mandurah Magic on Friday.

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 105 (Garraud 30, Morrell 24, Ucich 17)

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 47 (Zipser 19, Clancy 8, Pentland 7)

MEN

Geraldton Buccaneers (102) defeated Willetton Tigers (95)

It was a night of celebration for the Geraldton Buccaneers to open their 2024 season and they backed it up with the 102-95 victory against the Willetton Tigers.

There was a lot to celebrate at Active West Stadium on Saturday night in the first game of the season for the Buccs. Not only were they raising their championship banner from 2023, but also celebrating the 500-game milestone of championship winning captain Mat Wundenberg.

It was a sold out crowd for the occasion as they looked to extend their home winning streak too having not lost on their own home floor since July 23, 2022.

Neither team was at full strength with the Buccs still awaiting the arrival of former SBL MVP Josh Braun while Willetton was missing championship winning big man Michael Vigor.

Geraldton did start strongly to lead by eight points already by quarter-time with that lead extending to 11 points in the second period.

The home team was still on top 44-41 by half-time with the lead getting out to 14 in the fourth quarter, but Willetton kept on coming and made things interesting down the stretch.

When Michael Dupree landed a three-pointer for Willetton, suddenly it was just a five-point ball game with just under two minutes to play.

Travis Fee then made it three after a Geraldton turnover, but a steadying bucket to Josh Keyes was crucial with last year's Grand Final MVP Johny Narkle stretching the lead again, and a dunk from the emerging Robert Griechen then iced the win for the home side on a memorable night.

New recruit Nik DeSantis top-scored on debut for Geraldton with 21 points and seven assists with Johny Narkle producing 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two steals, and Robert Griechen a career-best 16 points, four boards and two blocked shots.

Championship captain Aaron Ralph hit four three-pointers on his way to 14 points with Liam Hunt adding 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists fresh off playing in Germany professionally for the first time this off-season.

Damien Scott put up 23 points and five rebounds for Willetton while hitting 4/6 from behind the three-point line with Michael Dupree contributing 23 points and two steals.

Marshall Nelson made his first appearance for the Tigers too for 18 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists with Deng Gak adding seven points, three assists and two boards.

The Buccs hit the road next week to play the Slammers on Saturday night and Magic on Sunday. Willetton will host the Perth Redbacks on Friday night.

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 102 (DeSantis 21, Narkle 19, Griechen 16)

WILLETTON TIGERS 95 (Dupree 23, Scott 23, Nelson 18)

East Perth Eagles (88) lost to Warwick Senators (104)

The Warwick Senators continued their impressive start to the 2024 season with a third victory already beating the East Perth Eagles 104-88.

The Eagles were playing their first home game back at the renovated Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and looking to pay the Senators back for beating them in the season opener last Thursday at Warwick Stadium.

Both teams started Round 2 with a game on Friday night with the Senators coming back from the dead to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks while the Eagles also won their first game of 2024 at the expense of the Eastern Suns.

East Perth then didn’t have the services of 156-game NBL veteran Sunday Dech at home on Saturday, but the Senators are also still awaiting Zac Gattorna to make his first appearance as he works his way to overcome a back complaint.

Having already beaten the Eagles nine days earlier, the Senators shot out of the blocks racing to a 15-point lead in the first quarter and were never headed from there.

The Warwick lead grew to 17 points in the second quarter and then 34 in the third on the back of putting up 36 points to 20 in the third period alone.

East Perth did attempt a fightback in the final period and put up 27 points but that only managed to cut the final deficit to 16 points with the Senators improving to 3-0 while the Eagles are 1-2.

Brody England has previously played 101 games between the South West Slammers and Joondalup Wolves, but he is having his best start to a season at the Senators. He had another 21 points and four rebounds with 5/7 three-point shooting.

Perth Wildcats NBL guard Michael Harris also had 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals with former Adelaide 36ers NBL import Todd Withers producing 17 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

George Pearl also had 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, Cody Ellis 11 points, six boards and three assists, and Logan Thwaites 10 points and three rebounds.

Perth Wildcats NBL forward David Okwera delivered 20 points, 13 rebounds and six assists for East Perth with Sebit Reath adding 18 points and 11 rebounds, Taylor Young 15 points, four boards and four assists, and Nic Filpo 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

The Eagles are back on the road to the Perth Redbacks next Saturday at 7pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App while the Senators are on the road to the Rockingham Flames.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 88 (Okwera 20, Reath 18, Young 15)

WARWICK SENATORS 104 (England 21, Harris 20, Withers 17)

Perth Redbacks (96) lost to Mandurah Magic (99)

Lachlan Bertram joined the Mandurah Magic in the search of more court time and he turned that opportunity into a match-winning performance against his old team on Saturday night.

Bertram had played 47 games with the Perth Redbacks, but court time was limited and in a bid to get more time to show what he could do, he joined the Magic in 2024 and showed just what he was capable of back at Belmont Oasis against his former team.

Both teams were hunting a first win for the season too with the Redbacks losing first up last Thursday away to the Joondalup Wolves while the Magic lost to the Cockburn Cougars and then in an overtime heartbreaker on Friday at home to the Rockingham Flames.

Looking to make up for perhaps letting one slip the night before, Mandurah came out strongly opening up a 13-point lead in the first quarter against the Redbacks.

That grew to 18 in the second quarter and 21 in the third but then the Redbacks mounted a fightback desperate to try and avoid an 0-2 start on a season that promised so much coming into it.

The Redbacks had fired all the way back to being in front by a point heading into the fourth quarter with the lead fluctuating right through the rest of the contest.

Bertram scored again in his career-best night to have Mandurah leading by four with five minutes to play, and the Magic were soon up by six before the Redbacks scored the next eight points to grab the lead with just over two minutes on the clock.

It was Bertram who restored Mandurah to the lead with a huge three-pointer but Maris Colton immediately responded in kind for the Redbacks, and Perth were back in front thanks to Miles Gibson with just over a minute to go.

Joel Murray brought scores back level with two free-throws for Mandurah but Bertram wasn’t done yet. He scored again after a Gibson turnover and turned it into a three-point play.

That put the Magic up three and that's the margin they would win by with Jarrod Molnar able to ice the game at the foul line and then Joe Cook-Green missing the attempt to send it into overtime on the buzzer.

There was a lot of huge performances in the win for the Magic with Joel Murray finishing with 26 points, 14 assists and four rebounds.

Jarrod Molnar also had 25 points with Lachlan Bertram having a career-best 22 points to go with nine rebounds, four assists and two steals while Michael Durr had 17 points and seven rebounds despite his foul trouble.

Miles Gibson top-scored for the Redbacks with 35 points and 11 rebounds with Joe Cook-Green adding 23 points, eight boards, five assists and three steals, Tevin Jackson 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Ioannis Dimakopoulos 11 points, 10 boards, four assists and two blocks.

The Redbacks remain home to host the East Perth Eagles next Saturday at 7pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Magic are away to the Lakeside Lightning on Friday.

PERTH REDBACKS 96 (Gibson 35, Cook-Green 23, T Jackson 15)

MANDURAH MAGIC 99 (Murray 26, Molnar 25, Bertram 22)

Joondalup Wolves (98) defeated South West Slammers (82)

The Joondalup Wolves continued their unbeaten start to the season on the back of another dominant CJ Turnage performance but they were pushed hard by the South West Slammers before prevailing 98-82.

The Wolfpack opened the season beating the Perth Redbacks last Thursday and were back home at HBF Arena Joondalup on Saturday hosting a Slammers team who impressed to beat the Cockburn Cougars at home on Friday to open Round 2.

Joondalup did open up a 23-17 advantage by quarter-time before leading 59-46 at the half on the back of 36 points to 29 in the second period.

The Slammers continued to make a contest of it, though, and even scored nine straight points in the third quarter, but the Wolves did enough to hold out for the 16-point victory on their home floor.

CJ Turnage put up 38 points last Thursday against the Redbacks and backed that up against the Slammers with another 35 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Christian Jurlina also finished with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, Ethan Elliott 14 points and seven assists, Caleb Davis 13 points and 12 rebounds, Jordan Wellsteed 10 points and four boards, and Victor Chadinha seven points and eight rebounds.

Buay Tuach did all he could to keep the Slammers in the contest with 39 points, 11 rebounds and three assists on 14/23 shooting from the field and 9/10 at the free-throw line.

Alex Holcombe also contributed 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks with Devan Craig adding 11 points and five boards.

The Wolfpack head to Kalgoorlie next Saturday to play the Goldfields Giants at 8pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Slammers host the Geraldton Buccaneers on Saturday night too.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 98 (Turnage 35, Jurlina 17, Elliott 14)

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 82 (Tuach 39, Holcombe 12, Craig 11)

Lakeside Lightning (80) lost to Goldfields Giants (83)

It's the start of a new era at the Goldfields Giants and it got off to a perfect start with a thrilling 83-80 road victory against the Lakeside Lightning.

There's plenty of new faces at the Giants in 2024 including coach Matthew Van Pelt to coincide with the renovation of their home in Kalgoorlie at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium, and they opened the season with a road double starting Saturday against the Lightning.

Lakeside suffered a narrow loss in an impressive performance last Saturday to the Willetton Tigers setting up Saturday's match up with the Giants, and it proved quite the entertaining and dramatic affair.

Every time the Lightning threatened to pull away the Giants would respond. Lakeside led by as much as nine points in the first quarter but by quarter-time Goldfields were back within one.

The trend continued with Lakeside again leading by 11 in the second period but by half-time that advantage was only 45-41.

Then in the third frame the Lightning again went up 10, but from that moment the Giants gathered themselves for a 15-0 scoring run that saw them lead by five into the fourth quarter.

That set the stage for a dramatic finish where the lead continued to change hands after Marshawn Blackmon converted a three-point play for Lakeside to tie scores up with 4:45 to play.

Mayo Malek scored to put Goldfields back on top before captain Jerome Reid landed from beyond the arc to stretch the lead to five.

But Dom Jackson hit a three of his own to bring Lakeside back within two with three minutes on the clock and in the last three minutes the lone score would be a free-throw for the Giants from Randy Bell.

Lakeside did have a couple of looks at tying the game, but three-point attempts from Josh Davey and Mike Adewunmi wouldn’t fall and Goldfields held on to win by three.

Randy Bell top-scored for the Giants in the win with 22 points, five rebounds and five assists with De'Sean Parsons completing a triple-double with the last defensive rebound to seal the game. He had 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

Kon Anguik also had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Jerome Reid 11 points and six boards, and Mayo Malek 10 points and six rebounds.

Josh Davey top-scored for Lakeside fresh off being part of the Australian 3x3 team at the Asia Cup in Singapore. He had 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Marshawn Blackmon also produced 18 points, four rebounds and three assists for the Lightning, Mike Adewunmi 14 points, seven boards, four assists and three steals, and Dom Jackson 12 points and five rebounds with 3/5 shooting from deep.

The road double to open the season for the Giants wraps up on Sunday against the Rockingham Flames at 1:30pm local time via NBL1.com.au or the NBL1 App. The Lightning play host to the Mandurah Magic on Friday.

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 80 (Davey 21, Blackmon 18, Adewunmi 14)

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 83 (Bell 22, Parsons 19, Reid 11, Anguik 11)