West Recap | Round 11 Friday

Image credit: Deacon Matthews | @deacs.jpg

Marshall Nelson once again lit up a former team with 50 points for the Eastern Suns on the same night the Perth Redbacks women, Rockingham Flames men and women, and Cockburn Cougars women kept impressing in NBL1 West.

NAAR THRIVING ON MOVE WEST TO JOIN FLAMES

CLARKE EXCITED TO RETURN TO RAPIDLY GROWING WEST

WEST RECAP | ROUND 10 SATURDAY

WOMEN

Lakeside Lightning (65) lost to Cockburn Cougars (84)

The Lakeside Lightning threw down the challenge to the undefeated Cockburn Cougars in the first half, but the league-leaders responded by holding them to four points in the third quarter on the way to the 84-65 victory.

The Cougars arrived at Lakeside Recreation Centre on a perfect 11-0 record for the season and welcomed back Daniel Raber and Sarah Mortensen, but lost captain and starting point guard Jewel Williams for the evening.

Lakeside were clinging to eighth position coming into the game and then took the challenge right up to the league's last remaining undefeated team.

The Lightning made it a focus to attack the basket early and got to the foul line nine times to nil from Cockburn in the first quarter, and as a result were leading 19-17 by quarter-time.

Even when Cockburn managed to open up a six-point lead in the second quarter, Lakeside hit back and by half-time were clinging to the 41-40 advantage on their home floor.

The game was right up for grabs coming into the second half but it didn’t stay that way for long with the Cougars defence locking in for the third quarter and holding Lakeside to four points on 2/14 shooting for those 10 minutes.

Up the other end, Cockburn scored 20 points and then added another 24 in the fourth frame on the way to the 19-point victory having trailed by one at half-time.

The Cougars improve to a perfect 12-0 record with the victory with Steph Gorman finishing up with 21 points, three steals, two assists and two rebounds with 5/12 three-point shooting while her defence again took her another step towards being Best Defensive Player once more.

Sarah Mortensen also had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Ruby Porter 17 points, three boards, two assists and two steals, Jessie Edwards 14 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks, and Daniel Raber 10 points, eight assists and five rebounds.

Lakeside are now 5-7 with the defeat and potentially could slip outside of the top eight by the end of the weekend with reigning MVP Teige Morrell finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks.

Oceane Kounkou added 17 points and five rebounds, Kennedi Williams 10 points and four assists, and Sam Lubcke nine points and three rebounds.

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 65 (Morrell 19, Kounkou 17, Williams 10)

COCKBURN COUGARS 84 (Gorman 21, Mortensen 18, Porter 17)

Rockingham Flames (98) defeated South West Slammers (83)

The Rockingham Flames kept their winning form going with their troops on board with the 98-83 win at home but credit to the South West Slammers for battling hard and even putting up a 34-point final quarter.

The Flames were back home at Mike Barnett Sports Complex having won their past four matches including three straight since their last win over the Slammers on the road which the morning after is when they moved on coach Lukas Carey with Ryan Petrik taking over.

The Slammers arrived having just two wins to their name this season and both coming against the bottom placed Eastern Suns, and then the defending championships started ominously with the Flames having 33 points to 15 in the first quarter.

That lead for Rockingham got out to 27 points in the second period and they did go into half-time in control leading 53-30.

That advantage was as much as 34 points in the third quarter too but the Slammers fought the game out impressively with 34 points to 15 in the final term including shooting 14/27 from the field to cut the Flames' winning margin to 15 by the final buzzer.

Rockingham's championship defence continues to build momentum as they further consolidate a playoff spot with five straight wins and now sitting on a 6-5 record.

Captain and 303-game two-time championship winner Shani Amos knocked down 4/5 from three-point range for the Flames on her way to 16 points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals.

Jess Jakens added 14 points, four rebounds and two assists, Sydney Erikstrup 13 points, nine boards, five assists, three steals and two blocks, Rosie Deegan 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, Aysha Kemp 10 points and four boards, Alex Sharp nine points, seven rebounds and four assists, and Marena Whittle eight points, nine boards and seven assists.

The Slammers are now 2-11 on the season following the defeat with impressive import guard Mykea Gray producing 28 points, eight assists, five steals and four rebounds.

Zaya Black added 15 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists, Cayla King eight points, four rebounds and four assists, and Sarah Cannell (nee Donovan) eight points and seven rebounds in the second appearance at the Slammers from the 188-game former Perry Lakes Hawks centre.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 98 (Amos 16, Jakens 14, Deegan 13, Erikstrup 13)

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 83 (Gray 28, Black 15, King 8)

Perth Redbacks (97) defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns (83)

The Perth Redbacks were forced to battle hard to overcome the bottom placed Kalamunda Eastern Suns but made it five straight wins with the eventual 97-83 home victory.

The Redbacks were back home at Belmont Oasis having won their past four matches to be sitting in third place and knocking on the door of a top two spot ahead of hosing the Suns who remained in last position with just the one win.

It was an impressive start away from home from the Eastern Suns on the back of shooting 11/18 in the first quarter to the 6/22 from the Redbacks to see the visitors leading 27-21 by quarter-time.

However, the Redbacks then turned things around in the second period with 31 points to 16 to go into half-time with the 52-43 advantage.

Perth were then able to build on that lead through the second half with it getting out to 15 points in the third quarter, and 19 in the fourth before securing the 14-point victory.

The win improves the Redbacks to a 10-3 record on the season to be closing in on the 9-2 Warwick Senators with Natalie Chou knocking down 4/7 from downtown on her way to 25 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

Anneli Maley put another performance in to strengthen her MVP claims with 24 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists with Alaska Rhebok contributing 13 points and four rebounds, Shenae Hartree 12 points and eight boards, and Georgia Denehey 12 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists.

The Eastern Suns remain in bottom spot at 1-10 with Karly Murphy putting in another strong showing inside with 26 points, 17 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Tayjanna McGhee-Pleasant also had 22 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, Emma Strelein 12 points, two boards and two assists, Denae Civich nine points, three rebounds and three assists, and Alyssa Bowen eight points, three boards and two assists.

PERTH REDBACKS 97 (Chou 25, Maley 24, Rhebok 13)

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 83 (Murphy 26, McGhee-Pleasant 22, Strelein 12)

MEN

Lakeside Lightning (93) defeated Cockburn Cougars (86)

They might have come into the game with a combined 4-20 record for the season but the two teams put on an entertaining contest with the Lakeside Lightning ending up prevailing 93-86 over the Cockburn Cougars.

The Lightning were back on their home floor at Lakeside Recreation Centre fresh off their third win of the season against the Mandurah Magic last Saturday night while the Cougars had just one win to their name so far in 2025 and had lost six straight.

Friday night's match up presented a chance for both teams to get a morale boosting win and it was an entertaining opening quarter as they combined for 53 points with Lakeside ending up leading 27-26 by quarter-time.

The Lightning then pulled away with a 10-0 scoring run in the second quarter to end up leading by as much as 13 points, and still being on top 51-41 by the half-time break.

The Cougars kept things interesting throughout the second half and got back within three points on several occasions in the final quarter including when Kortland Martin knocked down a three-pointer with just over a minute to play.

But they could never quite get over that hump and Lakeside had the answers to end up scoring the seven-point victory to make it back-to-back wins and improve to a 4-9 record in the process.

Lakeside's import big man AJ Wilson led their charge with 26 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals on 10/16 shooting to go with 6/7 at the free-throw line.

Isaiah Lewis added 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Josh Davey 13 points, 13 boards and four assists, Michael Garbellini 11 points and 3/5 three-point shooting, and Corey Shervill eight points, six rebounds and two assists.

Cockburn have now lost seven straight to be 1-12 on the season and only ahead of the winless South West Slammers with Kortland Martin top-scoring with 26 points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds on 4/10 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.

Josh Hunt finished with 15 points, four steals, three assists and two rebounds, Terrandus Smith 13 points, four boards and three assists, and Chan Nai 11 points and four rebounds.

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 93 (Wilson 26, Lewis 17, Davey 13)

COCKBURN COUGARS 86 (Martin 26, Hunt 15, Smith 13)

Rockingham Flames (116) defeated South West Slammers (69)

It was top against bottom and it went to script with the Rockingham Flames making it 10 straight wins with Isaac White producing another 32 points in the 116-69 against the import less and winless South West Slammers.

The Flames were back on their home floor at Mike Barnett Sports Complex having won their past nine matches to have replaced the Warwick Senators in top spot with last week's overtime win against the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Last time they played the Slammers was only a month ago when they won by 33 points at Eaton Recreation Centre and the job for South West was even tougher this time around.

Import centre Jamal Poplar was serving the second game of his suspension with Calvin Whipple also sidelined, and Rockingham delivered 36 points to 12 in the first quarter on the back of shooting 14/24 from the field with 5/11 from downtown.

Both teams put up 21 points in the second quarter with the Flames leading 57-33 by half-time before that lead continued to grow in the second half growing to 42 points in the third frame, and 52 in the fourth.

Rockingham ended up scoring the 47-point win to make it 10 in-a-row on the season and to remain in top spot with a 12-1 record with Isaac White providing another 32 points on 12/18 shooting including 4/7 from three-point territory.

Travis Durnin continues to have a standout season after celebrating his 200-game milestone with 20 points and four rebounds on 4/8 three-point shooting.

Jervon Pressley also had 15 points, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks, Laquinton Ross 12 points, six boards, four assists and two steals, Justin Beard 11 points, two rebounds and two assists, and Emmett Naar nine points, 12 assists, five boards and three steals.

It was always going to be tough to compete for the Slammers without their two imports with Jordan Wayne debuting and shining with 14 points, six rebounds and two assists on 4/6 three-point shooting.

Pharell Keats added 12 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals, and Nathan Walsh 11 points and two boards.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 116 (White 32, Durnin 20, Pressley 15)

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 69 (Wayne 14, Keats 12, Walsh 11)

Perth Redbacks (91) lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns (106)

One thing Marshall Nelson does better than anything is put his former teams to the sword and he returned to Belmont Oasis and scored a Perth Redbacks team he won a championship with by delivering 50 points as the Kalamunda Eastern Suns won 106-91.

Nelson has a spectacular 178-game SBL/NBL1 West career already winning championships at the Redbacks in 2017 and Rockingham Flames in 2022, but what he is now making a habit of is saving his best performances against his former teams.

When he first joined Rockingham back in 2022 he did it to the Redbacks to inspire a miraculous come from behind win and then in the finals last year, he put 48 points on the Flames to eliminate them while on the way to leading the Willetton Tigers to a grand final.

Now on Friday night it was his first visit back to Belmont Oasis as an Eastern Suns player and he was on the mood to put on a spectacular show to overshadow the return of former Sun Joe Cook-Green for the Redbacks.

Both teams were desperate for a win too to move closer to a top eight position with Kalamunda coming into it at 5-7 and Perth 5-8, and despite Nelson scoring 15 points in the first quarter for the Eastern Suns, the Redbacks were leading 28-26 by quarter-time.

Nelson then produced another 16 points in the second quarter and Kalamunda scored 30 as a team to be leading 56-45 by the half-time break with Nelson going into the locker room already with 31 to his name Jack Purchase's overall NBL1 record of 55 set earlier this season was in his sights.

While Nelson was being spectacular, the Redbacks were staying right in the contest and had closed the lead for the Eastern Suns to six again by three quarter-time.

But the Suns did end up having all the answers with 30 points to 21 in the fourth quarter including Nelson knocking down a three ball with a minute to play to not only seal the win, but to secure his 50-point night before subbing out shortly after.

The Eastern Suns scored the 15-point win to stay in the playoff hunt with a 6-7 record with Nelson the star with his 50 points to go with 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals on 16/21 shooting from the floor, 8/10 from downtown and 10/11 at the foul line.

Travis Fee also had 16 points, eight rebounds and two assists, Terrico White 14 points and seven boards, and Joel Vaiangina eight points, five assists and four rebounds against one of his former teams.

The Redbacks are now 5-9 following the defeat to now be 2-5 at home in 2025 with Joe Cook-Green playing his first game since April 26 and put up 21 points on 5/13 three-point shooting.

Emmanuel Kanwei added 24 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, Jonah Underwood 14 points, 12 boards, two assists and two blocked shots, Matt Teale 14 points on 3/4 three-point shooting, and Lochlan Cummings eight points and four assists despite 0/8 shooting from downtown.

PERTH REDBACKS 91 (Kanwei 24, Cook-Green 21, Underwood 14, Teale 14)

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 106 (Nelson 50, Fee 16, White 14)