West Recap | Round 15 Sunday

Image credit: Vikki Edwards @vadele photography

Joondalup Wolves scored a pair of Sunday NBL1 West wins over Goldfields Giants while Geraldton Buccaneers made it five straight and replaced Warwick Senators in second spot having now won seven straight while going at 114 points a game.

WEST RECAP | ROUND 15 SATURDAY

WEST RECAP | ROUND 15 FRIDAY

WARDEN RETURNS HAVING ALREADY LIVED DREAM

THOMPSON RIGHTFULLY PROUD TO REACH 150

WEST RECAP | ROUND 15 THURSDAY

WOMEN

Joondalup Wolves (101) defeated Goldfields Giants (73)

The Joondalup Wolves continued their best run of form for the season with a dominant 101-73 home victory against the Goldfields Giants on Sunday afternoon.

The Wolfpack were at home at Arena Joondalup fresh off a 31-point win last Saturday night against the Eastern Suns and prior to that also downing the Willetton Tigers by 29.

They hosted a Giants team on the back end of a road double the having lost to the Rockingham Flames by 23 points the previous evening and it was the home team who made a strong start in their only appearance of the weekend.

Both teams might have been out of the playoff race but brought winning form into the weekend with the Wolfpack making a hot start on their home floor with 27 points to 18 in the first term with 4/7 three-point shooting.

Joondalup then completed a 13-0 run in the second period which helped their lead balloon out to 30 points and by half-time they were leading 57-29 thanks to shooting 22/43 from the field with 9/13 from long range opposed to 10/31 and 2/8 from the visiting Giants.

It was another 27 points to 21 from the Wolves in the third quarter and they opened up a 35-point lead and from there scored the 28-point win to make it three on the trot as they improve to a 6-11 record.

Kurstyn Harden put up 20 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on 9/14 shooting in the win for the Wolfpack with Lesila Finau adding 17 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals with 3/5 three-point shooting.

Jorjah Smith also knocked down 4/8 from deep for 14 point, five steals, four rebounds and three assists, Maddie Sutton 11 points, eight boards and three assists, Jhazmin Joson 11 points, Stefane Berberabe 10 points, and Laniesha Paddon nine points, six rebounds and five assists.

The Giants return home without a win but still with encouraging signs nonetheless sitting at 3-14 on the season with Nici Gilday producing another 31 points, seven assists, two rebounds and two steals on 4/7 three-point shooting to continue her hot form.

Erin Antosh added 15 points, 10 rebounds and two assists, Chloe Zorzi six points and four boards, and Josephine Odude six points and four rebounds.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 101 (Harden 20, Finau 17, Smith 14)

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 73 (Gilday 31, Antosh 15, Odude 6, Zorzi 6)

MEN

Joondalup Wolves (91) defeated Goldfields Giants (73)

CJ Turnage narrowly missed a triple-double but he still led the Joondalup Wolves to the 91-73 Sunday home win over the Goldfields Giants to see them remain solid in fifth position and a chance to break into fourth.

The Wolfpack were back home at Arena Joondalup for the Sunday afternoon match up with the Giants with Joondalup making their only appearance of the weekend and attempting to bounce back from losses to Willetton and Kalamunda.

Goldfields arrived looking to bounce back from losing to the Rockingham Flames in a thriller on Saturday night and with both teams looking to shore up finals positions, there was plenty on the line.

Joondalup made a strong start hitting six three-pointers in the first quarter on the way to leading 25-16 by quarter-time.

The Wolves remained in control of the contest with another 26 points to 15 in the second frame to be leading 51-31 by the half-time break on the back shooting 18/31 from the field opposed to the 9/30 from the Giants who did get to the foul line 18 times.

The lead for Joondalup got out to as much as 28 points in the second half and even though the Giants did try to mount a fightback, but the Wolves held firm and secured the important 18-point victory on their home floor.

The Wolfpack ended up shooting 48 per cent from the field to 39 from the Giants while hitting 16/36 from three-point range to 6/29 while also ending up with 19/26 from the foul line to the 13/22 from Goldfields.

The win improves the Wolves to a 12-7 record on the season to be solid in fifth position two games clear of the Mandurah Magic and then two games behind the fourth placed Willetton Tigers.

CJ Turnage continued his standout season for Joondalup with another 19 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds with Adili Kuerban continuing to step up since the departure of Ethan Elliott as point guard with 21 points with 6/13 three-point shooting.

Damon Ballantyne added 13 points, five assists and three rebounds, Jordan Wellsteed 13 points, six boards, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots, Caleb Davis 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Gabe Chadinha 11 points, three boards, three assists and three steals.

Goldfields have now lost eight of the last 10 matches to sit on a 9-10 record but are still two wins clear in eighth place and will be breathing a sigh of relief there's no real pressure coming from below with East Perth, Perry Lakes and Lakeside all on seven wins.

De'Sean Parsons top-scored for the Giants with 20 points to go with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals on 8/11 shooting even though he went 3/10 from the foul line.

Shaun Stewart added 18 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals with Jerome Reid hitting 3/7 from downtown for 13 points and two assists with Joshua Duach contributing eight points and nine rebounds, and Michael Jok seven points and seven boards.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 91 (Kuerban 21, Turnage 19, Ballantyne 13, Wellsteed 13)

GOLDFIELDS GIANTS 73 (Parsons 20, Stewart 18, Reid 13)

Warwick Senators (98) lost to Geraldton Buccaneers (118)

The remarkable run of dynamic basketball from the Geraldton Buccaneers continued on Sunday as they scored a seventh straight win beating the Warwick Senators 118-98 to move into second place.

That second position went on the line at Warwick Stadium on Sunday afternoon with the Senators at home and coming off a strong Saturday night win on the road to an Eastern Suns team fresh off their own wins against the Joondalup Wolves and Rockingham Flames.

Geraldton started the weekend with five straight wins before hitting the road for the double and opening it up beating the defending champion Mandurah Magic by 40 points on Saturday night.

That set up nicely a Sunday afternoon spectacle with both teams averaging well over 100 points a game and with second position going on the line.

Both teams got up 26 three-point attempts between them in the first quarter with the Senators making five and the Buccaneers four, but it was the Buccs narrowly leading 26-23 by the end of one.

Geraldton then pulled away in the second frame with 32 points to 22 while shooting 11/20 from the field and limiting the Senators to 9/22.

That saw the Buccs go into half-time leading 58-45 before the two teams showed their firepower combining for 62 points in the third quarter with Geraldton stretching its lead to 15 by three quarter-time.

That advantage got out to 24 points in the final quarter and the Buccaneers went on to win by 20 points to continue their dazzling run of form with the seventh straight victory.

The Buccs now sit in second place with a 14-4 record and in this run of seven straight matches, they have an average winning margin of 29 points while putting up an average of a remarkable 114.1 points in that stretch.

Joshua Keyes put in a standout performance in the win for Geraldton with 28 points, 12 rebounds and two assists on 13/15 field goal shooting.

Akeem Springs added 26 points on 5/7 three-point shooting while Johny Narkle contributed 22 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, Liam Hunt 15 points, 13 assists and seven boards, and Verle Williams 13 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Warwick now slip to third position with a 14-4 record with Todd Withers finishing with 28 points, six rebounds and two steals on shooting 4/13 from three-point range.

Elijah Pepper put up another 26 points, nine assists and eight rebounds despite going 3/12 from long range.

Mitch Clarke only played 18 minutes because of foul trouble and ended up with 16 points and three assists with Cooper Creek adding 10 points, five rebounds and two assists, and George Pearl seven points, six boards and four assists.

WARWICK SENATORS 98 (Withers 28, Pepper 26, Clarke 16)

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 118 (Keyes 28, Springs 26, Narkle 22)