West Recap | Round 16 Friday

Image credit: @ChyonKondylasPhotography

The NBL1 West MVP race heated up on Friday with Isaac White having 47/13/9 for Rockingham Flames and Elijah Pepper 44/5/5 for Warwick Senators while young gun Tana Kopa shone for Willetton Tigers with 30 points and eight triples.

WEST RECAP | ROUND 16 THURSDAY

LAKESIDE'S MACKENZIE STILL DARING TO DREAM

WEST RECAP | ROUND 16 TUESDAY

WOMEN

Warwick Senators (83) lost to Perry Lakes Hawks (97)

Both teams look capable of being championship contenders at full strength but were well short of that on Friday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks prevailing 97-83 win over the Warwick Senators.

The Senators were back home at Warwick Stadium still without gun back court trio Stacey Barr, Robbi Ryan and Chloe Forster with Perth Lynx WNBL forward Kiara Waite remaining sidelined.

Perry Lakes are also still without the injured Jayda Clark while Alex Fowler is with the Australian Opals at the FIBA Asia Cup so it was always going to be about who could adapt the better.

Warwick were still on their home floor and sitting in second spot but coming off a 20-point loss to the then bottom placed Eastern Suns while the Hawks were looking to back up last Saturday's win over the Perry Lakes Hawks.

It was 24 points apiece in the opening quarter before the two teams combined for 52 points in the second term with Warwick scoring 27 of to be narrowly leading 51-19 by the half-time interval.

It was in the third term where Perry Lakes took control with 29 points to 17 with 12/19 shooting from the field to the 7/15 from the Senators.

The lead for the Hawks got out to 20 points in the final term before they scored the 14-point victory to steady themselves in the top eight with a 9-8 record with three games still left in their season.

Megan McKay stepped up with 20 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals in a fascinating match up with former Perry Lakes teammate Nat Burton.

Grace Stone also finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks with 4/7 three-point shooting, Maddy Dennis 17 points, five rebounds and two assists, and Mia Satie eight points, eight assists and three rebounds.

Warwick have now lost consecutive games for the first time in 2025 to sit at 13-4, but that's hardly a surprise without Robbi Ryan, Chloe Forster, Stacey Barr and Kiara Waite.

In the absence of that trio of back court stars, young gun Kyana Weir once again stepped up with 20 points, four assists and three rebounds for the Senators.

Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard is joining Geelong Venom for the upcoming WNBL season and had 15 points, nine assists and five rebounds with Nat Burton adding 13 points, eight boards, three assists and two steals, and Keira Reilly 10 points.

WARWICK SENATORS 83 (Weir 20, Clinch Hoycard 15, Burton 13)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 97 (McKay 20, Stone 20, Dennis 17)

Rockingham Flames (107) defeated Willetton Tigers (54)

The Willetton Tigers continue to struggle without superstar Zitina Aokuso with the Rockingham Flames replacing them in fourth place as a result of the 107-54 win with Alex Sharp delivering 34 points against her former team.

Fourth position in the NBL1 West went on the line at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Tigers doing well to still find a way to beat the South West Slammers last week in the absence of their leading scorers Aokuso and Ajulu Thatha.

They then went from playing the bottom ranked team to the defending champions on Friday night with Rockingham in some ominous form including a 27-point win at home on Tuesday night against local rivals the Mandurah Magic.

Whoever won the game would be sitting in fourth position by the end of the night with Willetton managing to hit back from a nine-point deficit to lead 21-19 by the end of the first quarter.

Rockingham took control once more in the second period with 28 points with 4/5 three-point shooting while Willetton managed just the 10 points on 3/11 shooting.

That saw the Flames leading 47-31 by half-time and then the reigning champs went on with the job from there with a massive 37 points to 12 in the third term with a remarkable 8/12 three-point shooting performance.

It was another 23 points to 11 in the final term with the Flames going on to score the 53-point victory to make it three consecutive wins to move into fourth position with an 11-7 record.

Alex Sharp enjoyed the night against a team she won a championship, MVP and grand final MVP with by producing 34 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocked shots for Rockingham.

Marena Whittle added 23 points, 16 rebounds, three assists and two steals, Alex Ciabattoni 18 points, four steals, three assists and two boards, Aysha Kemp 14 points and three rebounds, and Sydney Erikstrup eight points and seven boards.

The Tigers now slip from the top four with an 11-7 record and having lost three of their past four matches with 262-game veteran Desiree Kelley finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds on 5/10 shooting.

Emily Counsel added 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Eva Langton eight points, eight boards and two assists.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 107 (Sharp 34, Whittle 23, Ciabattoni 18)

WILLETTON TIGERS 54 (Kelley 14, Counsel 12, Langton 8)

Joondalup Wolves (86) defeated South West Slammers (72)

The Joondalup Wolves continued their late season surge with a fourth consecutive win to beat the South West Slammers 86-72 at home on Friday night.

The Wolfpack came into the match up at Arena Joondalup having won their past three matches to even still have the most outside of hopes of sneaking into the playoffs should they continue winning.

They were at home to the bottom placed Slammers too who had lost their past eight matches with a tight start to the battle with Joondalup narrowly leading 18-17 by quarter-time.

It was then just 23 points to 20 in the second frame for the Wolves on the way to the 41-37 lead by the half-time break.

It was in the third term with Joondalup started to push away further opening up a 12-point advantage which got out to as much as 14 in the last term, and that would remain the final margin.

The Wolfpack finished the game shooting 42 per cent from the field to go 28 including 10/28 from three-point range to 6/28 but the Slammers managed 24/31 from the foul line to 14/22.

The Wolves have now won their past four matches to improve to a 7-11 record with Lesila Finau producing 17 points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocked shots with 4/9 from three-point range.

Maddie Sutton added 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Stefanie Berberabe 14 points, five boards, five assists and five steals, Laniesha Paddon 11 points, nine rebounds and two blocks, and Jhazmin Joson 11 points and two boards.

The Slammers remain in last place at 2-16 wit Cayla King top-scoring with 21 points and six rebound with fellow import Mykea Gray adding 17 points, five steals and three assists.

Sarah Cannell also continued her miraculous comeback with 10 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, Kate Fielding nine points and four boards, and Zaya Black eight points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 86 (Finau 17, Sutton 16, Berberabe 14)

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 72 (King 21, Gray 17, Cannell 10)

MEN

Warwick Senators (125) defeated Perry Lakes Hawks (96)

The Warwick Senators kept them in touch for a top two spot by hitting back from Sunday's loss with the 125-96 win over the Perry Lakes Hawks with Elijah Pepper finishing with another 44 points and 37 in the first half.

The Senators were back home at Warwick Stadium on Friday night looking to bounce back from Sunday's loss on the same floor to the Geraldton Buccaneers which saw them slip to third position with four games remaining.

The Hawks came into the match up having lost their past seven matches but still just clinging to their playoff dream just given the Mandurah Magic, Goldfields Giants and Kalamunda Eastern Suns aren’t locking away their spots.

Elijah Pepper came out like a man possessed with Perry Lakes having no defensive answer for him with Warwick piling on 32 points to 11 in that first term thanks to hitting 5/13 from three-point range.

It was another 35 points to 32 in the second term in favour of the Senators as they went into half-time leading 67-43 with shooting 11/21 from downtown to 6/19 from the Hawks with Pepper already having 37 points to his name with that 55-point scoring record within touching distance.

Pepper's scoring might have dried up in the second half but it didn’t for his team with Warwick adding another 29 points to 17 in the third term to see that lead get out to as much as 38 before Perry Lakes did put up 36 themselves in the fourth quarter.

That cut the final winning margin for the Senators to 29 points with 22/43 three-point shooting at 51 per cent opposed to the 12/29 from the Hawks at 41 per cent with Warwick going 56 per cent from the field overall to 52, and winning the possession game with 14 extra attempts.

The win improves Warwick to a 15-4 record ahead of a road trip to play the bottom placed South West Slammers on Saturday with Elijah Pepper finishing with 44 points, five assists, five steals and four rebounds with 7/15 three-point shooting.

Two-time championship winning point guard Mitch Clarke also enjoyed the chance to play against his former team by giving 20 points, nine assists and five rebounds for the Senators.

Brody England added 16 points and two rebounds, Cooper Creek 11 points, six boards, four assists, three blocks and two steals, and Todd Withers 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.

The Hawks now look dead and buried in the race for the playoffs with a 7-12 record and having lost their past eight matches with Jaden Stanley-Williams finishing with 19 points and three rebounds with 3/6 three-point shooting.

Matt Leary made 3/8 from behind the arc for 19 points, five assists and four rebounds, Harry Evans 11 points on 4/4 shooting in five minutes, and Seva Chan seven points, eight assists and four rebounds.

WARWICK SENATORS 125 (Pepper 44, Clarke 20, Creek 11)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 96 (Stanley-Williams 19, Leary 19, Evans 11)

Rockingham Flames (105) defeated Willetton Tigers (102)

It might very well be a finals preview and if that's the case it's going to be something special after Tana Kopa was spectacular to shoot the Willetton Tigers to overtime but the Rockingham Flames prevailed 105-102 with 47 points from Isaac White.

The stage was set for a tantalising match up between the top ranked Flames and fourth placed Tigers at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with both teams still capable of finishing anywhere one through four between now and the end of the regular season.

Considering Rockingham are averaging 104.8 points a game this season and Willetton 95.7 and it was always likely to be an entertaining spectacle, and it sure didn’t fail to deliver.

The Flames did regain Emmett Naar from a groin injury but he would suffer a recurrence of that injury with the home team also without 208-game championship winning veteran Travis Durnin with the Tigers also missing Andrew Black, Kyle Armour and Michael Vigor with their combined 956 games of experience.

Willetton arrived trying to make a statement and after the scores were tied at 24-24 at quarter-time, the Tigers did work on top in the second term with 27 points to 17 to go into the half-time break up 51-41 with 20/35 shooting opposed to the 16/34 from the Flames.

Willetton did push out to a 15-point lead in the third quarter but Rockingham hit back and even briefly hit the lead before the Tigers were back out to an 11-point advantage by three quarter-time.

The challenge was there for the Flames to hit back and it was a big task when Willetton young gun Tana Kopa dropped another three to start the fourth term and put his team up 14.

Rockingham persisted with the fightback, though, and eventually when Laquinton Ross completed a three-point play with five minutes to play the scores were all level.

Isaac White was playing like a man possessed and put the Flames in front less than a minute later and eventually White knocked down a huge three with just over 10 seconds left that looked like it could be the winner putting Rockingham up three.

Willetton had the chance to tie it up out of the timeout and it was Kopa who got up the off-balanced three-point attempt that went down just before time expired to send the game to overtime.

In the extra period, the hopes of the Tigers weren’t helped with losing Kopa, Tom Gerovich and Roosevelt Williams Jr who fouled out after the visitors had scored the first four points.

The back court pairing of Ryan Godfrey and White returned Rockingham to the lead where they would stay when White iced the game with a pair of free throws and with Godfrey drawing an offensive foul up the other end.

The result keeps the Flames in top spot with a 16-3 record with Isaac White brilliant to enhance his MVP claims with another 47 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists with 6/14 three-point shooting and going 13/15 at the foul line.

Laquinton Ross added 26 points, 16 rebounds and three blocked shots, Ryan Godfrey 10 points, two assists and two steals in game No. 346.

Willetton are now 14-6 and still in fourth position in their only appearance of the weekend with Tana Kopa showing why he is banging down the door for a development player spot at the Perth Wildcats with 30 points, five rebounds, three assists and two blocks on 8/12 three-point shooting.

Taeshon Cherry added 19 points, three steals and two rebounds, Aaron Gashaw 16 points, five boards, two assists and two blocks, Damien Scott 14 points and seven rebounds, and Roosevelt Williams Jr 12 points, seven boards, seven assists and three steals.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 105 (White 47, Ross 26, Godfrey 10)

WILLETTON TIGERS 102 (Kopa 30, Cherry 19, Gashaw 16)

Joondalup Wolves (107) defeated South West Slammers (83)

CJ Turnage and Joey Baker combined for 61 points to lead the Joondalup Wolves to the 107-83 home win over the South West Slammers to keep them solid in fifth position.

The Wolfpack were back home at Arena Joondalup coming off an 18-point win on the same floor against the Goldfields Giants as they prepared to host a Slammers team in bottom place and making the longest road trip of their season outside of to Kalgoorlie or Geraldton.

Despite that, it was an impressive start from the Slammers with 29 points to 26 in the first quarter on the back of shooting 11/20 from the floor to the 9/19 from the home team.

Joondalup had to respond and did so in emphatic fashion with 32 points to 19 in the second term on the way to the 58-48 half-time advantage.

It was another 35 points to 19 in the third term for the Wolfpack to see that lead grow to 28 points on the back of them completing a 12-0 scoring run.

That lead grew to 30 in the fourth term as well for the Wolves before they ended up securing the 24-point victory to stay solid in fifth position in the NBL1 West standings with a 13-7 record with just two games of their season remaining away to the Warwick Senators and home to the East Perth Eagles.

CJ Turnage produced 31 points, eight assists and six rebounds in the win for the Wolfpack on a supremely efficient 12/15 shooting from the floor and 4/5 from three-point range.

Joey Baker also had 30 points with 8/11 shooting from behind the three-point arc with Caleb Davis contributing eight points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and Adili Kuerban eight points and four boards.

The Slammers remain in bottom spot with a 1-18 record ahead of another significant challenge at home on Saturday night to the Warwick Senators.

Jamal Poplar continues to impress as a big man in the league the longer the season goes delivering another 28 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Nathan Walsh added 15 points and three rebounds on 3/5 three-point shooting, Devan Craig 10 points, three assists and two steals, Clive Weeden eight points and two rebounds, and Pharell Keats five points, 10 assists and six boards.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 107 (Turnage 31, Baker 30, Kuerban 8, Davis 8)

SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 83 (Poplar 28, Walsh 15, Craig 10)