West Recap | Round 9 Friday

Image credit: @hyperfocusimages | Michael Bailey

Alaska Rhebok inspired Perth Redbacks to a huge comeback win over East Perth Eagles with their shorthanded men following up before both Rockingham Flames sent a message to the rest of NBL1 West with big wins.

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WEST RECAP | ROUND 8 SATURDAY

WOMEN

Perth Redbacks (95) defeated East Perth Eagles (78)

Anneli Maley continued to be at her energetic best, but what continues to fire the Perth Redbacks is career-best showings from role players and it was Alaska Rhebok with 33 points in 95-78 come from behind win over the East Perth Eagles.

It was second against fourth when the Eagles arrived at Belmont Oasis to take on the Redbacks on Friday night with a chance for a statement performance from both teams who were looking for a third consecutive victory.

The Redbacks started strongly to open up a 10-point advantage in the first quarter before still leading 26-20 by quarter-time.

The Eagles, though, took control in the second period with 28 points to 15 on the back of shooting 12/23 from the floor opposed to the 6/16 from the Redbacks.

That saw East Perth score 17 consecutive points to end up leading 48-41 going into half-time with the Eagles retaining control throughout the third term too to still be on top by seven by three quarter-time.

East Perth had been in control over the last two quarters, but that all changed spectacularly in the fourth term with the Redbacks piling on 33 points thanks to shooting 13/25 from the floor to turn a seven-point deficit into the 17-point victory.

The Eagles managed to shoot just 3/15 from the field in the last 10 minutes and to score just the nine points.

The Redbacks have now won three straight to improve to an 8-3 record and after last week it was Georgia Denehey producing nine three-pointers against the Willetton Tigers, this time it was Alaska Rhebok with the breakout performance.

She finished with 33 points with 5/9 shooting from behind the three-point line while Anneli Maley played all 40 minutes and was a hustle machine on her way to 20 points, 27 rebounds and seven assists.

Patty Brossmann also had 12 points and three rebounds, Natalie Chou nine points, eight boards, four assists and four steals, Shenae Hartree nine points, three assists and three blocks, and Denehey eight points, six assists and four rebounds.

East Perth were well in control by three quarter-time so it wasn’t a night without positives despite the final result with them now sitting at 6-2 ahead of hosting the Goldfields Giants on Sunday.

Sasha Goodlett finished with another 27 points, 14 rebounds and five assists on 12/18 shooting with Madi Torresin adding 16 points, six boards, three steals and two assists, Awatea Leach 14 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Abby Cubillo 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

PERTH REDBACKS 95 (Rhebok 33, Maley 20, Brossmann 12)

EAST PERTH EAGLES 78 (Goodlett 27, Torresin 16, Leach 14)

Mandurah Magic (86) lost to Rockingham Flames (95)

The Mandurah Magic fired all the way back to within a point after trailing by 25 but the Rockingham Flames had too many weapons with Marena Whittle and Alex Sharp combining for 55 points in the 95-86 road win.

The two Peel rivals locked horns on Friday night at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre with the Magic trying to avoid a third straight defeat and the defending champion Flames starting to build some momentum after a coaching change and their guns arriving.

Rockingham welcomed Marena Whittle last week and welcomed back Alex Sharp while on Friday night they also got back Georgia Pineau and then also added Rosie Deegan for her first appearance in the league since 2019.

With two-time WNBL Coach of the Year and three-time NBL1 West championship coach Ryan Petrik now in charge too, the Flames came into the Friday night match up a vastly different team than the one that lost five of their first seven matches.

Rockingham had opened up a 25-19 lead by the end of the first quarter before then dominating the second term with 32 points to 17 including landing 6/7 of their three-point attempts to lead by as much as 25 points.

The Flames still were leading 57-36 by the half-time break, but it was a different Mandurah outfit who came out of the locker room and the Magic fired themselves right back into the contest.

Mandurah outscored Rockingham 30 points to 17 in the quarter and made 4/6 themselves from three-point territory and got all the way back within a solitary point lead in the term when Sydney Meares landed a three-pointer.

However, Rockingham answered with the last seven points of the quarter and then remained on top the rest of the way to score the nine-point victory.

The Flames are now building some momentum under the coaching of Petrik and with the stars they now have in the line-up to improve to a 4-5 record having played their only game of the long weekend.

Marena Whittle produced 30 points, four rebounds and two steals for Rockingham with Alex Sharp putting up 25 points, 10 boards and two blocks with 3/5 three-point shooting.

Alex Ciabattoni also had 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists, Rosie Deegan eight points on 3/3 shooting in her first appearance, and Sydney Erikstrup seven points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Mandurah have now lost three straight to sit on a 5-6 record also having played their lone game of the round with Claire Jacobs delivering 27 points on 10/18 shooting from the floor and 5/6 at the free-throw line.

McKenna Dale also delivered 14 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocks, Grace Berg 12 points, eight boards and three assists, Jade Gowland 12 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals, and games record holder Casey Mihovilovich seven points, six boards, five assists and two blocks.

MANDURAH MAGIC 86 (Jacobs 27, Dale 14, Gowland 12, Berg 12)

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 95 (Whittle 30, Sharp 25, Ciabattoni 16)

MEN

Perth Redbacks (100) defeated East Perth Eagles (88)

They might have been shorthanded but the Perth Redbacks simply outworked and outhustled the East Perth Eagles to snap their losing slide with the 100-88 home victory.

The game at Belmont Oasis had all the makings of the chance for the Eagles to start building some momentum this season coming off a home win over the South West Slammers and ahead of hosting the third placed Goldfields Giants on Sunday.

After all, it's an East Perth team featuring two imports, two former NBL1 imports who are now nationalised, an imposing centre with Ioannis Dimakopoulos and then an NBL player with Jonah Antonio.

They were coming up against a Redbacks team still missing Joe Cook-Green, Jacob Formosa, Callan McDonald and Mathiang Muo as well, and who had lost their past three games.

But Friday night's match was the perfect example of how it can be every bit a mental game as much as a physical one as the heart and desire from the Redbacks despite being shorthanded was what willed them to the strong win.

The Redbacks were on top virtually the entire evening opening up a nine-point lead before leading 26-23 by quarter-time, and then leading by as much as 15 points in the second period before being up 50-38 at half-time.

It was more of the same throughout the second half with the Redbacks up by double-figures virtually the whole way and by as much as 17 in the final term on the way to the eventual 12-point victory.

Perth won the possession game with 50 rebounds to 41 including 18 at the offensive end to 13 to end up taking seven extra field goals which was the difference with not much between them percentage wise with the Redbacks going at 47 per cent to the Eagles' 43.

The win snaps a three-game losing run for the Redbacks to improve them to a 4-8 record on the season with two-time championship winner Lochlan Cummings delivering 30 points, seven assists and six assists.

Jonah Underwood also produced 17 points, 15 rebounds and two assists, Emmanuel Kanwei 16 points, 13 boards and two assists, Matt Teale 13 points on 6/9 shooting, and Cousteau Kyle 11 points on 3/4 three-point shooting.

It will be a disappointing result for the Eagles to stomach given the missed opportunity that presented ahead of hosting the Giants on Sunday with them now slipping to 3-6.

Jonah Antonio did what he could to try and keep East Perth in the contest with 28 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals on 4/11 three-point shooting.

Max Rice added 18 points on 3/7 shooting from downtown with three assists while Lee Roberts had 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists, Ioannis Dimakopoulos six points, seven boards and three blocks, and Sharif Watson five pints, nine rebounds and two assists.

PERTH REDBACKS 100 (Cummings 30, Underwood 17, Kanwei 16)

EAST PERTH EAGLES 88 (Antonio 28, Rice 18, Roberts 14)

Mandurah Magic (76) defeated Rockingham Flames (47)

The mighty impressive firepower of the Rockingham Flames was once again on show with six players scoring double-figures with Isaac White showing the way with 24 in the 111-88 win over the defending champion Mandurah Magic.

The Flames arrived at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre having won their past seven games and having put 108.3 points a game so far this season with the defending champions trying to take the challenge up to them.

The Magic were also coming off a couple of wins against the East Perth Eagles and Cockburn Cougars, but it didn’t take the Flames long to stamp their authority with 35 points to 27 in the first quarter on the back of shooting 13/21 from the floor and 5/9 from downtown.

That set the tone for the rest of the evening with Rockingham delivering another 27 points to 13 in the second frame on the way to leading 62-38 at half-time.

That lead continued to grow to as much as 33 points in the second half as well but the Magic did fight the game out and won the last quarter to cut the final winning margin for Rockingham to 23.

Even without the versatile Tevin Jackson, it was a smooth running Rockingham machine putting up another 111 points on the back shooting 16/43 from three-point range to 7/30 from Mandurah along with getting to the foul line for 17/25 to the 7/10 from the Magic.

The Flames also pulled down 62 rebounds to 47 including 19 at the offensive end to 11.

Rockingham have now won eight straight matches to sit on a 10-1 record to at least for now replace the Warwick Senators in top spot.

Isaac White delivered another 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the win for the Flames as he prepares to be part of the Bryce Cotton and Montrezl Harrell show at the Adelaide 36ers in NBL26.

Callum Beard produced 15 points, four rebounds and two blocks, Travis Durnin 17 points, eight boards and two assists, Jervon Pressley 12 points and nine rebounds, and Emmett Naar 12 points, 10 assists and five assists.

Captain Justin Beard also had 10 points, three assists and two rebounds, and 338-game former captain Ryan Godfrey eight points and seven assists.

The Magic are now 7-4 on the season in their championship defence with Lachlan Bertram producing another 22 points, four rebounds and three assists on 4/10 three-point shooting.

Sammie Freeman also finished with 17 points, six rebounds and two assists, Julian Pesava 16 points, five assists, three boards and two steals, Nick Woodall 10 points and five rebounds, and Jahcoree Ealy seven points, seven boards and five assists.

MANDURAH MAGIC 88 (Bertram 22, Freeman 17, Pesava 16)

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 111 (White 24, Durnin 17, C Beard 15)