2023 NBL1 West Round 3 Recap

The Wolfpack Women Look to Keep their Early Winning Streak Alive, Heading into Round 3

From the jump, the Wolfpack women were hungry to push the pace and secure an early advantage. On the offensive end Robbi Ryan scored 11 of her 21 total points in just the first quarter and Emma Klasztorny, Neseya parker-Williams impacted the boards early combining for 7 total rebounds which helped to place the team at an early 8-point advantage.

The Eastern Suns facing remained competitive by keeping the second and third quarter margins close, however the Pack remained consistent holding the lead to above 5 throughout the period.  

Through a strong team effort, the Wolfpack maintained their defensive efforts securing crucial blocks and rebounds. Teige Morrell grabbed 3 offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, ending the game with a block to punctuate the road win of 77-67.

A Hot Start Wasn’t Enough to Defeat the Suns in Part 1 of a Double-Header.

The Wolfpack men started the first quarter red-hot in every way possible. Outscoring the Suns by 19 through the scoring efforts of CJ Turnage, Brody England and Christian Jurlina. However, in through the second and third quarter the scoring pace slowed significantly.

In the second quarter the Pack were held to just 14 points due to some turnovers and a re-energised defensive effort by the Suns. The Wolves men still held a sizeable lead, thanks partly to a tough buzzer-beating 3 by Mathiang Muo to end the half.

Early in the 4^th, fouls were abundant with three being called against the Pack in just a minute of play. The Suns were able to get into an offensive rhythm, with Albert Almanza scoring a pair of big threes helping to capture the Suns first lead of the game. Quintin Dove had a late game dunk, assisted by CJ Turnage which brought a spark, but wasn’t enough to stop the bleed, losing 92-88 on the road.

The Men Look to bounce back in front of the home crowd.

A day after a tough loss to the Eastern Suns, the men look to get back in the win column against a strong Geraldton Buccaneers outfit at HBF Arena in front of 1000+ fans. Not allowing the early basket, Jordan Wellsteed got an impressive chase down block which led to a three-pointer by game MVP Quintin Dove.

Buccaneer guards Shaun Stewart and Malik Meunier were relentless pushing the pace of the game early, Zac Gattorna had a big dunk early, assisted by Shaun Stewart which forced the Wolfpack defense to adjust heading into the second quarter.

The Wolves evened the score at the end of the second thanks to the sharp shooting of Mathiang Muo with back-to-back threes and aggressive inside dominance by Quintin Dove who had 4 offensive rebounds in the quarter.

In the third Bryan Michaels came alive, impacting both offensive and defensive ends of the floor by hustling for the loose ball, hitting tough shots and assisting on big plays. The whole team was strong on defence and holding the game close heading into the fourth.

The home crowd brought the energy to help the men capture the fourth quarter. Big threes from Mathiang Muo, Bryan Michaels and Christian Jurlina and strong defensive efforts across the team, led by Jordan Wellsteed who finished the game with 4 steals including a late loose ball grab which led to an impressive dunk by Quintin Dove. CJ Turnage iced the game with a huge running 3-pointer to beat the shot clock, assisted by Bryan Michaels.

The Wolfpack captured the home win 96-90 to improve to 2-2 for the season, Quintin Dove finished the game with 34 points, 14 rebounds and was awarded MVP of the game.

This Friday is ANZAC Round at HBF Arena. The women are back and ready to take on the Perth Redbacks in another double-header weekend, in which both teams play the Bunbury Slammers on the road on Saturday.

Buy tickets to this Friday’s game here: bit.ly/Wolvestickets