Chambers Franklyn Game Review

Double-Header Weekend Round 10 – Women:

The Chambers Franklyn City of Joondalup Wolves women solidified a 12-0 run over the weekend defeating the Perth Redbacks in the NBL1 Mental Health Round on Friday, 88-54, and the South West Slammers on Saturday, 104-45!

The court was coloured in orange on Friday night with the NBL1 players all wearing orange socks in partnership with Lifeline Australia for the NBL1 Mental Health Round. And, although starting out slow - most likely from fatigue of the previous weekend’s double-header battle – the Wolves made the necessary adjustments and put up a fight for the cause.

There were a lot of uncharacteristic blow-byes for the Wolves in their one-on-one defence during the first half, combined with some help-side slip-ups that allowed some easy scores for the Redbacks. Without much gusto, the Wolves were still up entering the half, 42-31.

Coming out in the third quarter, their defence sharpened up – holding the Redbacks to just 10 and 13 points in the third and fourth quarter respectively. The Wolves were able to capitalize on 11 steals with 12 points from turnovers and fastbreaks on the night to the Redbacks 0 for both columns. Tia Ucich played came out big defensively for the Wolves holding Redbacks key scorer, Makailah Dyer to just 4 points all night.

Robbi Ryan also led the Pack with 4 steals; off to the races sprinting the ball down the floor like a bullet and finishing strong on the other end - smoke trailing from her orange socks - to help the Wolves come out on top in the 88-54 victory.

Points were evenly distributed across the team on the Wolves offensive end aside from, MVP of the night, Robbi with an almost triple-double performance of 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.

29 points from the Wolves bench compared to the Redbacks 14 with a solid contribution from Laneisha Paddon was a big difference maker as well. Laneisha came off the bench as second-leading scorer of the night with 13 points in just over 13 minutes.

Coach Marcus shared his belief in Laneisha after Friday’s game: “We’ve been trying to work with Laneisha to get that performance from her; we know it’s coming. We’ve got confidence in her to produce that and we’re really happy that she did tonight.”

The following day against the South West Slammers turned out for some similar play with lots of contribution off the bench at 40 points on the night. The South West Slammers were missing their top two players - Tylinn Carter and Alexandra Ciabattoni – which provided for some opportune minutes to the Wolves bench.

It was a bit of another snoozer first half for the Wolves, allowing the Slammers to put up a fight on the boards, and an uncharacteristic 0 points at half from Teige Morrell. Nonetheless, the Wolves were up 49-24 heading into the half.

Robbi Ryan brought her A-game on both ends of the floor once again with other Wolves following suit. Neseya Parker-Williams led the Pack with 7 steals and Shani Caldwell right behind that, adding another 6.

The Wolves capitalized on the steals with 13 points from turnovers and were flying down the court alongside each other all game with 18 fast-break points and 4 assists a piece from Robbi and Neseya.

All 12 Wolves’ players contributed points to the scoreboard with an honourable mention of 10 points to Akim Lual, and the Wolves topped off their two double-header weekends with another victory of 103-45 over the Slammers.

Robbi ended her weekend with another MVP worthy performance of 20 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. Neseya also added 16 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists to her 7 steals.

The Wolves women are on the hunt to build off their 12-0 run against the Perth Eagles on Saturday, June 25^th. Be sure to come out and cheer them on to another victory!

Double-Header Weekend Round 10 – Men:

The Chambers Franklyn City of Joondalup Wolves men solidified a 9-3 record over the weekend defeating the Perth Redbacks in the Mental Health Round on Friday, 96-91, and the South West Slammers on Saturday, 99-84!

Friday night versus the Perth Redbacks was entertaining basketball with many big dunks, big threes, and a high intensity finish that kept everyone on the edge of their seats to the very end. The Wolves got down early with a turnover-plagued end of first quarter, and gave up transition points and offensive rebounds. Perth was in a 1-2-2 for a large part of the game.

Early on, the Wolves were generating some good looks but just not scoring it. And in some other possessions they had uncharacteristic bobbles and turnovers that led to transition opportunities for the Redbacks. The Wolves only scored 12 points in the first quarter, only 32 in the first half, and they were behind 42-32 at half time. 

The second half was a completely different story. The Wolves came out of half with 33 points in the third quarter. They followed it up with 31 in the fourth. They scored exactly double as many points in the second half compared to the first half. 

CJ Turnage started the game 1/7 from the field and ended up exploding in the second half to a 34 point total. He was unstoppable driving to the basket. Julian Pesava also had an amazing second half. He ended the game 6/8 from 3, and with a massive 28 point, 12 rebound, 5 assist output. 

The Wolves won the third quarter 33-22 and took a 66-65 lead going into the fourth. But their run continued throughout the fourth quarter, pushing the lead to 87-77 until Perth settled down and started making some big plays. Things got exciting fast. Isaac Gattorna made some big plays down the stretch, scoring 9 points in the final 4 minutes - 5 of those on free throws. 

Jerami Grace hit a 3 to make it 89-86, Wolves up 3 with a minute left. Then on the next possession he air-balled a 3 that was offensive rebounded for a tip in by Ben Smith. The lead was down to 1.

Maybe the biggest play of the game was on the next possession, Jonathan Wade drove in and missed a layup, but CJ followed with force and got the putback layup to go back up 3. The Wolves followed that up with a stop, and then CJ got it in the post and hit a turnaround fadeaway jumper with 11 seconds left to go; up 5. After a Perth timeout, Gattorna got a foul call shooting a 3 and cut the game to 2, making all 3 free throws, but the Wolves took care of the ball and made free throws at the end, when Redbacks went to intentional fouls to finish. The Wolves escaped with an exciting 96-91 win, CJ (MVP on the night) and Julian both with massive performances.

Saturday night versus Slammers in Eaton Recreation was a different type of start. The Wolves picked up where they left off from the second half of the Redbacks game offensively. They scored 38 points in the first quarter and were generating great shots every possession and getting everyone involved. But defensively they were a bit flat, and the Slammers were scoring well. The score was 38-28 at quarter time.

Slammers made some shots and some big plays in the second and third as well; import Buay Tuach was very good out in transition, and veteran Cory Richardson made a couple shots, including one 3-pointer that banked in off the glass. 

Despite things going well for Slammers, the Wolves continued to score the ball and stayed completely in control of the game. They entered the fourth quarter up 85-61. And got it to a 27-point lead during the fourth, allowing the Wolves to get court time for some of their young players, including the first ever NBL1 minutes for Saxon Gates, who suited up for his first time this weekend.

The Slammers fought all the way to the end and ended up cutting the deficit back to 15 by the end with their full court pressure on the young Wolves, but the Wolves still prevailed comfortably 99-84. 

When asked about the adjustments needed to avoid the slow starts in games, Julian Pesava explained the importance of “having the same mentality in the first quarter” as they do when they’re down:

“When we find ourselves in a hole - down 15 - and we’re thinking ‘we need to turn up on defense; we need to get stops; we need to get scores’; we just need to come into the first quarter with that same mentality.”

MVP of the game, Jonathan Wade had a big 27-point night on relatively short minutes going 16 of 18 from the foul line. Julian had 17 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, and CJ had 18 points. 

The Wolves men went 2-0 on the double-header weekend and go to 9 wins and 3 losses on the season. 

A total 4-0 on the weekend from the men and women makes for a great weekend and some great momentum to play off heading into this Saturday’s away game verses the Perth Eagles. You can come be a part of cheering your Wolves on to another victory! We’ll see you there, Wolfpack Family!

If you can’t make it out on the night, be sure to tune in to the livestream right back here on our website!