Chambers Franklyn Game Review

Friday Night Round 13 – Women:

The Chambers Franklyn City of Joondalup Wolves women keep on rolling with 15-0 solidified against the Rockingham Flames in the NBL1 First Nations Round on Friday, 76-73!

The Rockingham Flames did everything for just about 39:45 to hand the Wolves their first loss of the 2022 NBL1 West Women's season on Friday night, but they couldn’t quite complete the deal.

The Wolves put their undefeated record on the line without coach Marcus Wong and Corry Easther taking over for the night on top of a handful of players either battling sickness or missing due to health protocols. Those out for the night included Wolves Captain Chelsea Belcher and, long-time Wolves player, Shani Caldwell.

Despite the Flames also missing their star import, they managed to lead by four points by quarter-time and then went on an 8-0 run during the second term to lead by as much as 14 points, and still hold a 37-30 edge by half-time.

Rockingham maintained their advantage throughout most of the second half too going on another 7-0 run in the third quarter to maintain a double-figure lead and still be on top 59-48 by three quarter-time.

With under five minutes to go, Rockingham still led by 10 after a tough finish from Christina Boag.

If the Wolfpack wanted to stay undefeated in 2022, they had to dig deep for the fourth quarter and that's exactly what they did on their home floor.

Kiara Phillips provided a spark knocking down a three-pointer, but she soon left the game with what appeared an ankle injury.

Wolves import stars Teige Morrell and Robbi Ryan then made big buckets to make it a three-point game with just over two minutes on the clock.

The intensity and drama continued when - on what could have been the last possession with the shot clock turned off - it was Indigenous star Laniesha Paddon during NAIDOC Week who made the biggest points of her 32 points she’s scored for Joondalup so far this year.

Sharing her thoughts on the play after the game, Paddon said, “I was just going to get out of Sheya’s way because that’s who the play was drawn up for, but I was like ‘aw, I’m open!’, so I’ll just stand here and then Robbi threw the dime and then I don’t know, it just went in, luckily!”

Paddon was found on a brilliant pass from Ryan and finished well to tie scores up. She also drew the foul and couldn’t quite make the extra, but that turned out a positive because Morrell grabbed the offensive rebound. Morrell managed to put it back for the go-ahead basket and draw the foul. 

Morrell’s “and-1” gave the Wolves the three-point lead and Rockingham could do nothing without a timeout but throw up a three-quarter court prayer and it was the Wolfpack escaping with the 76-73 win to stay unbeaten and improve to 15-0 in the most remarkable fashion.

The Flames will be disappointed to not have closed the deal having led virtually all night and they shot the ball better going 46.8 per cent from the floor opposed to 38.2 from the Wolves.

Robbi Ryan finished the game with 20 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds for the Wolfpack with Nes'eya Parker-Williams coming up big and earning MVP for First Nations Round with 16 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists.

Teige Morrell added 14 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals, Kiara Phillips 12 points and 4 boards, and Tia Ucich 9 points and 3 rebounds.

Coach Corry Easther shared her thoughts on the game: “It was an awesome game and the girls fought to the end, so we couldn’t be happier… We have had a week of challenges. We haven’t been able to train this week due to sickness, so the girls did really good to fight out those challenges and the resilience within the group was great.”

The Wolves next game will be away on Perth Redbacks territory; on the hunt for 16-0 in the NBL1 West Round 14! Come cheer the Wolves on to another victory this Friday night – 15 July! Please note, Sunday’s 12pm home game is a bye for the women due to Geraldton Buccaneers not having a women’s team.

Friday Night Round 13 – Men:

The Chambers Franklyn City of Joondalup Wolves men solidified a 12-3 record over the weekend defeating the Rockingham Flames in the NBL1 First Nations Round on Friday, 91-88.

The Wolves and Flames have developed quite the rivalry in recent years and that continued Friday night at HBF Arena with the Wolfpack winning in the most spectacular of fashions. It was one of the most spectacular finishes to a game that you will ever see. 

No more than seven points separated the two teams the whole night with the Wolves just leading by two points at quarter-time before Rockingham built some momentum in the second term with 29 points to 23 to go into half-time on top 52-48.

Throughout the game, the Flames won the inside rebounding battle. With Tom Jervis dominant inside and Travis Durnin giving good front court support. Rockingham dominated the boards with 53 rebounds to 38 for the night including 24 at the offensive end to 12. But the Wolves won the battle of the backcourt. Marshall Nelson and Julian Pesava essentially cancelled each other out, neither having their best performances shooting wise, but Pesava scoring 20, and Nelson with only 15. Additionally, in the backcourt battle, Jonathan Wade scored 25 and went 5/7 from 3, and Ryan Godfrey had 14. The other factor in Wolves favor was CJ Turnage winning the individual matchup vs Devondrick Walker. Turnage shot 68% from the field while Walker shot 45%, and had 25 points and 6 assists, versus Walker with 21 points and 3 assists. 

While the Flames did manage to lead by seven points on multiple occasions through the second half, the Wolves kept fighting and stayed within striking distance. Tom Jervis maintained that seven-point lead with four minutes to go before Jonathan Wade hit a three for the Wolves to bring the margin back to four.

Julian Pesava then tied scores up with a massive three and then star imports Devondrick Walker and CJ Turnage who traded baskets for their respective teams. In the second biggest play of the game, after a timeout, down 85-88 with 33 seconds remaining, the Wolves executed a play to perfection and CJ Turnage turned the corner to a score at the rim and got fouled by Devondrick Walker in the process. He made the free-throw and tied the score up, 88-88.

Nelson took a tough three-point attempt over the contest of Turnage with 5 seconds remaining to try and win the game for Rockingham but it didn’t fall. Instead, it fell into the arms of Jonathan Wade who took 3 dribbles and threw up the half-court prayer over some great defence from Rockingham players. With the way he followed through with confidence, it never looked like missing. The buzzer went off as the ball was in the air, the shot was a swish, and it was one of the most remarkable plays of the season. The Wolves escaped with the incredible 91-88 win and the celebrations were every bit as good as the shot for the Wolfpack on their home floor, in front of a packed, sold-out crowd.

Jonathan Wade not only hit the winner but put up 25 points and 10 rebounds with 5/7 from three-point range. CJ Turnage also had 25 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists on 11/16 shooting with Julian Pesava contributing 20 points and 5 boards, and Sioeli Vaiangina 9 points.

Jonathan Wade shared his feelings on the game-winning shot: “I got the rebound and I saw the clock going down and I knew I had to shoot it – I couldn’t pass it – so I had an open look . . . I shot it, held my follow through and it went in. It felt good coming off so, I’m glad it just dropped."

Coach Morrell shared his thoughts on the game: “We’ve shown that we scrap and claw all the way to the end of the fourth quarter every single game. There’s been games where we’ve been down a lot more than this and just continue to fight, so that is one thing that you trust the guys are going to continue to do and I thought late in the game we all gang rebounded – you know, five guys got in there, rebounded and that allowed us to make that run to finish the game, which you wish you would’ve done it a little better in the first quarter and the second quarter, and early in the game, but we did do it when it mattered most.”

The Wolves enter a double-header weekend playing away this Friday- July 15 against the Perth Redbacks and then back at home on Sunday July 17 at 12pm against the Geraldton Buccaneers! Be sure to bring your Wolfpack hype for another couple of BIG games this weekend! We’ll see you there, Wolfpack Family!

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