Chambers Franklyn Game Review

Friday Night Round 14 – Women:

The Chambers Franklyn City of Joondalup Wolves women keep on rolling with 16-0 solidified against the Perth Redbacks in the NBL1 West Round 14 on Friday, 94-44!

The Wolves might have shaken off a scare last week, but they asserted their dominance again on Friday night to beat the Redbacks by 50 points.

The Redbacks might have started well to lead 5-2 early on; however, that would be as good as it got on the night for the Redbacks with the Wolves soon taking over in emphatic fashion. The Wolves scored 20 straight points during the opening quarter from there to end up leading 32-9 by quarter-time.

Another run of 16 points during the second quarter saw the Wolfpack pull further away and to lead by as much as 36 points before being on top 54-20 by half-time.

The Wolves continued to expand on their lead throughout the second half to go up 43 during the third quarter before leading by 53 in the fourth and ending up winning 94-44.

The Wolves finished the night with 50 rebounds to 34 including 17 at the offensive end to eight which helped them to take 23 more field goals for the game. Joondalup also forced Perth into 26 turnovers for the game.

Robbi Ryan continued her brilliant form for Joondalup earning MVP on the night with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals, while Teige Morrell had 16 points and 10 boards, and Nes'eya Parker-Williams 15 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks against her old team.

Tia Ucich added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists; Chelsea Belcher 10 points, and Laniesha Paddon 9 points and 4 rebounds.

Coach Marcus shared his thoughts on the game: “I thought we started the game extremely well which set us up for the rest of the game. We also put in one of our best defensive performances of the year which was great to see after the focuses we had during the week.”

The Wolves next game will be away on Warwick Senators territory. The Senators just defeated the 2021 defending champions - Willeton Tigers - to solidify their #2 rank on the 2022 NBL1 West ladder. And the Battle of Joondalup was certainly a battle in the first Senators v. Wolves match up, so be sure to come out to catch some great basketball in the Battle of Joondalup rematch this Saturday – 23 July!

Round 14 Friday/Sunday Double Header – Men:

The Chambers Franklyn City of Joondalup Wolves men split their win-loss record over their double header weekend first defeating the Perth Redbacks at Belmont Oasis Friday night, 87-84; then falling short to the, #1 on the ladder, Geraldton Buccaneers at home on Sunday, 78-91.

The Redbacks provided plenty of spectacular plays, but the Wolves were steady enough to hold on and win by three points on Friday night.

Despite Perth's stars delivering plenty of highlight plays and Wolves’ players Julian Pesava, Josh Bloxham and Daniel Mading missing from the roster, the Wolves were delivering too and by quarter-time scores were level at 22-22. It remained a tight contest in the second quarter and by half-time it was the Wolves narrowly leading 42-40.

The Wolfpack then opened the game up in the third quarter by outscoring the Redbacks 27 points to 18 which saw the Wolves leading 69-58.

The Redbacks weren’t going to go down wondering, though, and eventually a three-pointer from Timms against his original club made it a two-point ball game in the final minute.

However, the home team couldn’t quite get closer than that and a pair of Joondalup free-throws to Maris Colton and then an offensive rebound and putback from 226-game veteran Tom Parkinson sealed the 87-84 win for the Wolfpack.

The victory improves the Wolves to a 13-3 record on the season setting up a tantalising top of the ladder clash with the Geraldton Buccaneers on Sunday.

Jonathan Wade produced another standout performance for Joondalup made up of 34 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists with MVP on the night CJ Turnage adding 28 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists.

Sioeli Vaiangina added 9 points and 6 rebounds with Maris Colton contributing 8 points and 3 boards.

***

Albeit a 78-91 result, the Wolves gave #1 ranked Geraldton a run for their money only trailing by 4 in a few possessions throughout the game on Sunday. A slow start got them down early, 25-15 in the first quarter as Mathiang Muo went 4/5 from 3 in the quarter, but the Wolves defensive spark kept them in it after a Coach David Morrell timeout near the end of the first. The rest of the game was competitive, and the game remained tightly contested.

The Wolves pushed it to a  4 or 5 point deficit multiple times, but fans at HBF were not witnesses to yet another one of the Wolfpack men’s classic comebacks. Geraldton men were able to make enough plays to hold off the Wolves and maintain the lead. In the forth quarter, the Wolves made some big plays and pushed the score to 4 points with 4 minutes left, but then Cameron Coleman and Johnny Narkle made big plays for the Buccaneers to blow the lead back up to double digits before the final buzzer.  

Both Jonathan Wade and CJ Turnage had 15 points at home. MVP of the night went to Captain Jordan Wellsteed capping off the game with 20 points.

Coach Morrell shared his thoughts on the top of the ladder clash: “Obviously, we are disappointed to not get the job done, but all credit to Geraldton on a great game. Our guys fought to the end, but it seemed like every time we’d fight to get the score back to 4-6 points, they’d hit 2 or 3 big shots and push it back out to 10. They got us down early and then made really timely shots all second half to hold us off.”

It seems inevitable that these two teams will face off in the West finals so stay tuned each week as the end draws near!

The Wolves play away this Saturday - July 23 against the Warwick Senators. Be sure to come out and bring your Wolfpack hype for another BIG Battle of Joondalup on Senator territory! 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!