Chambers Franklyn Game Review

Double Header Weekend Round 9 – Women:

The Chambers Franklyn City of Joondalup Wolves women solidified a 10-0 run over the weekend defeating the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday, 88-77, and the Cockburn Cougars on Saturday, 101-89, in Round 9 of the NBL1 West 2022 season!

Two major differentiations between the Wolves and Hawks on Friday night were the points in the paint (32-24) and offensive rebounds (16-6) of which the Wolves capitalized on with an 11-2 result in the second chance points column.

Defensively, the Wolves forced 24 turnovers, while keeping their own to 15, with four players adding 3 steals each to their stat lines.

Neseya Parker-Williams got the Wolves going with a quick 5 points in the first two minutes of the game followed by a pair of “and-1s” from Teige Morrell, as well as Chelsea Belcher foreshadowing her stellar performance over the weekend with two 3 pointers in the first quarter to give the Wolves a 29-23 lead.

A steal and assist to Teige by Robbi Ryan started the Wolves off in the second quarter, but Hawks star player, Emma Clarke, came out firing, and the Wolves defensive effort took a slump losing the quarter 18-21 and producing a half time score of 47-44.

Teige had 14 points in the first half, but the Hawks began doubling down – leaving Tia Ucich wide open on the perimeter who simply punished their decision shooting 36% from the three on the night. The Wolves then buckled down on defence in the third quarter - allowing just 13 points to their 30. Up 20 points to enter the fourth, 77-57.

With a solid fourth quarter effort and Coach Marcus trying to balance playing time to save some legs for the follow-up game, the Wolves kept the lead and won 88-77. Robbi Ryan with a stealthy 21 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Teige ended the night with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists (62% from the field). Almost all five starters were in double digits and a notable 12 points came off the bench from Kiara Phillips shooting 71% from the field.

The very next day, the Wolves fought through fatigue and put on a show in front of their home crowd as they faced one of their best matchups of the year – the Cockburn Cougars.

After a jump ball leading to a 2-pointer for the Cougars, Robbi ran the ball into the paint forcing the defence to collapse in and leave Teige wide open on the perimeter for her first 3-pointer of the season. Kiara started off the night with two 3’s in the first quarter as well. The Wolves were on, but the Cougars held on for a 22-19 score at quarter time.

A little bit of tug-a-war for momentum between the teams took place in the second quarter, but Chelsea Belcher came out firing making four 3-point shots for a total of 16 points in one quarter. Wolves up 48-39 entering the half.

The Wolves could not be denied as Neseya and Kiara both contributed a 3 in the third quarter and Chelsea was going off adding yet another three 3’s to her stat line. The Wolves were on fire – executing, making plays for each other, finishing well, and capitalizing on the Cougars turnovers with 18 points from turnovers to Cockburns’ 6 and winning the third quarter 29-24.

It was a game of runs and an amazing shooting night for the Wolves (53% from the field) to solidify their 10-0 run with a 101-89 victory.

Double-header MVP, Teige Morrell took advantage of a mismatch that seemed to be a part of the Cougars game plan putting up 30 points, 14 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals on the night. Chelsea ended up with 26 points with 7 for 10 from the 3-point line and a total of 62% shooting on the night. Kiara Phillips had another impressive performance with 18 points; 4 for 6 from the 3 and a total of 64% shooting. The entire team ended up with a whopping 31 assists – Robbi leading the Pack with 11 assists to her name!

Head Coach Marcus Wong shared his thoughts on the back end of the double-header: “We knew this was going to be tough. Last night was a tough game, so for us to come in with the fatigue we had across the group is a real credit with what they did tonight.”

The Wolves are on the hunt to build off their 10-0 run with another double-header weekend starting with a home game verse the Perth Redbacks on Friday, June 17^th; followed by a trip down to Bunbury to face the South West Slammers on Saturday June 18^th. Be sure to come out and cheer them on to another double victory weekend!

Double Header Weekend Round 9 – Men:

Friday night at Bendat, the Wolves men took on the Perry Lake Hawks. After 2 quick 3s to start the game by Matt Leary for the Hawks, generating a 6-2 lead, the Wolves got going. Wolves ended up taking a 25-16 lead in the 1^st quarter mostly on the back of 13 first quarter points by Wolves guard Jonathan Wade. Jonathan came out very aggressive getting to the rim in transition and in pick and roll situations.

The Hawks came back in the second quarter and won the quarter big. The Wolves looked out of sorts offensively and failed to stop Hawks’ transition opportunities. The result – a massive 33-point quarter – the biggest scoring output allowed by the Wolves in a quarter so far this year. 

In the second half, the Wolves made a couple of different runs to push for the lead. In the 3^rd quarter the lead was cut to 61-58 with 6:45 left in the third quarter, but then the Hawks responded immediately to regain control, scoring every possession until the lead was back to 68-58 just 2 minutes later. 

In the 4^th quarter, Julian Pesava and Maris Colton hit a couple big threes, and Joel Vaiangina had some big offensive rebound and transition scores. After back-to-back Julian Pesava threes, and then one inside score by Julian and two big buckets from CJ Turnage, the Wolves had again made a run and took the lead 88-84 with 2:45 to go.

Again, the Hawks responded immediately. They hit 3-point shots on 3 consecutive possessions in the final 2 minutes to retake the lead 93-90. After a controversial charge called against Jonathan with 40 seconds left, it turned into an intentional foul game, and the final score ended up 96-90, Wolves coming up just short.

MVP of the game, Jonathan had 25 points and 6 rebounds. Julian had 21 points and 6 rebounds. And in his big 200^th game milestone, Jordan Wellsteed had 10 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 steals. 

The next night, the Wolves men had to follow it up against the Cockburn Cougars. Looking tired and flat to start, they allowed a big 22-10 lead to the Cougars straight out the gates. Carter Skaggs hit shots early, as did Seva Chan. The Wolves did narrow the gap to 28-21 at quarter time, but they were set up to be chasing the rest of the way.

CJ and Joel did some damage in the 3^rd quarter and got the game back 39-39. But offensive rebounds and scores by Seva Chan and Gavin Field blew the lead back to 9 quickly. A Maris tip in and CJ free throws late sent the Wolves to the locker room down 45-52. 

After the game held steady for the first 5 minutes of the 3^rd quarter, missed opportunities by the Wolves and seized opportunities by Gavin Field and a couple of made 3s by others had the Cougars sneakily take their lead to 78-62 at three quarter time. 

Following the game Coach Morrell shared what his message to the team was at that time: 

“I just told the guys; we know we can be explosive. We’ve made bigger runs than this in a quarter multiple times this year already. But we can’t get it back with hero shots. Just generate great shots. One possession at a time, generate great shots. That was the main message, but we also made some adjustments defensively about what we were switching and what we were trying to do in terms of disruptiveness.”

The first possession out of that timeout, Maris made an open 3 after a Mitch Newton offensive rebound. Two possessions later, Maris hit another one. CJ got into the action, and then at the 5-minute mark, Maris hit yet another 3. Great team play and shot making from Maris had the Wolves scoring well. At the same time as some of this offensive success, the Wolves held the Cougars to only 4 points over the first 9 minutes of the fourth quarter.

The Wolves took the lead 83-82 on a Jonathan Wade layup. The Cougars retook the lead on two free throws by Josh Hunt with 45 seconds left. Then a big “and-1” offensive rebound by Julian put the Wolves back up 1, followed up by two clutch made free throws by Wolves Captain, Jordan Wellsteed.

On the last play of the game, up 3, the Wolves smartly stayed home on shooters while Seva Chan scored a layup, putting the Cougars back to 86-87 as time expired. A great comeback win for the Wolves to end the double-header weekend.

In an MVP performance from CJ, he produced 21 points and 6 rebounds. Julian chipped in 22 big ones as well to add to 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Maris ended the night with 13 (on 56% shooting), including some big shots in the 4^thquarter.

The Wolves move to 7-3 as they enter another big double-header weekend versing the Perth Redbacks at home on Friday, 17^th June and the South West Slammers in Bunbury on Saturday, 18^th June.

See you Friday, Wolfpack Family, for even more basketball excitement you don’t want to miss!