Cherry's passion burns strong for Willetton

Featured image: @mvalzmedia

The passion Taeshon Cherry plays with means he's always the centre of attention and he'd like fans to remember he's still a person with feelings too, but right now he will use the energy in Geraldton on Friday to help lead Willetton Tigers to what would be a stirring NBL1 West finals win.

Cherry knows that he plays with great passion and energy, and that naturally that will make him a focus for opposition fans wherever he plays his basketball, and for the most part he's happy to embrace that.

He is happy to have those interactions with fans just like he does with opposition players with the knowledge that once the final buzzer sounds, he isn’t the same player off the court and that if you do say anything that crosses the line, he wants everyone held to account for their actions.

But that's a more broad discussion. In the immediate world, Cherry is fresh off 29 points, six rebounds, three stelas and two blocks with 5/9 three-point shooting despite playing just 25 minutes due to foul trouble in last Saturday night's elimination final home win over the East Perth Eagles.

Now his focus turns to the most hostile environment perhaps in the entire NBL1 when he and Willetton head to Active West Stadium this Friday night to take on the Geraldton Buccaneers with a spot in Sunday'[s preliminary final against the Joondalup Wolves on the line.

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Willetton and Geraldton are no strangers to meeting in the NBL1 West finals and have played off in the past two preliminary finals against one another.

Not only that, but Willetton won in 2024 in Geraldton to be part of the first ever Grand Final at RAC Arena and then it was the Buccs last year on the win to the championship that dug themselves out of a big hole at Willetton Basketball Stadium to prevail.

Cherry is feeling good about the chances for Willetton despite being fully aware of the job ahead of the Tigers against the defending champions stung from their loss at home last Saturday night against the Cockburn Cougars as regular season champs.

"We've talked about how this is not impossible and we have a great chance to win this game. We have the pieces to win this game and it sucks that we've lost Bryce (Johnson) which is awful and that really does hurt, but we still have a team that can do it," Cherry said.

"This team all played together last year and then adding Zac Gattorna was a big piece for us. He's a great shooter, he plays hard and he's really good so I think that we have the pieces to go up there and make a run at it and give them a run for their money.

"We'll give it everything to try and come out of Geraldton with the win and get ready to play Joondalup on Sunday to go to the Grand Final. I'm excited and I know Adam (Nener) is excited too, and all our guys are."

Looking back on first finals win

It hadn’t been a smooth ride throughout the season for Willetton to lock away a fourth straight finals appearance after winning the first eight matches and they've been battling injuries and personnel losses since then.

But they still ended the regular season in fifth place at 13-9 to earn a home elimination final last Saturday night against the East Perth Eagles where they were in control most of the way to keep their season alive.

They scored the first 10 points of the game and then did withstand a 30-point fourth quarter from East Perth with 35 themselves to win by 13 with plenty of strong contributors along the way.

"It was a tough game and in the first quarter we were up like 16-4 at one point and then we stopped being able to get anything going from late in the first quarter and it was low scoring in the first half," Cherry said.

"We just went into the locker room saying that all we had to do was keep playing how we're playing and everything will take care of itself, and the shots will start falling. Then in the fourth quarter it was racing and both teams were scoring a bunch of points and it was a fun game to play in.

"I love playing against East Perth, Okwera's a great player and they've got Lat Mayen, De'Sean Parsons and a really good team.

"That was a really good atmosphere at Willetton on Saturday night too with our last home game of the season so that was really fun and now we're just looking forward to playing in Gero on Friday where it's going to be so much fun to play.

"I'm really excited to get up there and give them all we have because we have two more games and we can compete for a championship knowing how close we were last year."

Having faith in what team can do

Willetton were on fire to start the season with those eight straight wins with Cherry and Bryce Johnson confirming themselves among the best import duos in the league.

Veterans Michael Vigor and Damien Scott were still delivering and then emerging players like Tim Ibukunoluwa, Lachlan Burnett and Channing Olowoyo were grabbing their chances and everything was flying.

The going has been a little bit tougher since with Ibukunoluwa leaving for college and taking his 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds with him while Tom Gerovich missed seven games with injury and now the dynamic Johnson has departed after his nasty knock he copped and fall he had against Lakeside.

But at the same time, the Tigers have brought in two-time NBL1 West champion and Sydney Kings NBL championship winner Zac Gattorna who showed what he can still do with 28 points late in the season against the Warwick Senators.

And with veterans like Vigor, Scott and even Gerovich, and then young guns like Burnett, Olowoyo, Aaron Gashaw and then himself and Gattorna, Cherry sees no reason they can't beat both Geraldton and Joondalup on the road this weekend.

"It's been hard for us with the injuries as well and Zac missed a couple of weeks, Blacky missed a couple of weeks with a calf and Vigs has a daughter at home so sometimes he has to miss trainings and stuff like that," Cherry said.

"So there's been a lot of ups and downs and Tim going to college was a big loss, and obviously losing Bryce was huge. But our resilience is what makes us who we are and Scott, Vigs and Blacky keep all of us together and well ground as a unit you know what I mean.

"We have a lot of young guys too like Lachy Burnett and Channing Olowoyo and Aaron Gashaw, and they all stepped up for us in a big way. They all come to training every day and are focus, and helping us get better and then when the game comes around, they are ready to play.

"Aaron on Saturday was amazing for us, I was in foul trouble and he had to play big minutes, and came in and played a lot of minutes and played really well.

"Those young guys too as well keep us really together as much as the older guys keep us grounded, and then I'm just in the mix doing what I can and trying to keep everybody happy and give all the energy I can in the games because I know we need it."

Having a teammate firing after 398 games

One teammate of Cherry's who might very well be playing as well as he ever has is Damien Scott and that's an incredible thing to say considering he's almost 400 games into his career, he's a championship winner at the Cockburn Cougars and now a life member with Willetton.

Should the Tigers win in Geraldton on Friday, Scott will play his 400th game on Sunday against the Wolves and he's producing 14.9 points, 5.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds a game in 2026.

He has always been an offensive weapon and a walking bucket his whole career, but the 2026 version of Scott can still score, but he's now a terrific playmaker, creator, distributor, defender and leader.

Cherry sure loves having him as a teammate.

"Me and Scotty have grown really close over these last two years and I think he's the main piece that we need on our team," Cherry said.

"He's the biggest piece to the puzzle and he does everything, and I don’t know how he runs a million miles an hour and then stops on the dime to make a crazy or something I've never seen before.

"I've been telling Scotty that he's the biggest piece of the puzzle and he tells me the same thing and that I have to keep my head, and we are like the ying and yang with each other.

"On the court we know what each other needs and what to say to each other, and it's a great mixture and I love Scotty, I really do.

"I hope we can get him to his 400th game because we were talking about how if we made the preliminary final that's when he'd do it so I hope that we can do that for him and get that done."

What happens on court, stays on court

To talk to Cherry away from the basketball court and he is a young man with a big heart, a kind soul and who cares about the ones close to him whether that's his family back home, his adopted family at Willetton or indeed his partner, herself a 246-game star of the league Jorjah Smith.

But once he steps onto the court, Cherry does transform into a different character and that's because he's out there competing and doing whatever it will take to win.

And anything that happens with an opponent, that always is seen as just two competitors going to battle so once the buzzer sounds, Cherry is always happy to be cool with whoever he has battled against and shake their hand or even share a beer afterwards.

While most times Cherry does enjoy the interactions with the fans too, but that is one area where he does feel people on the other side of the sideline need to check themselves.

"My dad always told me when I was growing up that in this game of basketball, nobody's going to hold your hand or kiss you out there or be loving to you, we're battling and competing to win games you know what I mean," Cherry said.

"So when I get in between those lines and I'm completely different off the court, but that's when I can let my hair down and let everything loose.

"I feel comfortable out there and yeah, sometimes me and the fans get into it or the fans talk to me, but at the same time, you can't say something to me and not expect me to say something back.

"If I'm playing well, you can't expect me to not get hyped or to act that I'm not doing anything out here. I'm a really good basketball player so I know that I'm good and if you're talking to me, I'm going to talk back.

"It's not like I ever cross the line or anything, I'm just out here playing well and enjoying that. Then with the other players, they know that after the game I will always respect you.

"Like this Friday, Verle Williams is someone I have a really good friendship with off the court, but on the court we're not friends and that's how it is.

"Josh Keyes as well, I'm really cool with him but when we're playing against each other it's competitive and we both want to win so bad that we're willing to give 110 per cent against each other. Then after the game we're off the court and we can go back to being friends."

Dealing with fans crossing the line

In a lot of ways, jawing with opponents and opposition fans is what gets Cherry going and as the old saying goes, it's always dangerous to poke the bear.

So as he heads into a weekend where he could be playing against the two most hostile fan bases in the country for NBL1, Cherry is happy for those Geraldton or Joondalup fans to have their say, but there's also a line he hopes doesn't get crossed any more.

"I think the fans have to understand that at the end of the day this is just a game that is supposed to be fun, and they have to understand too," Cherry said.

"Some of the things that they say aren’t the best or the nicest, and they do cross the line, but I try to let it roll off my back as much as I can.

"It's like water off a ducks back with me, but sometimes it does cross the line and there was an issue at Rockingham that happened. There was also one at Eastern Suns where I had to report people for saying stuff to me, but at the end of the day I want people to know that I'm a human as well.

"You can talk to me at the end of the game and I'm not going to be the same way I was on the court. People need to understand that as well, I'm a human too and I have feelings too, and I make mistakes too just like everybody else.

"Just coz I play basketball and I'm really good at it, doesn’t make it any different and that's all I would say to that."

Open to coming back for a third season

After Cherry has such an enjoyable first season in the NBL1 in 2025 at Willetton where he was instrumental in them reaching a preliminary final, it was a no-brainer for him to return in 2026.

Once coach Adam Nener was back with his staff and most of his teammates were returning too, he was on board, and would be happy to be back too in 2027 especially if all those pieces remain in place and given he gets to call Perth home with Jorjah at the same time.

I'm just so comfortable at Willetton with Mark (Winnett) the CEO, Jackie (Keepa), Craig (Friday) and everybody that's up top at Willetton who have helped me in an abundance of ways and it's been so nice to have them.

"They've made me feel so comfortable here and have made sure that I'm well taken care of, and that everything is OK for me.

"I knew that Adam was coming back to coach too and was bringing back Josh (Johnson), Bids (Wayne Biddle) and the coaching staff as well so I had played for these guys already, we had a chance to go to the Grand Final and I wanted another chance to do it again.

"It was a perfect mix everybody keeps asking me if I would come back, and of course I would want to if the situation is right.

"If they want to have me back here next year, I would one thousand per cent come back to Willetton to play because this is one of the best clubs in WA so I would come back to play them for sure and the community aspect with all the love I get from the kids is just amazing to be part of.

"I love Willetton and would absolutely come back next year if they would have me."