NBL1 West Tuesday Night Recap

NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 7 – TUESDAY NIGHT

The Joondalup Wolves bounced back from their shock loss on Friday night to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks on Tuesday night in the NBL1 West Women's Division back on the same floor they celebrated in 2020.

Round 7 in the 2021 season of the NBL1 West Women's Division got underway back on Friday night and it was the East Perth Eagles causing the upset against the Joondalup Wolves, winning 75-58 at Herb Graham Recreation Centre.

There was one game to still be played in the round, though, and that took place on Tuesday evening at Bendat Basketball Centre, and it was the Lady Wolfpack bouncing back from their loss on Friday to prove too good for the Perry Lakes Hawks.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 WOMEN'S SEASON
ROUND 7 – TUESDAY NIGHT

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 66 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 73

The Perry Lakes Hawks and Joondalup Wolves have been perennial powerhouses in the Women's competition in recent seasons and Tuesday night didn’t disappoint in providing another terrific, hard fought contest.

Under the coach of new mother Deanna Black, the Lady Hawks turned themselves into a force and they managed to win the SBL championship in 2017 as a result, and have been strongly competitive ever since.

The Wolfpack too have been strong in the Women's competition for a long time whether under the coaching of Craig Friday or now more recently Charles Nix, and that saw them breakthrough to win the West Coast Classic championship in fine style in 2020.

The Lady Wolfpack returned to the scene of that triumph at Bendat Basketball Centre on Tuesday night, but in unfamiliar territory needing to bounce back from their first loss of the NBL1 West season.

Joondalup were stunned by the East Perth Eagles back on Friday night to the tune of 17 points at Herb Graham Recreation Centre while Perry Lakes was playing its first game of the round but looking to rebound from their own three-match losing streak.

It turned out to be a tremendous contest as well with scores all locked together at 18-18 by quarter-time before the Wolves were able to open up a narrow 37-35 advantage by the half-time break.

The third quarter proved to be the decision one of the match with Joondalup outscoring Perry Lakes 20 points to 15 to be leading 57-50 by three quarter-time.

The Lady Wolfpack lead quickly got into double-figures early in the fourth quarter and despite the continued hot shooting for the Hawks of Maddie Dennis, the Wolves ended up winning strongly 73-66.

The win improves Joondalup to a 5-1 record on the season after seven rebounds while Perry Lakes is 1-4.

Turnovers were the order of the night for both teams which certainly wouldn’t have pleased either coach with Perry Lakes coughing up 27 of them and Joondalup 30. 

Ultimately the major difference was the Wolves' aggressiveness to get to the rack and take 27 free-throws to just 15 from the Hawks.

Kayla Steindl was outstanding once again for the Wolfpack with 25 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 7/12 from the floor and 8/9 from the foul line.

Rebecca Benson showed she's going to be a handy returnee for the Wolves too with 12 points and two assists while Chelsea Belcher added nine points, Nes'eya Williams eight points, nine rebounds, six steals and three assists, and Amber Land five points and six rebounds.

NBL1 WEST – 2021 MEN'S SEASON
ROUND 7 – TUESDAY NIGHT

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 118 defeated JOONDALUP WOLVES 87

The Perry Lakes Hawks sent quite the statement with their second massive win of Round 7 in the NBL1 Men's Division on Tuesday night as they dismantled the Joondalup Wolves to the tune of 31 points.

The Hawks and Wolves met most recently in an SBL Grand Final at the same Bendat Basketball Centre venue only back in 2018 before also locking horns in the 2019 semi finals, and then again in a semi-final match up in last year's West Coast Classic.

So the two teams are no strangers to one another especially playing in big matches and Tuesday night shaped as being another tantalising match up in their first meeting in the NBL1 West competition.

The Wolfpack came into the game fresh off beating the East Perth Eagles away from home as well on Friday night 94-61 while the Hawks hit the road to Geraldton on Saturday night and came away with the 90-63 triumph before gearing up to host Joondalup on Tuesday evening.

That was offset with the Wolves missing their own veteran big Rob Huntington, but it didn’t take long for Perry Lakes to stamp their authority all over the contest.

They went on a 9-0 run during the opening quarter to lead 20-10 and the tone was set for the rest of the evening with Perry Lakes opening up a 30-17 lead by quarter-time.

A pair of three-point bombs from Ryan Smith saw that lead stretch to 17 points for the Hawks during the second quarter, and it was become far too easy much to the frustration of Wolves coach Andrew Summerville.

The game was over as a contest with that 32-point half-time lead with the night becoming worse for the Wolfpack when experienced point Ben Ironmonger went down in the opening half with a nasty looking leg injury.

It had been a night that promised so much for the Wolves coming into it in good form and looking to celebrate the 250th milestone of guard Reece Maxwell in style, but it turned out to be their worst showing so far in the NBL1 West instead.

To Joondalup's credit they were able to outscore Perry Lakes 59 points to 58 in the second half, but the Hawks still cruised to the 118-87 victory to finish the round in top spot at 6-1 while the Wolfpack are sixth now at 4-3.

It was a night where the Hawks did plenty right including winning the rebound battle 45 to 27 including raking in 16 offensive boards while shooting at 57 per cent from the field and knocking down 16/36 from three-point range at 44 per cent.

Jonathan Wade battled away all evening for Joondalup finishing with a game-high 34 points including 5/8 shooting from deep.

Sioeli Vaiangina added 14 points, Lochlan Cummings 10, Seb Salinas six and Reece Maxwell six in his 250th game for the Wolfpack.