West Finals | Browder-less Hawks dominate Suns

Featured image: @Chyon Kondylas Photography

The Perry Lakes Hawks were missing their gun but it mattered little as they put forward a dominant elimination final performance to stay alive this NBL1 West season beating the Eastern Suns 87-57.

The Eastern Suns had qualified for finals for the first time in the NBL1 era and for the first time since 2019, and even then that was the end of a drought dating back to 2012 so the post-season appearances have been rare up the hill.

They earned home court advantage at Ray Owen Sports Centre too with the sixth placed finish at 13-9 to take on a Perry Lakes team who were seventh at 12-10 and with tremendous firepower.

But a lot of that surrounded Jack Browder who ended up being Isaac White's biggest threat as MVP in 2026 having put up 30.7 points and 9.1 rebounds a game, but he wasn’t suiting up for the elimination final.

It was a low scoring affair for both sides in the first quarter with them trying to find a groove with the local crowd right behind their home team but it was Perry Lakes narrowly leading 15-11 by quarter-time.

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It was then in the second term where Perry Lakes took charge with a 9-0 run on the way to building a 20-point lead before going into half-time on top 43-25 thanks to 28 points to 11.

Cam Huefner was already up to 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks with Isaiah Moses adding 12 while the Eastern Suns just couldn't get anything going shooting 10/42 from the field and 3/5 from the outside.

That lead continued to grow for Perry Lakes and they added another 25 points to 17 in the third quarter for the 68-42 advantage by three quarter-time.

That lead then blew out to 37 points in the last quarter and the Hawks ended up winning by 30 on the back of shooting 43 per cent, 12/36 from the outside and 15/25 at the foul line opposed to the 26 per cent for the Suns along with 8/31 from deep and 5/11 at the stripe.

Perry Lakes now advance to a semi-final away to the Rockingham Flames on Thursday night with Cam Huefner finishing with 25 points, 20 rebounds and two assists while Isaiah Moses added 20 points, seven boards and five assists with 4/11 shooting from downtown.

Max Bucknell was a strong inside presence with 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks with Andreas Grubisa adding 13 points, four boards and two steals, and AJ Nobensi eight points, three assists and two rebounds.

It was a tough way for the season to end for the Eastern Suns with Joe Cook-Green finishing with 14 points while Reece Maxwell added 10 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Marley Sam eight points and five boards.

But it was a horror shooting night with Cook-Green going 5/17, Sam 3/17 and Terrandus Smith 2/17 to combined for 10/51.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ELIMINATION FINAL

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 57 (Cook-Green 14, Maxwell 10, Sam 8)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 87 (Huefner 25, Moses 20, Bucknell13)