West Finals | Wolves guns deliver stunning fightback

Featured image: @slmediaau

The Joondalup Wolves delivered a remarkable fourth quarter fight back with Caleb Davis hitting two massive shots late and Taylor Young, Sharif Black and CJ Turnage huge as they shocked the Rockingham Flames with the 99-97 road NBL1 West qualifying final win.

The Flames were neck and neck with eh Geraldton Buccaneers jostling for top spot all season long and while they just ended up second at 18-4, they still earned home court advantage to host the Wolves on Saturday night at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Rockingham might have been without Michael Harris but had no shortage of weapons as they attempted to lock in a home preliminary final against a Wolfpack team who finished the regular season third at 16-6.

It was a tight battle from the outset with Rockingham managing to lead 22-19 by the end of the first quarter before things picked up in the second term with both teams combining for 62 points.

That saw the Wolves score 32 of those and Sharif Black was up to 18 points by half-time and CJ Turnage 13 but the Flame were clinging to the 52-51 lead still thanks to 30 points and despite going jus 3/14 from the outside as a team.

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The Flames then pulled away in the third frame with 30 points to 19 on the back of shooting 11/19 from the field with 6/12 from the outside with two-time MVP Isaac White having another nine points to be up to 20.

Tevin Jackson also had 14 points and eight rebounds and as a result Rockingham were leading 82-70 by three quarter-time.

Jackson then knocked down a three ball two minutes into the fourth quarter to have Rockingham back up to a 15-point advantage and they looked to have more than one foot into hosting a preliminary final.

Nobody told the Wolves that, though, and it was a remarkable transformation the rest of the game where they would end up outscoring the Flames 27 points to 10.

Taylor Young hit a couple of huge threes to get Joondalup back into the contest and by the time Caleb Davis hit his first shot of the night with four minutes to play, it was back to a two-point ball game and the visitors had all the momentum and belief.

Black then hit a three-pointer to put the Wolfpack in front and Davis landed from the outside too to put them up four having gone on a 22-3 run over five minutes to get to that point.

Ryan Godfrey answered with a three for Rockingham but the Wolves had done a tremendous job to wear down White and to keep him from getting off any good looks, and then Turnage scored on an offensive rebound.

He then also knocked down the biggest shot of the game with just over 30 seconds left to put his team up four and that was enough to secure Joondalup the remarkable win when Jackson's look at the death for the Flames wouldn’t fall.

The remarkable fourth quarter performance from Joondalup sees them lock in a home preliminary final now next Sunday at Arena Joondalup against either the Geraldton Buccaneers or Willetton Tigers.

Sharif Black showed why he was runner-up MVP for the Wolves ending up with 30 points, four rebounds and four assists with 4/8 shooting from the outside.

Taylor Young came up huge as well with 28 points and three assists with 5/6 three-point shooting with CJ Turnage delivering 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Caleb Davis five points, 11 boards and five assists.

Rockingham will now host the Perry Lakes Hawks on Thursday night in a semi-final with the winner to go on to face the Cockburn Cougars on Saturday night in a preliminary final.

Two-time MVP Isaac White still had 20 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Flames but was made to work for everything and had 8/21 field goal shooting and 3/10 from downtown, and got to the foul line just once.

Tevin Jackson added 17 points, nine rebounds and two assists, Emmett Naar 14 points, six boards and four assists, Travis Durnin 12 points and two rebounds, Ryan Godfrey 12 points with 3/7 shooting from the outside, and Laquinton Ross 10 points and eight rebounds.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | QUALIFYING FINAL

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 97 (White 20, Jackson 17, Naar 14)

JOONDALUP WOLVES 99 (Black 30, Young 28, Turnage 25)