West Spotlight | Buccs blow Wolves away in Q3

Featured image: @ArcticMoonPhotography

The Geraldton Buccaneers delivered a blistering 41-point third quarter to set them on the path to a seventh straight NBL1 West victory to beat the third placed Joondalup Wolves 108-90 at home on Saturday night.

Both teams came into the match up at Active West Stadium on six-game winning streaks and the winner would finish Round 12 of the NBL1 West season in second position in the standings heightening the stakes.

It was a ferocious contest through the first half too with the Buccaneers leading by just three points at quarter-time and then by two at the half, but it was in the third where the reigning champs made their move.

Geraldton put up 41 points in the third frame with 16/22 shooting to open up a 25-point lead by the fourth quarter and go on to secure the 18-point win to consolidate second position at 10-2 with the wolfpack now slipping to 11-4 with their six-game winning run coming to an end.

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The Buccaneers ended up shooting 56 per cent from the field to 50 along 11/34 from three opposed to 8/32 and pulled down 14 offensive rebounds to nine to overcome Joondalup getting to the foul line 25 times for the game.

Josh Keyes put up another 28 points, 10 rebounds and two assists in the win for Geraldton with 14/20 field goal shooting.

He had plenty of help too with Cooper Creek producing 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, Matt Norman 17 points on 5/9 three-point shooting, and Verle Williams 14 points, six assists, five steals and four boards.

Liam Hunt delivered another 10 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists with Devondrick Walker ending up with 13 points, five boards, four assists and two steals, and Brendan Redhead nine points, three assists and two rebounds.

Caleb Davis ended up top scoring with 16 points and four rebounds for the Wolves even while going 0/8 from beyond the arc with CJ Turnage contributing 14 points and three assists, and Gabe Chadinha 14 points on 4/6 shooting from the floor and 4/6 from the foul line.

Sharif Black added 13 points, four rebounds and two assists, Damon Ballantyne 13 points and three boards, Jordan Wellsteed nine points, five rebounds and two assists in game 298, and Taylor Young eight points and five assists.

The two teams are no strangers to having fascinating contests and with second spot up for grabs and both on six-game winning streaks, Saturday night certainly shaped as another and they produced a fascinating first quarter with the Buccs narrowly leading 29-26 by the end of it.

Cooper Creek was already up to 11 points for Geraldton while as a team they were shooting at 52 per cent but Joondalup were shooting at 56 per cent to stay in touch despite three fewer shot attempts and three less foul shots.

It remained a tight battle through the second quarter too with 20 points to the Wolves on 8/17 shooting and 19 to the Buccs who went at 8/16 which left the home team narrowly leading 48-46 head into the half-time interval.

It was in the third quarter where the Buccaneers made their move with a stunning 41-point performance including 11 of those points scored by Josh Keyes.

To put up 41 points, Geraldton shot 16/22 from the field along with 4/8 from behind the three-point line and 5/5 at the free-throw line to suddenly be leading 89-66 by three quarter-time.

From there the Buccs cruised to the 18-point win to make it seven wins in-a-row and maintain their hold on second position.

The Buccs now have a road double next weekend against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Rockingham Flames while the Wolfpack will attempt to hit back at home to the Perth Redbacks on Saturday night.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 12

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 108 (Keyes 28, Norman 17, Creek 17)

JOONDALUP WOLVES 90 (Davis 16, Chadinha 14, Turnage 14)