West Spotlight | Buccs win rematch with Flames

Featured image: @ArcticMoonPhotography

The two teams would have to be NBL1 West Grand Final favourites right now and after the Rockingham Flames won at home a fortnight ago, the Geraldton Buccaneers held serve with Devondrick Walker delivering 30 points.

The two teams played in a cracking Grand Final back in 2022 and have remained contenders every year since with the Buccs winning championships in 2023 and 2025, but the Flames falling heartbreakingly close of another appearance in the decided each of the past three years.

They do appear on a collision course at the moment in 2026 and after they played out a tremendous contest in Rockingham two weeks ago with the home team prevailing, the Buccs hosted the Flames at Active West Stadium this time around.

And with Walker on fire with 14 points in the opening quarter, Geraldton ended up leading by as much as 22 points in the second frame and after Rockingham got back within a point in the fourth, the Buccs had the answers to the delight of their raucous home crowd.

The nine-point win improves Geraldton to a 13-3 record with Rockingham now 15-3 after their 11-game winning streak ending making it a fascinating battle over top spot the rest of the way.

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It was a hotly anticipated rematch from two weeks ago when Rockingham won at home and it sure delivered with Geraldton finishing up shooting 54 per cent from the field to 45 but not much was between them across the board.

Rockingham did get up an extra three shot attempts, four more free throws and had 14 offensive rebounds while forcing Geraldton into 14 turnovers, but ultimately the Buccs were that little bit more efficient on the way to the win that heats up the battle for top spot.

Devondrick Walker started on fire against his former team he became a superstar with and had 14 points in the first quarter before finishing the night with 30 to go with four assists with 12/19 field goal shooting along with 4/7 from downtown.

Liam Hunt was huge too with 22 points, 17 rebounds and three assists with Verle Williams contributing 17 points, seven assists, three boards and two steals, Josh Keyes 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Matt Norman seven points, four boards and two assists.

Isaac White had to deal with Verle Williams defending him ferociously the entire night, but in the face of that he showed why he's the MVP with another 31 points, six assists and three rebounds with 7/12 three-point shooting.

Michael Harris had eight points in the first term on the way to 17 for the game with four rebounds and four assists while Blake Jones contributed 12 points and 10 boards, Emmett Naar nine points and four assists, and Laquinton Ross nine points and 12 rebounds.

The two teams played out a tremendous contest two weeks ago in Rockingham so it was the return encounter with the Flames having the chance to lock away top spot but Devondrick Walker had other ideas with 14 points on 6/7 in the first quarter against his old team.

That helped the Buccaneers open up a 30-19 lead by quarter-time with Liam Hunt adding six points and seven rebounds with the home team shooting 60 per cent from the field to 37 from the Flames who did get eight points from Michael Harris.

That lead for Geraldton ballooned to 22 points in the second quarter but Rockingham did hit back with an 8-0 scoring run with MVP Isaac White showing the way despite the tight checking from Verle Williams.

White was up to 15 points by half-time but the Buccs were still leading 58-50 with 17 points from Walker and 15 and 11 from Hunt in a contest that was living up to its billing.

White added another eight points in the third period for Rockingham too and it was back to just an eight-point ball game by three quarter-time.

Harris and Tevin Jackson landed three balls midway through the final stanza to bring the Flames back within a point but Walker responded with the next five points and then his teammate Matt Norman knocked down a huge three with three minutes to go.

That put Geraldton back up by nine and from there they secured the nine-point win to make it all square between the two top teams this season who appear designed for a decided at some point during the finals.

The Buccs now have the quick turnaround to remaining at home to host the Willetton Tigers in a rematch of preliminary finals of the past two years while Rockingham will attempt to hit back against the Perry Lakes Hawks on Thursday night.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON |FIRST NATIONS ROUND

GERALDTON BUCCANEERS 102 (Walker 30, Hunt 22, Williams 17)

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 93 (White 31, Harris 17, Jones 12)