West Finals | Cougars bigs prove unstoppable

Featured image: Drew Molodstov | @thedrewmedia

The Cockburn Cougars have decided to go extra big with Darcee Garbin, Jessie Edwards and Daniel Raber playing together and it proved unstoppable in the NBL1 West preliminary final as they hammered the East Perth Eagles 120-86.

The two teams came into the preliminary final on Sunday afternoon at Wally Hagan Stadium having played two terrific battles through the regular season as a Grand Final spot against the Warwick Senators went on the line.

Cockburn beat East Perth in the first meeting 91-81 at home before the Eagles closed the regular season beating the Cougars at the buzzer thanks to a walk off three-pointer from Sarah Mortensen who had played in the 2023 and 2025 championships for Cockburn.

The Cougars ended the regular season in top spot for the third time in four years with a 17-3 record ahead of beating the Warwick Senators in a tight battle to open the finals to set up the home preliminary final.

East Perth ended the regular season third at 15-5 before losing a thriller to the Rockingham Flames and then scoring their first women's finals victory since making the Grand Final in 2011 when they defeated the Goldfields Giants at home on Friday night.

>> WEST FINALS | SENATORS ADVANCE DESPITE ATWELL'S 47

>> WEST FINALS | MORTENSEN SETS UP RETURN TO COCKBURN

>> FIERCE COMPETITOR DREAMS OF FAIRYTALE FINISH

>> ROSIE'S 'SICK' FORM THAT DIDN'T FEEL POSSIBLE

>> MORLEY RIGHTFULLY PROUD TO BE COACH OF THE YEAR

>> WEST FINALS | GIANTS MAKE HISTORY WINNING FIRST FINAL

>> WEST FINALS | FLAMES HOLD OUT FAST-FINISHING EAGLES

>> WEST FINALS | COUGARS ONE WIN FROM FOURTH GF

>> WEST FINALS | DEEGAN, WOLFPACK SINK MAGIC

Cockburn weren’t interested in messing around in the hunt of a fourth straight Grand Final appearance and opened up an early 11-point lead before the Eagles did respond with six straight points of their own.

But the Cougars were leading 32-23 by the end of one with 13/24 shooting to 9/25 with Jaya Scafidi and Cierra Walker combining to go 4/7 from downtown, and Jessie Edwards and Darcee Garbin combining for 15 points.

Mortensen did have six points on her old home floor for East Perth while Stacey Barr had four points and four rebounds on 2/10 shooting.

The Cougars then completely blew the game open in the second quarter exploding for 37 points on 12/20 shooting from the floor and 7/12 from downtown to open up a 24-point lead.

East Perth still had 25 points themselves on 9/19 shooting and 4/7 from deep themselves, but Cockburn had more than one foot into another Grand Final to be leading 69-48 at the half.

That lead continued to grow through the second half for the Cougars with the result beyond doubt and they would end up leading by as much as 36 points and winning by 34 to make it four straight Grand Final appearances as they attempt to win a third championship in that time.

On the way to piling on 120 points, Cockburn shot 57 per cent from the floor and 19/38 from the outside along with holding East Perth to 86 points on 40 per cent shooting and 13/30 from three-point territory.

What the three bigs did for Cockburn was remarkable and having Daniel Raber, Darcee Garbin and Jessie Edwards out there together is going to take some stopping in the Grand Final.

Garbin ended up with 32 points and seven assists with 7/12 three-point shooting while MVP Edwards had 25 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks, and Raber 21 points, 12 assists, nine boards and three steals.

Cierra Walker added 15 points, five assists and four rebounds with 5/11 shooting from beyond the arc with Jaya Scafidi contributing 13 points, 12 boards and four steals with 4/7 long-range shooting, and captain Jewel Williams 12 points and five assists.

It's a tough way for the season to end for the Eagles but it was a tremendous building season under Coach of the Year Jonelle Morley.

Captain Stacey Barr finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for East Perth with Sydney Wright adding 16 points, five assists and three boards, Brooke Malone 12 points and four rebounds, and Jade Williams 10 points and five boards.

Then the great what if for East Perth will be what could have been had McKenna Dale not injured her knee upon arrival to replace Jas Fejo. In her second game back, she had 19 points on 5/5 shooting from beyond the arc.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | PRELIMINARY FINAL

COCKBURN COUGARS 120 (Garbin 32, Edwards 25, Raber 21)

EAST PERTH EAGLES 86 (Barr 21, Dale 19, Wright 16)