West Spotlight | Tigers guns fire despite Sam heroics

Featured image: Deacon Matthews | @deacs.jpg

Teen sensation Marley Sam again lit it up for the Eastern Suns but Taeshon Cherry starred again for the Willetton Tigers and combined with double-doubles from Damien Scott and Tom Gerovich his team stayed unbeaten with the 99-87 Anzac Day win.

At just 17 years of age, what Sam is doing with the Eastern Suns is quite remarkable and the pocket-sized dynamo was instrumental with 35 points on Friday night against the Lakeside Lightning to ensure the Suns were still unbeaten ahead of hosting the Tigers at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Willetton also beat the South West Slammers on Friday night to ensure the battle undefeated teams which is a far cry from a lot of the years of this annual Anzac Day fixtures dominated by the Tigers including an 81-point annihilation in Alan Black's last game as coach back in 2016.

This time both teams were unbeaten and played out an entertaining affair with more responsibility falling on the shoulders of Sam in the opening five minutes when the Eastern Suns lost Joe Cook-Green.

>> WEST SPOTLIGHT | WHITE UNSTOPPABLE AS FLAMES WIN BIG

>> LISTEN HERE TO NBL1 WEST RADIO SHOW, THE HOOP HOUR ON 91.3 SPORTFM

>> BUCCS HERO EMBRACING BIGGER ROLE TO START 2026

>> WEST WRAP | MEN'S ROUND 4

Sam still did his best to keep his team in the contest, but Willetton were too powerful with 64 points to 32 over the second and third quarters to open up a match winning lead, and turn that into the 12-point win after Kalamunda put up 30 in the last term.

The result means that Willetton are now 6-0 on the season after five rounds with the Eastern Suns now 5-1 having tasted defeat for the first time.

Taeshon Cherry made the All-First Team in his first season at Willetton last year but he's gone up another gear so far in 2026. That was on display again on Anzac Day with 24 points, five rebounds and two blocks with 8/17 shooting from the field and 6/6 at the free-throw line.

Perth Wildcats development player Tom Gerovich was strong with 19 points, 12 rebounds and two assists while 381-game veteran guard Damien Scott turned playmaker for 14 assists to go with 14 points, four rebounds and three steals while hitting 3/4 from downtown.

Bryce Johnson also had 10 points for Willetton with Lachlan Burnett contributing seven points, seven rebounds and two assists, Michael Vigor seven points, two boards and two assists, and Tim Ibukunoluwa five points and nine rebounds.

The Eastern Suns are now 5-1 following a first loss of the season on a night where they shot just 42 per cent from the field, 7/31 from downtown and only 14/25 fro the foul line, but once again it was Sam who was the shining light.

The 17-year-old backed up his stunning performance the night before with 35 points against the Lakeside Lightning by delivering another 29 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals with 10/20 shooting from the floor and 8/14 at the free-throw line.

Terrandus Smith added 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Suns, Lewis Thomas nine points, 10 boards, six assists and four steals, and Reece Maxwell seven points and four rebounds in his 346th appearance.

The two undefeated teams put those records on the line in their annual Anzac Day match up and it was the Suns at home who got the better of the start to be leading 25-19 by quarter-time.

That was despite losing Joe Cook-Green inside the first five minutes with Terrandus Smith stepping up for 11 points while the Eastern Suns shot 44 per cent from the field to just the 32 from Willetton.

Willetton then turned that around in the second quarter with 31 points to 16 and that saw them open up a 12-opint advantage on the way to going into the half-time break leading 50-41.

The Tigers were just getting warmed up too and then piled on another 33 points in the third quarter to open up a lead as much as 28 points and to still be leading 83-57 by three quarter-time.

That left quite the challenge for Kalamunda to try and stay undefeated especially with Cook-Green out of the game, but the Suns did score the first 11 points of the final quarter.

They then ended up scoring 30 for the entire quarter but they couldn’t ever quite get close enough to strike with Willetton holding on to win by 12 and to be the one that gets to end Anzac Day remaining undefeated in 2026.

The Tigers next put their undefeated record on the line next Saturday in Kalgoorlie against the Goldfields Giants while the Eastern Suns will attempt to bounce back from their first loss away to the Rockingham Flames on Friday night.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ANZAC ROUND

KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 87 (Sam 29, Smith 24, Thomas 9)

WILLETTON TIGERS 99 (Cherry 24, Gerovich 19, Scott 14)