West Spotlight | Tschetter, Blackmon fire Senators to crucial win

West Spotlight | Tschetter, Blackmon fire Senators to crucial win

nbl1 nbl1west

perrylakeshawks warwicksenators

By Chris Pike for NBL1.com.au

The two teams combined for 224 points and put on quite the show but in the end the Warwick Senators got the win they needed to beat the Perry Lakes by eight.

Featured image: @Chyon Kondylas Photography

University of Michigan NCAA championship winner Will Tschetter was unstoppable at times and along with Marshawn Blackmon combined for 72 points and 23 rebounds as the Warwick Senators beat the Perry Lakes Hawks in NBL1 West 116-108.

The Friday night match up at Bendat Basketball Centre was intriguing coming into it with the Hawks having won four of five since the arrival of young imports Jack Browder and Isaiah Moses.

The Senators have yet to get going in 2026 and have never been close to full strength and that was again the case with Cody Ellis, Keegan Phillips and George Pearl all unavailable while it's looking unlikely the signing of Ben Henshall will ever materialise with him suiting up.

But still Warwick put up 32 points in the first quarter with 24 from Blackmon and Tschetter, and then another 31 in the second to have 63 by the half with 40 from that pair.

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

>> 200-GAMER DAVIS' PRIDE IN BEING A WARRIOR

>> PROVING DOUBTERS WRONG DRIVES TEEN SENSATION

>> WEST WRAP | MEN'S ROUND 7

However, Moses was having a big night for Perry Lakes and had 30 points already to three quarter-time and then after a foul interrupted first half, Browder had 11 points in the third term and eight in the fourth, but Warwick did enough to end up securing the important eight-point win.

The victory improves the Senators to a 3-6 record while the Hawks are now 4-5 after an entertaining affair with Warwick ending up shooting 54 per cent from the field to the 52 from Perry Lakes.

Will Tschetter sure is enjoying first halves in particular to start his NBL1 career fresh off being part of Michigan's NCAA championship triumph only last month.

After a similarly dominant performance against East Perth in the first half a couple of weeks ago, he again had 13 points in the first quarter and 26 for the half and he was sure to let everyone within ear shot know about it.

He then ended the game with 38 points and 10 rebounds on 15/25 field goal shooting and going 4/8 from both beyond the three-point arc and at the foul line.

Marshawn Blackmon continued his standout season with another 34 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals on 13/32 field goal shooting.

Billy McRae returned to his old home floor to take on his former team and starred for Warwick with 23 points, four assists and three rebounds with Trey Sandon also producing nine points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Jack Browder was hindered by foul trouble in the first half for Perry Lakes and just had one shot attempt, but he made that three-pointer.

He then delivered 11 points in the third quarter and eight in the last to finish with 22 with five rebounds on 8/9 shooting.

Fellow import Isaiah Moses was tremendous with 33 points and six assists with 5/10 three-point shooting while Cam Huefner contributed 18 points, six boards and three assists, and Apiok Dau 15 points and four rebounds.

It always loomed as a fascinating contest featuring two teams with young import stars fresh out of college and trying to build some momentum to break into the top eight, and it was the Senators on the back of Will Tschetter who started the better.

Warwick put up 32 points to 21 in the first period on the back of 13 of those courtesy of their young big man fresh out of Michigan.

The Senators shot the ball at 55 per cent to 33 from Perry Lakes in the opening term while getting to the free-throw line nine times to two on the way to the 14-point lead along the way thanks to scoring 11 straight points.

Isaiah Moses did what he could to will Perry Lakes back into the contest in the second term with 11 points to go into half-time with 18 but Jack Browder had just one shot attempt for three points in the entire first half having been averaging 35 a game so far this season.

Tschetter was up to 26 points on 4/5 three-point shooting by half-time and with Billy McRae adding 17 points and Marshawn Blackmon 14, it was the Senators still in commanding leading 63-52.

Warwick then got out to a 17-point lead in the third quarter but Perry Lakes hit back with a 10-0 run inspired by Moses who was up to 30 by three quarter-time while Browder was able to add 11 points and make all four of his shot attempts.

Even with that, the Senators were still leading by nine heading into the fourth quarter and then retained control the rest of the way even though Perry Lakes kept on coming with both teams combing for 51 points in the last 10 minutes.

But Warwick had all the answers in the end for the eight-point win in a game featuring 224 points between the two teams led by their young stars.

Perry Lakes are next in action next Friday night when they play host to the East Perth Eagles while Senators back up on Saturday when they are at home to the Cockburn Cougars.

NBL1 WEST 2026 SEASON | ROUND 8

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 108 (Moses 33, Browder 22, Huefner 18)

WARWICK SENATORS 116 (Tschetter 38, Blackmon 34, McRae 23)