West Wrap | Men's Round 18

Featured image: @codexdesignstudio, Mark Filpo

Johny Narkle had 33 first-half points before facing Geraldton Buccaneers with Cockburn Cougars to open NBL1 West finals while Jack Browder had 44 for Perry Lakes Hawks, Michael Imariagbe 35 for Lakeside Lightning, Matt Norman 39 and Josh Keyes 36 for Geraldton Buccaneers, and Sharif Black 32 for Joondalup Wolves.

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FRIDAY

Willetton Tigers (98) defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns (86)

Damien Scott might be 397 games into career but continues to lead the Willetton Tigers as well as ever and took them to the 98-86 Friday night win over Eastern Suns who didn’t hit from the outside until the third quarter.

It was a fascinating finish to the regular season for both teams at Willetton Basketball Stadium as they jostled over a fifth or sixth placed finish to book in a home final to open the playoffs.

Both teams were guaranteed to play finals, it was just a matter of where they'd finish and it was nothing more than a four-point game throughout the first quarter with Willetton narrowly leading 23-22 by quarter-time.

There was still no more than six points between both teams during the second quarter before Willetton went into half-time leading 46-42.

Eventually a couple of minutes into the third quarter and the Eastern Suns broke their duck from the outside courtesy of Terrandus Smith, but still by three quarter-time they were going 1/23.

Willetton were clinging to the 65-64 advantage but then it was all the home team in the final stanza with the Tigers producing 33 points to 22 to secure the 12-point victory.

The result means that both teams finish the regular season with a 13-9 record in fifth and sixth spot with Damien Scott leading the charge for Willetton with 25 points, four assists and three rebounds.

Tom Gerovich added 18 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Tom Musumeci 15 points, five boards and five assists, Taeshon Cherry 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, and Lachlan Burnett 12 points and four boards.

Newly signed Perth Wildcats point guard Marley Sam finished with 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and four steals but went 0/5 from deep for the Eastern Suns while Terrandus Smith went 1/8, Joe Cook-Green 1/6 and Lewis Thomas 0/6 including an air ball.

Travis Fee produced 13 points and three rebounds on his old home floor, Cook-Green 13 points, nine assists and three steals, Smith 13 points and five rebounds, Thomas 11 points, 13 boards, three steals, two assists and two blocks, and Jordan Simpson nine points and seven rebounds.

Rockingham Flames (127) defeated Perth Redbacks (62)

The Rockingham Flames were already locked into a top two finish but warmed up nicely for the finals with a dominant 127-62 home win against the Perth Redbacks.

The Flames played host to the Redbacks at Mike Barnett Sports Complex guaranteed of finishing second and potentially even first should the Geraldton Buccaneers lose on Saturday.

Rockingham shot out of the blocks on fire against the out of contention Redbacks with 41 points to 14 in the first quarter to already be leading by 27 at quarter-time.

That lead ballooned to 43 points in the second quarter too and with another 31 to 16, the Flames were well in control leading 72-30 by half-time.

It was another 21 points to 14 in the third quarter in favour of Rockingham and 34 to 18 in the fourth on the way to winning by 65 to go into the finals in ominous form.

Ryan Godfrey stepped back into the starting line-up without Michael Harris and produced 23 points and two assists with 5/9 shooting from the outside with reigning MVP Isaac White having another 22 points and three assists.

Mark Burkholder added 19 points and nine rebounds, Blake Jones 18 points, 14 boards and two assists, Laquinton Ross 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Lowell Christopher seven points, 11 boards and three assists.

The season ends for the Redbacks at 8-14 and two games short of a playoff spot with Sean Conway finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and two steals with Aiden Cannington adding nine points and three assists, and Luke Phillips nine points, six rebounds and three assists.

Lakeside Lightning (125) defeated South West Slammers (90)

The Lakeside Lightning fell frustratingly short of the finals despite the 125-90 win at home to close the season over the South West Slammers with Michael Amariagbe delivering 35 points and 11 rebounds.

By losing their past two games to the Warwick Senators and East Perth Eagles the Lightning had slipped from playoff contention as they played host to the bottom placed Slammers to close the regular season at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

It was a flying start form Lakeside at home with 31 points to 19 in the first quarter before another 28 to 25 in the second on the way to the 59-44 lead over the Slammers.

The Lightning then had a monster 43-point third quarter to end up leading by as much as 44 points on the way to the 35-point victory to finish the season at 9-13 in ninth place.

Imariagbe delivered 35 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals for Lakeside with 15/21 field goal shooting with Yahui Sun contributing 13 points, four assists and two rebounds, and Isaiah Lewis 16 points and four assists.

Liam Patterson added 12 points, five assists and four rebounds, Michael Garbellini 12 points, three boards and two steals, and Josh Davey seven points, 15 rebounds and four assists.

The Slammers finish the season in bottom spot at 2-20 with Philmon Gebrhiwet finishing 26 points and five assists with Jhaylon Martinez contributing 18 points and seven boards, Rhys Barrett 12 points and two assists, and Dante Matakatea nine points, three rebounds and two blocks.

Joondalup Wolves (111) defeated Mandurah Magic (104)

The Joondalup Wolves geared themselves up for another finals tilt with Sharif Black starring in their 111-104 home win over the Mandurah Magic.

The Wolves were all but locked into third position no matter the result on Friday night against the Magic at Arena Joondalup with Mandurah finishing the season without both Matt Kenyon and Jock Perry.

Mandurah did start well in their last game for the regular season to be leading 30-28 by quarter-time and then the Magic had another 27 points to 24 in the second frame to be on top 57-52 by half-time.

Joondalup turned things around in the third quarter with 31 points to 26 in the third quarter and then 28 to 21 in the fourth on the way to the eventual seven-point victory to finish the season in third position and set up a qualifying match up with the Rockingham Flames.

Sharif Black was tremendous once more for the Wolfpack with 32 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while CJ Turnage contributed 21 points, 10 boards and three assists, and Caleb Davis 17 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Jordan Wellsteed also had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists, Taylor Young 10 points, nine assists and three boards, and Ben Geel nine points and three rebounds.

Mandurah finish a frustrating season at 7-15 where they will ever wonder what a team of Kenyon-Perry-Michael Christmas-Michael Dupree-Lachlan Bertram-Ryan Blanchett could have looked like.

Dupree ended up with 34 points and six rebounds with 4/8 shooting from the outside with Christmas contributing 26 points, 10 boards and two assists, Bertram 21 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals, Blanchett 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Chad Miegel 10 points and three assists.

East Perth Eagles (104) lost to Cockburn Cougars (109)

Johny Narkle put up 33 points with seven three-pointers in the first to set the Cockburn Cougars on the path to the 109-104 win over the East Perth Eagles that locks him into a tantalising qualifying final with the Geraldton Buccaneers.

Coming into the last round match up at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and both teams were locked into finals with East Perth unable to move from eighth position while Cockburn did need to win to officially guarantee a top four finish.

Narkle then came out on a mission after missing most of two games a fortnight ago with illness and then still being under the weather last weekend in another double, but he came out on fire against the Eagles.

He put up 19 points alone in the first quarter with the Cougars leading already 37-24 by quarter-time before he added another 14 in the second frame and by half-time had 33 on 7/12 three-point shooting.

That saw Cockburn leading 69-51 by half-time on 13/23 three-point shooting to the 7/15 from East Perth who got an important cameo from Jermaine Malie for 11 points with 3/3 shooting from the outside.

Narkle then didn’t score in the third quarter and the Eagles put up 24 points to 16 in the third quarter, and 29 to 24 in the fourth to make things interesting late and only fall five points short of what would have been a remarkable fightback.

Cockburn ended up in fourth position with a 15-7 record to now set up a qualifying final in Geraldton that will mark Narkle's first game against the two he won two Grand Final MVP's and championships with.

Narkle ended up with 34 points, eight rebounds and two assists with just the one second half point while Akeem Springs delivered 19 points, six boards and five assists with 5/7 shooting from the outside.

Rowan Mackenzie also had 15 points, three rebounds and three assists, Jack Pitt 13 points, four boards and three assists, and Nathan Pond 10 points and four rebounds.

The Eagles were already locked into eighth position and now will take on the Willetton Tigers in an elimination final with De'Sean Parsons finishing with 25 points, six rebounds and four assists on 10/11 field goal shooting.

Nick Filpo added 15 points and five assists on 5/9 three-point shooting, Kai Kabugua 11 points and nine assists, Jermaine Malie 11 points and two rebounds, Bing Huang nine points, six assists, four boards and two steals, and David Okwera nine points and five rebounds.

SATURDAY

Warwick Senators (94) lost to Goldfields Giants (104)

It has been a mighty disappointing season for both teams but there was a chance to end on a winning note and the Goldfields Giants did that with the 104-94 win over the Warwick Senators.

Both teams played finals last year with the Senators reaching the Grand Final and the Giants reaching the semi finals, but they were well out of contention by Saturday at Warwick Senators to close the 2026 season.

Goldfields started well away from home with 26 points to 21 in the first quarter before still leading 48-43 by half-time before extending that lead to six by three quarter-time and ending up securing the 10-point victory with 32 points to 28 in the last term.

That sees the Giants finish the season in 12th place at 6-15 with Matthew MacLellan putting up 31 points, six rebounds and two assists on 10/12 field goal shooting with 3/5 from the outside.

Josh Duach also had 26 points and seven rebounds, Sam Vinson 18 points, eight boards, four assists and two steals, and Jayden Doel seven points, five rebounds and two assists.

The Senators end up 13th at 6-16 with Marshawn Blackmon finishing with 21 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Tristan Forsyth also had 14 points and four rebounds, Trey Sandon 11 points and three boards, Jay Thwaites nine points, two rebounds and two steals, and Billy McRae eight points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

Perry Lakes Hawks (110) lost to Geraldton Buccaneers (125)

It was quite the entertaining shootout to close the regular season on Saturday with Matt Norman and Josh Keyes combining for 75 points to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 125-110 who got another 44 points from Jack Browder.

Both teams are preparing for the finals and took on one another on Saturday afternoon at Bendat Basketball Centre and already in the first quarter they combined for 60 points with Geraldton leading 34-26 by quarter-time.

It was another 59 points between them in the second quarter with Geraldton having another 32 to Perry Lakes' 27 and that saw the Buccs leading 66-53 with Norman already having 19 points and Keyes 16 while Browder was up to 20 for the Hawks.

The Buccaneers piled on another 30 points to 23 in the third quarter to be leading by 20 at three quarter-time and then the Hawks did have 34 to 29 in the fourth, but the Buccs prevailed still by 15 in a game featuring 235 points with a combined 29/81 three-point shooting.

The Buccs have now secured a third regular season championship in the past five years as they attempted to go back-to-back for the first time with Norman finishing with 39 points, seven rebounds and four assists with 8/14 three-point shooting.

Keyes also had 36 points, five rebounds and four assists with 14/20 shooting while Verle Williams added 16 points, eight assists, six boards and five steals, Brendan Redhead 14 points and an assist, Cooper Creek 11 points and four rebounds, and Liam Hunt nine points, 10 boards and 10 assists.

Perry Lakes end the season in seventh position at 12-10 and now will take on the Kalamunda Eastern Suns in an elimination final with Browder producing another 44 points and nine rebounds with 6/9 three-point shooting.

Cam Huefner added 20 points, nine rebounds and three assists, Isaiah Moses 16 points, seven assists and three boards, Max Bucknell 15 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, and Andreas Grubisa 10 points, six boards and five assists.