West Recap | Round 5 Friday

Image credit: Tiarna | @tiarnarosephoto

Elijah Pepper didn't even need to score 30 points but Warwick Senators might have looked even better with Mitch Clarke on board while East Perth Eagles women lost a first game this NBL1 West season on Friday night.

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NEW REDBACK PATTY EXCITED TO FACE COUGARS

WEST RECAP | ANZAC ROUND SUNDAY

WOMEN

Willetton Tigers (78) defeated Perry Lakes Hawks (72)

Two 3-1 teams looked to continue their strong starts to the NBL1 West season and it was the Willetton Tigers who prevailed over the Perry Lakes Hawks 78-72 on the back of another dominant showing from Zitina Aokuso.

The Tigers are so far undefeated this season with Aokuso in their line-up and she was fresh off a monster triple-double in their Anzac Day win against the Eastern Suns.

They were back in action on Friday night hosting the Hawks at Willetton Basketball Stadium with Perry Lakes having welcomed back Grace Stone since Sami Whitcomb's departure for the WNBA and having won three of four games to date in 2025.

However, the Hawks were also without gun signing Alex Fowler who was with the Australian Gangurrus 3x3 team for this week's stop in China.

On their home floor, the Tigers made a fast start and following a 10-0 scoring run were leading by seven at quarter-time.

Perry Lakes responded in the second quarter on the back of shooting 9/20 from the field opposed to 4/12 from the Tigers even though the home team got to the foul line 12 times. The Hawks still outscored them 25 points to 18 and scores were all level at 40-40 by half-time.

The Tigers only managed to attempt 13 shots and three free-throws in all of the third quarter, but were able to limit the damage with the Hawks shooting 6/22 and by three quarter-time it was Perry Lakes clinging to the 58-56 lead.

Willetton were able to take control in the fourth quarter by going on a 9-0 scoring streak to open up the six-point lead which would be the final margin as they improve to 4-1 on the season.

The Tigers ended up going 22/32 at the foul line to 11/13 from the Hawks while Willetton shot just 4/17 from downtown to the 9/31 from Perry Lakes while the Tigers had 22 turnovers to the 17 from the Hawks.

Zitina Aokuso was again outstanding in the win for Willetton with 29 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals on 8/10 shooting from the floor and 13/17 at the charity stripe.

Kelsey Curtin added 12 points and two rebounds, 249-game captain Desiree Kelley 11 points and eight boards, Eva Langton 10 points and four assists, and Ajulu Thatha eight points, 13 rebounds, three assists two steals.

Perry Lakes are now 3-2 following the loss with Amy Jacobs finishing with 18 points, four rebounds and three steals in her first game against the team she played with the past two seasons.

Jayda Clark also had 18 points, six rebounds and four assists, Grace Stone 15 points, four boards, four steals and three assists, and Ellie Newman 11 points and five rebounds.

WILLETTON TIGERS 78 (Aokuso 29, Curtin 12, Kelley 11)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 72 (Clark 18, Jacobs 18, Stone 15)

 

Joondalup Wolves (65) lost to Lakeside Lightning (74)

It was only when down six in the third quarter that the Lakeside Lightning took over against the Joondalup Wolves with Oceane Kounkou stepping up in the backcourt to support Teige Morrell and Sam Lubcke up front for the 74-65 road win.

The Lightning arrived at Arena Joondalup on Friday night looking to make it three consecutive wins after losing the first three games of the season as they took on a Wolfpack team still hunting a first victory of 2025.

There was never more than four points that separated the two teams in the first half and in the opening quarter the Wolves shot at just 5/18 from the field with the Lightning going 5/20 with Joondalup ending it leading 16-15.

It was a similar story in the second term with Lakeside shooting 7/19 and Joondalup 6/16 and by half-time it was the Lightning clinging to a 32-31 lead.

When Jhazmin Joson and Maddie Sutton hit back-to-back threes midway through the third quarter it saw the Wolfpack open up a six-point lead as they chased that first win of the season, but from there the Lightning worked their way on top.

Lakeside put up 18 points to four the rest of the third quarter to be leading 53-45 by three quarter-time, and they went on with the job from there to lead by as much as 11 and to end up scoring the nine-point win.

The win improves Lakeside to a 3-3 record having now won three straight with the powerful front court of Teige Morrell (14 points, 24 rebounds, three assists, two steals) and Sam Lubcke (16 points, eight boards) impressive once again.

The improvement came with Oceane Kounkou providing 19 points with 3/7 three-point shooting while fellow import guard Kennedi Williams added 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Joondalup slips to 0-5 to start the season despite new import Maddie Sutton providing 15 points, seven rebounds and two assists in her second appearance.

Jhazmin Joson made 4/7 from three-point range for 15 points and two assists with Jorjah Smith hitting 4/10 from deep for 14 points and six assists, and Laniesha Paddon 11 points, three steals and two rebounds.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 65 (Joson 15, Sutton 15, Smith 14)

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 74 (Kounkou 19, Lubcke 16, Morrell 14)

East Perth Eagles (86) lost to Warwick Senators (87)

Two of the form teams to start the NBL1 West played out a thriller and it was only fitting that it came down to the very last possession with the Warwick Senators holding out the East Perth Eagles to win 87-86.

The Eagles were back on their home floor at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre putting their perfect record on the line to start the season up against a Senators team having also won three of their four matches so far in 2025.

While both teams do have personnel still to come in with Emma Clarke still working back from a knee injury to play with East Perth and the Senators waiting for both Emma Gandini and Kiara Waite to be available, there was plenty of high quality out there to set up a tremendous contest.

The Senators were looking for a third straight win and made a fast start to open up an early 10-point lead, but the Eagles hit back and were leading 29-28 by quarter-time after shooting 11/17 for the opening 10 minutes while Warwick went at 9/18.

Things dried up for both teams in the second quarter with the Eagles scoring 19 points and the Senators 14 which meant that the home team went into the half-time break leading 48-42 with their winning streak on track to stay intact.

Warwick came out hot from half-time and would end up making four three-pointers for the third quarter and to score nine straight points on the way to outscoring the Eagles 25-16 to be leading 67-64 by three quarter-time.

It had been a fascinating guard match up all evening between Abby Cubillo and Chloe Forster, and Forster scored with six minutes to go to put the Senators in front by six before Cubillo responded.

She scored the next five points for the Eagles to bring it back to a one-point game before Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard landed a big three for Warwick.

East Perth were soon able to level scores once more which is where they stayed after Forster and Eagles centre Sasha Goodlett traded free throws.

Forster then made a three-point play with just over a minute to go to put Warwick up four, but then things got interesting when she got her fifth foul up the other end when she sent Cubillo back to the foul line.

Cubillo hit both to keep it a two-point game with Stacey Barr having already earlier fouled out for the Senators before young guard Kyana Weir stepped up to be calm with the ball in hands in the dying stages.

She also made a free-throw to put the margin at three before Cubillo scored at the rim for the Eagles, and then Warwick hung on for the one-point win with a three at the buzzer from Madison Torresin didn’t bank in, and nor did the put back attempt from Goodlett.

The win improves the Senators to a 4-1 record with Emma Gandini and Kiara Waite still to come in with two-time MVP Stacey Barr terrific before fouling out with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Her backcourt partner-in-crime Chloe Forster added 20 points, nine assists, five steals and four rebounds with Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard contributing 13 points and 14 boards, Nat Burton 11 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, and Kyana Weir 10 points and two boards.

The Eagles have now tasted a loss for the first time in 2025 to be 4-1 as well with Cubillo outstanding finishing with 25 points, four rebounds and four assists on 7/14 shooting from the field and 9/10 at the foul line.

Awatea Leach added 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists, Madison Torresin 15 points, six boards and three steals, and Sasha Goodlett 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 86 (Cubillo 25, Leach 18, Torresin 15)

WARWICK SENATORS 87 (Barr 23, Forster 20, Clinch Hoycard 13)

MEN

Willetton Tigers (87) lost to Perry Lakes Hawks (92)

Perry Lakes Hawks import Davin Miller answered the call to respond to a slow start to his NBL1 West career and produced a match winning performance as his team beat the Willetton Tigers 92-87.

Miller had made an inauspicious start to his first season in the league averaging just 6.6 points and 6.2 rebounds across the opening five matches of the season with the Hawks only managing to win two of those in between some tough losses to Kalamunda, Perth and Geraldton.

That meant the task was ahead of the Hawks heading to Willetton Basketball Stadium on Friday night with the Tigers coming off playing in last year's grand final and being heartbreakingly close to a championship, and starting 2025 winning three of their first four matches.

Perry Lakes did manage to open up a nine-point lead during the first quarter before still leading 25-20 by quarter-time and the Hawks maintained that advantage through most of the second term on the way to the 43-39 lead by half-time.

The shooting was similar from both teams with the Hawks going 17/35 in the half to the 17/42 from the Tigers but Perry Lakes got to the foul line 14 times to six. They were only shooting 50 per cent, though, which limited their lead to four points.

Perry Lakes were still leading by nine points in the third quarter and were up 69-63 by three quarter-time with the Hawks every challenge the rest of the way even though the Tigers kept on coming.

Keegan Phillips scored four straight points to push the lead for Perry Lakes back to seven with three minutes to play. Even when Taeshon Cherry brought Willetton back within two, Davin Miller answered for the Hawks and they went on to secure the five-point win.

The win improves Perry Lakes to a 3-3 record on the back of having a monstrous free-throw advantage going 20/31 at the line opposed to just 6/10 for Willetton.

Davin Miller hadn’t scored more than 11 points in a game so far this season but came up big with 29 points and 10 rebounds on 11/13 shooting from the field and 7/11 at the stripe.

Matt Leary added 15 points and seven rebounds, Keegan Phillips 13 points, five boards, three assists and two steals, Jaden Stanley-Williams 12 points, four rebounds and four assists, and Luke Phillips 12 points and seven boards.

Willetton is now 3-2 this season with Taeshon Cherry finishing with 22 points, six rebounds and two steals on 9/18 shooting.

Tyreese Davis added 18 points, five rebounds and two steals, Roosevelt Williams Jr 11 points, five boards and three assists, Tom Musumeci 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Tom Gerovich 10 points, five boards and two assists.

WILLETTON TIGERS 87 (Cherry 22, Davis 18, Musumeci 11, Williams Jr 11)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 92 (Miller 29, Leary 15, K Phillips 13)

Joondalup Wolves (97) defeated Lakeside Lightning (90)

The Joondalup Wolves produced a dominant display for three quarters with CJ Turnage outstanding on his way to 33 points in their eventual 97-90 win at home to the Lakeside Lightning.

On the back of playing in the 2023 grand final and then hosting the 2024 preliminary final, the Wolfpack have started the 2025 season strongly even while having suffered two losses coming into Friday night's game in tight ones to the Perth Redbacks and Warwick Senators.

They were impressive in their three wins including over the Geraldton Buccaneers ahead of hosting a Lightning team who arrived at Arena Joondalup having just recorded a first win of the season at the expense of the also winless South West Slammers.

The Lightning are still without Rowan Mackenzie who badly injured a hamstring in the first game on his return in 2025 and they are dearly missing him, and that continued against the Wolves.

Joondalup started well and went on a 12-0 scoring run in the first quarter on the way to a 24-17 lead by quarter-time thanks to knocking down five three-pointers in those first 10 minutes.

It was another 31 points to 25 in the second term for the Wolves with their lead getting out to as much as 18 points and they were in control at 55-42 by the half-time interval on their home floor.

That lead kept on growing for Joondalup in the second half getting to as much as 22 before Lakeside did finish the better but even with 31 fourth quarter points they could never get back closer than seven which was Joondalup's final winning margin.

With the win the Wolfpack improve to 4-2 on the season on the back of outrebounding the Lightning 43-30 including pulling down 15 offensive rebounds to seven with Lakeside missing Josh Davey to help them overcome having 20 turnovers for the night.

CJ Turnage is playing as well as he ever has so far this season with the Wolves and produced another 33 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists on 14/22 shooting from the floor.

Caleb Davis added 18 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two steals, Joey Baker 16 points and three assists, Gabe Chadinha 10 points and seven rebounds, and Ethan Elliott nine points, seven assists, three boards and three steals.

The Lightning are now 1-5 to start the season with import guard Isaiah Lewis finishing with 24 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds with 4/7 three-point shooting.

Corey Shervill added 21 points and four assists, AJ Wilson 17 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, Michael Garbellini 12 points and four boards, and Ben Lee nine points and five steals.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 97 (Turnage 33, Davis 18, Baker 16)

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 90 (Lewis 24, Shervill 21, Wilson 17)

East Perth Eagles (82) lost to Warwick Senators (118)

Elijah Pepper might have scored almost half his average so far this season for NBL1 West but it was still a starring role he played as the Warwick Senators stayed unbeaten having welcomed point guard Mitch Clarke in the 118-82 win over the East Perth Eagles.

It had been a scintillating start to the season from the Senators winning their opening four matches while scoring 118 points as a team and with Perth Wildcats guard Pepper unstoppable with 49.8 points in those victories.

That included three 50-point performances against the Lakeside Lightning, Rockingham Flames and Perth Redbacks as they arrived at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre to take on the Eagles.

It was an East Perth team having won just one of four games so far in 2025 and still without their captain and point guard Taylor Young with a hamstring injury.

Also working against the Eagles was that Warwick welcomed two-time Perry Lakes championship winning guard Mitch Clarke into the line-up with him having arrived back in Perth just on Wednesday night after finishing his season in the United Kingdom with the Reading Rockets.

It was a scorching opening from the Senators and the most ominous sign that a lot of the scoring they were doing wasn’t coming from Pepper.

Warwick piled on 37 points in the first 10 minutes while making 9/16 from three-point land but only two of those three-point makes and 10 points were courtesy of Pepper.

The Senators already led by as much as 17 points in the first quarter before another 27 points to 19 in the second term to lead by as much as 28 points to be well in control already leading 64-42 by half-time.

They were more than on track to match their 118-point average per game and already were shooting 12/26 from downtown and 23/44 overall for the opening half.

East Perth just couldn’t match the firepower or do much to stop the Senators now with the two ball handlers and playmakers with Clarke's connection with Pepper immediately obvious even after just one training session together leading into Friday's game.

There was no let up in the third quarter from Warwick either as they piled on another 35 points to open up a lead by 36 points, which got out to 38 in the fourth before coach Andrew Cooper did try to empty his bench ahead of Saturday night's match up with the defending champion Mandurah Magic.

The 36-point win improves the Senators to a perfect 5-0 record having shot 52 per cent as a team and going 18/45 at 40 per cent from the land of plenty with Elijah Pepper finishing with 28 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals with 4/11 shooting from three-point territory.

Mitch Clarke was playing his first game with the Senators after 137 previously including two championships with Perry Lakes, and delivered 18 points, nine assists and six rebounds in 29 minutes.

Cooper Creek knocked down 3/6 from downtown for 17 points and seven rebounds with George Pearl adding 18 points, seven boards and four assists, and Todd Withers 14 points on 4/9 long-range shooting with Cody Ellis still to return from a calf injury.

The Eagles are now 1-4 to start the season after a tough night where they couldn’t stop the Senators and nor could they find an offensive rhythm shooting just 41 per cent for the night and 23 per cent from downtown.

Lee Roberts was playing his 150th game in the league that dates all the way back to the Senators in 2011, before a stint at the Eastern Suns in 2012 and then ending up being Grand Final MVP for the Perth Redbacks in 2017, and now in a fifth season at the Eagles.

He finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and two assists in 9/15 shooting with Chier Maker adding 13 points and four boards, Max Rice 11 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Ioannis Dimakopoulos 11 points, six boards and two assists.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 82 (Roberts 24, Maker 13, Dimakopoulos 11, Rice 11)

WARWICK SENATORS 118 (Pepper 28, Pearl 18, Clarke 18)