West Recap | Semi Finals Thursday

Image credit: Michael Farnell (Sports Imagery)

Claire Jacobs, Alex Fowler, Jayda Clark, Maddy Dennis, Emmett Naar, Isaac White and Laquinton Ross all delivered huge semi-final performances to lead Perry Lakes Hawks women, Mandurah Magic women and Rockingham Flames to NBL1 West preliminary finals.

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WOMEN

Rockingham Flames (86) lost to Mandurah Magic (97)

Claire Jacobs continued to play like a woman possessed to start the NBL1 West finals and the championship dream of the Mandurah Magic veterans remains alive after their 97-86 upset semi-final win over the Rockingham Flames.

It was a rocky first half of the season for the Flames as defending champions with a host of their key players unavailable and then with new coach X not working out and former two-time championship winner Ryan Petrik taking back over while also coaching the men's team.

Things ended up clicking and Rockingham won the last six games of the regular season to end up in fourth place and then they pushed the undefeated Cockburn Cougars all the way last Friday night before a narrow two-point loss.

They were back home on Thursday night at Mike Barnett Sports Complex to host the Magic in a semi-final with Mandurah having finished the regular season in fifth place at 11-9 before a 45-point win over the East Perth Eagles in last Saturday's elimination final.

Despite being a Thursday night, there was a big crowd on hand for the two local rivals to do battle over a place in the preliminary final and it was the visiting Magic who delivered a blistering opening.

Mandurah went on a 12-0 scoring run on the way to leading 34-18 by quarter-time thanks to shooting 12/19 from the field opposed to the 6/17 from Rockingham.

That Magic lead grew to 20 in the second quarter and they were still on top 57-41 by the half-time break with the upset well and truly on the cards.

Rockingham did score 10 straight points during the third period but every time they were within striking distance, Mandurah kept responding and the Magic were still up by 11 at three quarter-time.

The Flames did have some brief runs again with the momentum in the final period and even had it back to a five-point ball game when Emily Steven scored with four minutes to play, but the Magic continued to have the answers.

It was legendary games record holder Casey Mihovilovich that hit the biggest shot of the night with a three ball to push the margin back out to eight before McKenna Dale restored the eight-point lead in response to a triple for the Flames to Alex Ciabattoni.

It was Claire Jacobs who iced the win soon after with another three-point bomb and she proved to be the best player out on the court with the Magic riding her talents to the 11-point win.

Mandurah now keep their season alive and will take on the wounded Warwick Senators in a preliminary final at Warwick Stadium on Saturday night with the winner through to the following Saturday's grand final at RAC Arena.

Claire Jacobs was mighty unlucky to be recognised at the NBL1 West Awards Night and she's been playing like she has a chip on her shoulder ever since. She delivered 29 points, 11 rebounds and three assists with 9/18 shooting from the floor, 4/8 from downtown and 7/9 at the charity stripe.

McKenna Dale added 15 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three steals, Grace Berg 14 points, seven boards and three assists with 595-game legend Casey Mihovilovich finishing with 13 points, five assists and three steals, and retiring former 402-game captain Rachel Halleen's dream of a fairytale is still alive.

It's the end of the championship defence of Rockingham having lost in straight sets after a fourth placed finish with Marena Whittle ending up with 31 points, nine rebounds and two assists despite 10/26 shooting.

Alex Ciabattoni also had 27 points, nine assists and seven rebounds with 7/13 three-point shooting, and Alex Sharp 21 points, 11 boards and three steals.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 86 (Whittle 31, Ciabattoni 27, Sharp 21)

MANDURAH MAGIC 97 (Jacobs 29, Stephens 17, Dale 15)

Perth Redbacks (80) lost to Perry Lakes Hawks (86)

The Perry Lakes Hawks pulled off a stunning second half turnaround with Jayda Clark and Alex Fowler combining for 57 points before Maddy Dennis landed the killer blow for the 86-80 victory.

From the moment the Redbacks were leading 66-61 just before three quarter-time, Perry Lakes took control scoring the game's next 14 points in a remarkable turnaround to end up booking their place in a preliminary final against Cockburn.

The Redbacks did finish third at the end of the regular season and earned the hosting rights at Belmont Oasis for Thursday night's semi-final despite losing in the qualifying final last Friday night away to the Warwick Senators.

Perry Lakes ended the regular season in sixth spot before beating the Willetton Tigers in an elimination final and having to continue to play without the inside presence at both ends of Megan McKay who has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Perry Lakes did manage to open up an early seven-point lead but by quarter-time the scores were back level at 20-20.

The Redbacks then completed an 11-0 scoring run into the second frame and converted that into the 44-39 half-time advantage with 5/11 three-point shooting opposed to 2/14 from Perry Lakes.

Perth then opened up a game-high nine-point lead during the third quarter and were still leading by five just before three quarter-time before Perry Lakes made the game changing momentum turn.

It started with a free-throw before three quarter-time by Maddy Dennis before the Hawks scored the first 13 points of the fourth period starting with a three ball to Jayda Clark.

Clark then scored again to put them in front before Alex Fowler knocked down a pair of free throws with Fowler then scoring again on the inside and turning that into a three-point play.

Maddy Dennis continued to stand tall impressively in the absence of Megan McKay by hitting a three of her own to complete the 14-0 run to have turned a five-point deficit into the nine-point lead.

It took almost four full minutes into the fourth quarter for the Redbacks to score and that came with a pair of free throws to Anneli Maley and her team was able to get all the way back within two with three minutes to play when Nat Chou scored.

Things then were really twisting towards the home team once more when Fowler fouled out for Perry Lakes with just under three minutes to play in what had the potential to be the biggest moment in the game.

Chou hit one of her free throws as a result to bring the Redbacks back within a point before Mia Satie responded for Perry Lakes with a massive three-pointer and Dennis nailed another in the last 30 seconds as she ensured the Hawks prevailed with Fowler fouled out and McKay unavailable.

Perry Lakes now will take on the undefeated Cockburn Cougars in a tantalising preliminary final on Saturday night at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Before fouling out late, Alex Fowler was outstanding leading the Hawks' charge with 32 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots on 13/21 field goal shooting.

UC Capitals WNBL guard Jayda Clark was also outstanding with 25 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals while captain Maddy Dennis was hugely important with 17 points, three boards and three assists on 4/7 three-point shooting.

The season is now over for the Redbacks and their depth was certainly tested in the end in the absence of Youth Player of the Year Alaska Rhebok and captain Raya Thompson.

Anneli Maley had 20 points, 14 rebounds and four assists but had another tough shooting night going 7/24 from the field while Nat Chou added 24 points and six boards on 10/23 from the floor.

Patty Brossmann added 13 points and 12 rebounds, and Georgia Denehey 12 points, six boards and six assists on 4/10 three-point shooting.

PERTH REDBACKS 80 (Chou 24, Maley 20, Brossmann 13)

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 86 (Fowler 32, Clark 25, Dennis 17)

MEN

Rockingham Flames (111) defeated East Perth Eagles (88)

East Perth dared to dream of another big road upset this NBL1 West finals series but the Rockingham Flames shot out of the blocks to start the second half and with Isaac White and Emmett Naar combining for 52 points and 16 assists, they prevailed 111-88.

East Perth might have finished the regular season in eighth spot at 9-13, but put in a standout performance on Saturday night to beat the Joondalup Wolves at Arena Joondalup to score a first finals win since 2014.

Rockingham ended the regular season in top spot at 19-3 but the Flames were blown away by the red hot Willetton Tigers on their home floor back on Saturday night in the qualifying final.

The Flames were then back home at Mike Barnett Sports Complex to host the Eagles on the same venue where East Perth did upset Rockingham in the quarter finals of 2014 in similar circumstances as seventh seeds against a home team that finished second.

East Perth already were the only team in 2025 to win in Geraldton, Warwick and Joondalup so held no fears coming into the semi-final match up and it was blow for blow through the first quarter.

It was the Eagles clinging to the 23-22 lead by quarter-time before East Perth did push out to a five-point lead in the second term and were still clinging to the 50-47 advantage at the main break.

Both teams added 38 shots in the first half with Rockingham making 20 and East Perth 19, but the Eagles went 8/19 to 4/11 from three-point territory for that three-point lead.

The Flames came out scorching to start the second half scoring 13 of the first 15 points topped off with a triple from Ryan Godfrey in his 351st appearance.

Once Rockingham found their groove there was no stopping them and they ended up outscoring the Eagles 34 points to 18 in the third term with 14/20 shooting against East Perth's 7/19.

It was another 30 points to 20 in favour of Rockingham in the fourth quarter and the regular season champs saw off the challenge of East Perth for the 23-point victory.

The Flames will now take on the Warwick Senators in a mouth-watering preliminary final on Saturday night at Warwick Stadium in a game featuring MVP Isaac White and runner-up Elijah Pepper.

White showed once again why he was MVP with the Adelaide 36ers guard delivering 34 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists with 12/18 shooting from the field and 8/9 at the foul line.

His partner-in-crime Emmett Naar also had 18 points and eight assists with Laquinton Ross having a fascinating battle with Lee Roberts and producing 20 points, 11 rebounds and three assists on 10/12 shooting.

Emmanuel Dech added eight points in just four minutes with Ryan Godfrey contributing eight points, two rebounds and two assists, and Jervon Pressley seven points, seven boards and three blocks – including a statement one on Jonah Antonio who was going up for a flush in the third quarter.

The 23-point margin at the end doesn’t tell the story of how strongly the Eagles challenged the Flames for most of the night with Lee Roberts and Jonah Antonio once again leading their charge.

Antonio ended up with another 29 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals with 4/10 three-point shooting with Roberts adding 21 points and four rebounds.

Matthew Lang also had 11 points, four assists and three rebounds, Chier Maker nine points, two boards and two assists, Nick Filpo eight points and two rebounds, and Max Rice six points, five boards and three assists.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 111 (White 34, Ross 20, Naar 18)

EAST PERTH EAGLES 88 (Antonio 29, Roberts 21, Lang 11)