WESTERN Australian basketball enjoyed two wins from three games over the weekend with the Perth Wildcats splitting results – a victory against the league leading Illawarra Hawks and a defeat to the SEM Phoenix in the NBL, whilst the Perth Lynx opened their season with a win over the Southside Flyers in the WNBL.

Kicking things off on Friday night, Perth hosted an in-form Illawarra who had won six of their first eight games to begin the year, and with no Bryce Cotton again due to a rib injury, faced an uphill battle deterring the rolling Hawks. As previewed by Rookie Me Central last week, it was the two fill-in starting point guards who stepped up for their respective sides, as Ben Henshall and William Hickey duelled admirably. 

Henshall, who started again for coach John Rillie’s side as the underdone Tai Webster works his way back from injury, played arguably the best game of his young NBL career, nailing five threes from eight attempts on his way to 26 points and six assists.

His stable play at the point guard position allowed him to set up teammates for easy looks, creating opportunities for all five starters to score double digit point totals. Import Dylan Windler knocked down five threes of his own at a ridiculous clip of 71 per cent and forward Kristian Doolittle also enjoyed some ball handling opportunities, dishing out seven assists, an NBL career high.

First year guard Elijah Pepper stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal as he continues to capitalise on his increased minutes for the Wildcats.

For Illawarra it was a case of being outrebounded and outhustled, while being unable to contain the Wildcats team-oriented offence. They allowed Perth to shoot 54 per cent from the field, including 55 per cent from three (17/31).

Tyler Harvey was superb, dropping 25 points on 77 per cent shooting and Hickey carried on his great form with a balanced performance of 20 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Import big man Darius Days flirted with a double-double (nine points, eight rebounds) and young gun Lachlan Olbrich chipped in with 14 points in 20 minutes off the bench. 

The Hawks dropped to third in the standings and will face Adelaide on Sunday as they look to bounce back from this performance. 

At the Bendat Basketball Centre the Perth Lynx kicked off their season with a comfortable win over the Southside Flyers on Saturday. The Grand Final rematch was never close, with the Lynx leading by 29 after three quarters before the Flyers mounted a small comeback in the final term, eventually going down by 15 points.

Captain Anneli Maley led the way for the home side, posting 22 points and 12 rebounds, battling against opposition forward Alice Kunek and her 22 points and 11 rebounds. 

The Lynx were boosted by impressive showings across the board from guards Alex Wilson (17 points, eight assists) and Miela Sowah (16 points), as well as forwards Alexandra Ciabattoni (12 points, four assists, four rebounds) and Mackenzie Clinch Hoycard (eight points, five assists, ten rebounds). Rising star Steph Gorman, who captain Maley flagged as a breakout candidate this season, chipped in eight points of her own to go with three steals. The Lynx’ suffocating defence held the Flyers to just 29/73 from the field, including a lowly 5/24 from three.

Outside of Kunek’s commendable effort, not much went right for Southside. Veteran Carley Ernst posted a balanced 12-point, seven-assist, five-rebound game, adding a steal and two blocks, and Maddison Rocci delivered 12 points, eight assists, four rebounds and four steals. However, the defending champions shot an abysmal 20 per cent from three, and though they converted 19 points from 19 Lynx turnovers and added 27 bench points, they were unable to circumvent the poor shooting performance. 

Both sides play two games in Round 2 as the Flyers seek to bounce back against Geelong United, who are searching for their first ever WNBL victory, and the Sydney Flames, while the Lynx stay home and host the Townsville Fire on Wednesday before heading to South Australia to tackle the Adelaide Lightning on Saturday.

Finally, on Sunday the Wildcats headed to John Cain Arena to take on the South East Melbourne Phoenix. Having won just three of their first nine games this season, the Phoenix were out to make a statement and did just that, coming out of the blocks en fuego and never looking back. 

Perth, still void of superstar Cotton and with Webster slowly integrating back in, also now lost import forward Windler, opening a starting spot for injury reserve Todd Withers.

Pepper once again took advantage of extended minutes, popping up for 17 points, six rebounds and three steals, while Doolittle (11 points, eight rebounds) and Henshall (10 points, three rebounds, three assists) both contributed. Outside of this, only one other player scored more than seven points as the Wildcats shot 36 per cent from the field, 35 per cent from three and just 65 per cent from the free throw line. 

As demoralising as the Wildcats poor shooting was already, what didn’t help was the pain inflicted early on by Matt Hurt. The Duke product started the first quarter six-for-six from the field, nailing both of his three-point attempts on his way to 14 points in the opening term.

The Phoenix scored 35 points in the first quarter and ended the game with five players scoring in double digits. Nathan Sobey, starting for the injured Derrick Walton Jr, supplied 20 of those to go with five rebounds, five assists and three blocks, while Angus Glover put up 17 points of his own.

Though many of the team stats were similar, it was simply the shooting that let Rillie’s side down, as South Melbourne’s blazing start set them up for the 110-76 victory. Perth now heads home to WA to host Tasmania JackJumpers on Thursday before returning to John Cain Arena to face Melbourne United. The Phoenix will try to extend their winning streak to three games on Friday against Sydney Kings, prior to returning to Victoria to play the struggling Cairns Taipans.