Geraldton Buccaneers secure grand final spot after thumping Perth Redbacks by 36 points

The Geraldton Buccaneers have stormed into their second straight NBL1 West grand final after a dominating 36-point win over the Redbacks on Saturday. In front of a sell-out crowd, the Buccs defended their home court, continuing their undefeated at ActiveWest stadium this season. They now face the Joondalup Wolves in the decider in Perth this weekend. The team had failed to defeat the Redbacks in their previous two meetings, but got the job done when it mattered most with an emphatic 119-83 win in the preliminary final. The game was tight at the start as neither side was giving an edge, but the Buccs led at the end of a high-scoring first quarter, 38-32. While the Redbacks’ big-time scorers had control in the first quarter, Geraldton knuckled down on their defensive pressure, giving up only 15 points in the second and 13 points in the third. Momentum was shifting in favour of the Buccs at the end of the first half, as the Redbacks were killing time on the clock to end the quarter, but the Buccs managed to turn around five points in four seconds. A layup from Zac Gattorna with only a few seconds on the clock was followed up by an aggressive steal and a three-point buzzer shot from Johny Narkle, to give Geraldton a 19-point lead. It was all Buccaneers basketball in the second half, as the Redbacks failed to stop the bleeding while Geraldton sank bucket after bucket to put up one of their biggest scores at home this season. The win sends Geraldton to their second straight grand final, as they hope to redeem their loss from last year. Coach Dayle Joseph said the team had come a long way from where they started the season. “If you asked me this at the start of the year we probably thought it was a long way off, but the boys have become good at the right time,” he said. “We said we’d hope to make the playoffs and see if we could do some damage once we got here, to finish as high as we did and get the home final made a hell of a difference.” Sixth man of the year Narkle was all over the court in the win, even with the job of locking down Redbacks’ captain Tevin Jackson. “More of a defensive role but coach told me to just shoot and if you miss, keep shooting, just keep defending and shooting,” he said. “It feels good, they’ve beaten us twice this season already, it just felt good to beat them and make the grand final for a second year, hopefully get a win.” While the team did not know who they were going to play until Thursday, it didn’t seem to affect their preparation or how they approached the game. “We were ready for whatever they were going to throw at us, we delivered tonight and it felt really good to play Buccs basketball,” Gattorna said. Gattorna had 20 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and a steal, and went 9/10 from the free throw line. Narkle put up 20 points of his own, while nabbing five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block during his effort all over the court. Shaun Stewart had 19 points, two rebounds and assists and a steal, Malik Meunier had 17 points, six rebounds, 11 assists and three steals, and skipper Aaron Ralph had 12 points off his four deep scores. While a crowd of fans formed on the court after the game, waiting to congratulate the winners, the team were sitting in the change rooms, watching the drama unfold in the other preliminary final as the sixth-placed Joondalup Wolves upset the reigning champions Rockingham Flames by three points in an overtime thriller. “We were watching it in the change rooms and the Wolves won so we’ve got them next week…that is the result we wanted, Rockingham are a tough team and so are Joondalup, but we feel more comfortable versing them,” Narkle said. Added Gattorna: “It was a surprise to be honest, we were preparing for Rockingham in a lot of ways, but it’s welcoming and we will take it on the chin and see how it goes.’’ Geraldton will travel to the Bendat Basketball Centre for one last game in front of an already sold-out crowd, when they take on the Wolves for all the glory in the grand final on Saturday night.