The Perth Redbacks made their eagerly anticipated return to Belmont Oasis on Saturday night and it turned out to be the perfect celebration on a record night for men’s captain Joel Wagner.
After a month of playing on the road, the Redbacks were back home at Belmont Oasis on Saturday night to welcome two strong and impressive Warwick Senators outfits.
The evening got underway with the women’s contest and it didn’t quite go to plan for the Redbacks with the Senators claiming the 93-58 victory on the back of a huge performance from former league MVP Stacey Barr.
The Senators did well on the boards, pulling in 62 rebounds to 51 for the night including 18 offensive boards to 12. And there were plenty of boards to gobble up with the Senators shooting at just 37 per cent from the field while the Redbacks really struggled going 20/76 at 26 per cent.
Captain Jess Jakens top-scored for the Redbacks with 12 points and eight rebounds while Maddie Allen fought hard inside for 10 points, 16 rebounds, four blocked shots, three assists and two steals.
Makailah Dyer finished with eight points, two assists and two steals for Perth, Bri Bailey six points, Shenae Hartree six points, five rebounds and three steals, Sarah Allen five points and three rebounds, and Denielle Ashworth five points and four boards.
That led into the men’s contest and the return home coincided with a record setting night for the Redbacks captain who surpassed Matthew Earp’s previous mark of 364 games to become the all-time games record holder for the Redbacks.
It was a tight start to the game as well with the Redbacks leading the Senators 22-20 by quarter-time.
The Senators pulled away in the second period, though, with 23 points while holding the Redbacks to 14. But whatever CJ Jackson said to his team at half-time must have been good stuff. And maybe the players were inspired to make Wagner’s night a memorable one. They would come out of the changerooms and deliver their best second half of the season.
Perth came out and put up 25 points in the third quarter while limiting the dangerous and loaded Senators to just the 13 points. It was a similar story in the fourth term with another 22 points to the Redbacks and 13 from the Senators.
That led to the 83-69 victory for the Redbacks.
There was a lot to like about the performance from the Redbacks in the win with Louis Timms continuing his standout form with 24 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.
Zac Gattorna is playing some good basketball too with 19 points and 10 rebounds with Lachlan Bertram delivering the best performance of his young career with 19 points, two rebounds and two assists while hitting 2/3 from downtown.
Tevin Jackson delivered an all-round performance made up of 13 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and four steals with Joel Wagner leading the way with another five points and five assists.