2020 WCC Review and Grand Final Preview

Ben Purser

In a year which saw all Australian second-tier basketball leagues either postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a competition that thrived following the easing of restrictions in Western Australia was the West Coast Classic.

The West Coast Classic was conceived following the cancellation of the 2020 SBL season, a season which was set to be the league's 32nd. In comparison to the semi-professional SBL, the amateur WCC saw rosters made up of mostly youth players and club stalwarts, with the notable absence of American imports and restricted NBL players.

In what was a shortened format, the competition was scheduled for 10 weeks with a finals series that included only the top four. The Warwick Senators, a success-starved club in the SBL, took out the minor premiership after finishing atop the regular-season standings with a 12-1 record.

On Friday night, the WCC semi-finals took place at two venues, with the second-seeded Perry Lakes Hawks hosting the third-seeded Joondalup Wolves at Bendat Basketball Centre, while the first-seeded Senators hosted the fourth-seeded Lakeside Lightning at Warwick Stadium.

In the Perry Lakes vs Joondalup match-up, the Hawks dominated proceedings with the Wolves missing a number of key players. In the 96-70 win, Hawks' wings Cooper Hamilton (30 points) and Ryan Smith (17 points) led the way, while captain and WCC MVP candidate Ben Purser contributed 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. For the Wolves, former Hawks guard Lochlan Cummings had a team-high 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

In the Warwick vs Lakeside match-up, a star-studded Senators team fought back a second-half comeback from the Lightning to win 92-84. The Senators were led by NBL products Cody Ellis (23 points), Caleb Davis (19 points) and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk (19 points). For the Lightning, guard John Isenbarger led the way with 19 points.

As a result, the WCC Grand Final will see the Senators and the Hawks face off at Bendat Basketball Centre on Sunday. In their lone contest against each other this year, the Hawks claimed a season-opening 85-83 win at home.

Perry Lakes are no strangers to grand final appearances, with the club having contested nine SBL Grand Finals and claiming six championships, with the most recent appearance and title coming in 2018. Warwick on the other hand has made just the one SBL Grand Final in their history, which came in 1990 and resulted in a runner-up finish.

In charge of the two grand final teams is Mike Ellis for the Senators and Matt Parsons for the Hawks. A legend of the Perth Wildcats as a player, Ellis has seen little success as coach of the Senators (1999-2001; 2016-2020). His counterpart Parsons on the other hand is a two-time SBL championship-winning coach, his first coming with the Cockburn Cougars in 2016 and his second with the Hawks in 2018.

The Senators boast plenty of NBL flavour on their roster with the likes of Cody Ellis, Caleb Davis, Corban Wroe and Wani Swaka Lo Buluk, to go with Perth-based American Justin King. The Hawks too have former Wildcats development players Ben Purser and Robert Cassir, alongside their core of Ryan Smith, Cooper Hamilton and Mitchell Clarke.

The championship pedigree of Purser, Cassir, Smith, Hamilton and Clarke, as well as home court advantage will be key for the Hawks, while for the Senators, they will be bringing into the grand final a 13-game winning streak.