Geraldton Buccaneers sweep road series in game 450 for captain Aaron Ralph as star Johny Narkle returns

A double road delight helped the celebrations as Aaron Ralph became the ninth player in NBL1 West league history to play 450 games. The milestone was not the only thing that Geraldton had to celebrate, as local star Johny Narkle returned to the court after missing 10 games with injury. During that stretch the Buccaneers went 9-1, managing to get the job done and now enjoy the addition of the reigning grand final MVP back into the side. Over the weekend Geraldton faced their sixth double-header this season, beginning with a 116-94 win over the Rockingham Flames. A rematch of the 2022 grand final saw Geraldton take care of business from the second quarter, turning the game around for the Buccs to hold a 52-47 lead at half-time. Despite coming off the bench in his first game back, Narkle was still an effective scorer and was aided by Liam Hunt playing one of his best games with a season-high 24 points in the win. Geraldton ran away with the game in the second half, outscoring the Flames 33-26 in the third and 31-21 in the fourth quarter, as Rockingham had little answers as the Buccs dropped a season-high score. Coming off the bench, Narkle had 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, while new player Junior Garbrah had his best scoring output in a Buccs uniform with 13 points. The following day was the milestone mark for captain Ralph, as he joined an exclusive club in the clash against the Perry Lakes Hawks to become just the ninth player in league history to reach 450 games. He follows in the footsteps of local legends, becoming the third Buccaneer to reach the mark after Mat Wundenberg and Greg Brown. It did not take long for Ralph to get involved in the game, hitting an early floater as Geraldton took an early lead in the first. As the side has done all season, they improved as the game went along and further built a comfortable lead before sealing the 116-99 win over Perry Lakes. In his second game back, Narkle was the centrepiece of the Buccaneers’ offence as he dropped 34 points and 10 rebounds. The imports made an impact on the match, with Josh Braun hitting five threes during his 27-point effort and Josh Keyes had a nice day out with 22 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. In his milestone match, Ralph had 12 points, two rebounds and two assists. The Geraldton crowd will have the chance to congratulate the captain when the Buccs return to their home court at Activewest Stadium against the Eastern Suns on Saturday.