Image credit: Tyson Lumbaca | @ty.visuales
Jorjah Smith got to live out every player's dream of hitting a walk off halfcourt game winner on Sunday and she has full faith that can be just the thing to kickstart a second half run in NBL1 West for Joondalup Wolves.
Smith has been as natural a shooter as there has been in the competition from the moment she first ran out in an Eastern Suns uniform as a 16-year-old all the way back in 2010.
That has since seen her now play 230 games in the SBL and NBL1 West at the Suns, Mandurah Magic, Rockingham Flames, East Perth Eagles, and she's in her second season as part of the Wolfpack.
It's also taken her to Adelaide to play in the NBL1 Central where she won a championship at the Norwood Flames, and she's also played in the UK with the Manchester Mystics, Newcastle Eagles and Oakland Wolves.
What Smith has always been able to do is be a lethal shooter and not just from outside the three-point line, but from deep beyond. That's why she was so comfortable shooting a halfcourt shot at the end of overtime for the Wolves against the Suns at Ray Owen Sports Centre on Sunday.
Hitting halfcourt game winner
After the Wolves had come back from being 17 points down in the third quarter and 13 still in the fourth to force overtime, it looked as though the game with the Eastern Suns was heading to a second extra period on Sunday.
However, Kurstyn Harden was able to intercept the outlet pass from the Suns on the final possession. She then got the ball to Smith who was waiting at halfcourt and she put up the shot as time expired.
It banked in and wild celebrations ensued amongst the Wolfpack as not only did they secure the big comeback win, but it breathes life in their season too.
"I'm still feeling a little bit of adrenaline. Every time I see it pop up on my phone those feelings just come back, it was crazy," Smith said on The Hoop Hour on 91.3 SportFM.
"As soon as I realised it was going in, I just wanted to celebrate with my teammates and the fans.
"We have the best fans in the league and we had been talking the whole quarter about just getting stops and scores, and without them fighting the whole quarter there's no way I would have had that opportunity to shoot the shot.
"It was just one of those amazing feelings after we had our backs against the wall and I just wanted to celebrate with all of the community, my teammates, the coaches and the feeling was unbelievable."
Shooting with normal motion
A big reason why Smith was able to hit that shot on the buzzer from bang on halfcourt was because she was still able to attempt the shot with her normal shooting motion.
Most players go with the heave if they are shooting from as far out as halfcourt, but Smith has been renowned over the course of her career of not only being a standout three-point shooter, but being able to shoot from way out beyond the three-point line.
She's still not sure how she had the energy to get that shot up by the end of overtime, but she knew the key was to just shooting like she would if she was closer in.
"I knew where the basket was the whole time and when I knew their coach wasn’t using a timeout and that they were throwing the ball long, I thought if I could get the ball back and be in the right spot, that I reckon I can at least get it going in that direction," Smith said.
"Then when I caught it I just had to make sure I was balance. If I was on the run or something, I don’t think I could have aligned it right but when I replayed it, I looked at my footwork and everything, and it's exactly how I would shoot a regular three-pointer.
"By the end of OT, I don’t even know how I had the legs left to get it there that distance but I'm sure glad that I did."
Believing comeback was possible
Smith and her Wolves teammates never stopped believing they would win Sunday's game against the Suns even when trailing virtually the whole way including by as much as 17 points in the third quarter, and still by 13 in the fourth.
She was also fully aware of how important it was in the context of their season and how they couldn’t afford to fall to a 2-9 record by the end of Round 9.
There were two areas the turnaround came from. The first was enormous on-ball pressure applied by tenacious guards Stefanie Berberabe and Lesila Finau who had 11 steals between them, and then the shooting from Smith.
Each time she hit a three-pointer in that fourth quarter you could see the belief building within her and the team, and in the end it all came together for one of the more remarkable wins Smith can remember being part of.
"We still had faith and so much belief even still at three quarter-time. We just kept on talking about getting it to single figures and playing really solid team defence," Smith said.
"That came from all of us and we just had this belief in our whole squad, it wasn’t just the five on the court, that we could get the game back and that we had to win.
"There was no question. Every time I hit a big shot, my teammates kept on telling me to shoot and we were working together, and we were celebrating together. I think we had something crazy like 18 steals for the game and we were just a unit, and I wanted to celebrate that.
"It's a court that means a lot to me, I've played a lot of games there, and it was just exciting and fun to be part of a last quarter and overtime like that. It's one of the best I've been part of."
Doing it on old home floor
Smith might have been in a Wolfpack uniform on Sunday, but she was back playing on her old home court where she played so much of her junior career with Kalamunda and she's also played 131 of her 230 SBL or NBL1 West games with the Eastern Suns.
So she will always have that special bond on that floor at Ray Owen Sports Centre and that's why she was able to feel so comfortable out there.
"I love the Wolfpack and everything, but I still hold a lot of memories from my time at Suns and that's where I played so much as a kid," she said.
"My family was there all the time for every game and that's where I learned to shoot on those rims so it feels very familiar going back there.
"It kinda feels like going back home at Suns and it can get cold in that gym, but it has a great feel to it. The fans get going too and it's always a fun atmosphere, and the court's great.
"I didn't feel anything other than comfortable out there playing again so that might be why I was able to shoot it like I did because I know those rims and that court so well."
Wolves now coming together
It has taken longer than the Wolves might have hoped to get their full roster together this season and that has left them with plenty of work to do if they wish to play finals.
With the arrival of import pair Maddie Sutton and Kurstyn Harden, the arrival of Lesila Finau and then with the likes of Smith, Jhazmin Joson, Stefanie Berberabe, Ella Thornton-Elliott, Alecia Knowles, Chelsea Belcher and Laniesha Paddon, there's a great blend of experience and youth.
At 3-8 there's still plenty of work to do for the Wolves to make finals after the bye this week starting with a pair of match ups with the Perry Lakes Hawks, but Smith has full faith in what they are capable of from here.
"On this team now at any time anyone of us can lead from the front whether they are off the bench or starting," Smith said.
"It doesn’t matter where they sit on our squad or where we are, someone is going to get hot and we're going to be hard to stop I think now for the rest of the season with our full squad together."
Reflecting on career journey
Not only has Smith now played the 230 games in the NBL1 West, but she's spent a season winning a championship over in the NBL1 Central at the Norwood Flames, and has experienced three years playing in England.
That's included a season each at Manchester, Newcastle and Oakland, and she'll forever be thankful for all the opportunities both on and off the court that basketball has provided her.
"I'm just grateful that I've got to see the world through basketball and I got to win a championship in Adelaide, and I've made friends in different parts of the world that will last forever," Smith said.
"That's what the game has given me and I'm grateful for that. I think I've just always worked hard at what I'm good for and waited for the opportunities to come up, and make the most of them.
"There's nothing but gratefulness for me for what I've been able to do and I just want to keep doing it for as long as I can."
Motivation to keep going
Just because Smith has had a lot of great experiences with basketball, it doesn't mean it's all been smooth sailing and a broken leg last year did make her appreciate playing more than ever.
It meant that she wasn’t able to go back to England for a fourth season and managed just the nine games as a result at the Wolves in 2024.
She's back to full health now, is settled in Perth with a job with Nike and playing at Joondalup, and hopes there's plenty left in her career to go.
"When I hurt myself last year it was a bit of a reality check about how basketball can be taken away from you at any point," Smith said.
"That made me really, really understand how good I had it and I hope that I can keep playing and moving around to see the world for at least another couple of years yet.
"That's what basketball gives us is a ticket to see other cultures and explore other places, and that's amazing so I want to do that for as long as I can."