Eagles men and women, Redbacks men win to stay alive (Week 17 Friday night SBL wrap)

THE East Perth Eagles men's and women's teams, and the Perth Redbacks men all scored victories on Friday night to keep their SBL playoff hopes alive while the Cockburn Cougars women went a long way to securing their position by winning also.

The two women's matches on Friday night saw the Schweigen East Perth Eagles defeat the Lakeside Lightning 69-48 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, and the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars beat the Perth Redbacks 70-61 at Curtin Stadium.

The two men's matches on Friday night saw the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles defeat the Lakeside Lightning 114-104 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre while the Perth Redbacks downed the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 86-72 at Curtin Stadium.

In the women's action, the Eagles kept their playoff hopes alive by beating the bottom placed Lightning at home on Friday night by 21 points.

As a result of the win, East Perth now improves to a 6-12 record to close in on the 7-10 South West Slammers and 7-11 Perry Lakes Hawks ahead of their clash with the league-leading defending champion Rockingham Flames on Sunday.

The Lightning have now lost 10 straight matches to hold a 1-19 record on the season.

Nicole Jorre St Jorre top-scored for the Eagles in the low-scoring victory with 12 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Stephanie Jones was the only other East Perth to score in double-figures in the absence of Kelsey Maffin, finishing with 11 points and five rebounds.

They did get plenty of support, though, with Melissa Winfield adding nine points (six rebounds), Haylee DeSousa eight, Dannielle Devenny eight (five boards, three assists), Elainah Coffin seven (six assists), Denielle Lipscombe six and Jodee Sontay six.

In contrast, Courtney Byrnes top-scored for the Lightning with 19 points with Ashleigh Grant adding 15 (12 rebounds) and Tia Ucich eight but no other Lightning player managed more than two points.

The Cougars then went a long way to securing their place in the playoffs for 2015 beating the Redbacks at Curtin by nine points on Friday night.

As a result, Cockburn improves to a 9-11 record on the season to now be two games ahead of the Slammers and Hawks, and three ahead of the ninth placed East Perth Eagles. The loss sees the Redbacks slip to a 4-15 record.

Katie Loberg had a tremendous night for the Cougars finishing with 27 points and 16 rebounds while shooting 11-of-19 from the field.

Playing-coach Deanna Smith also had a strong influence for Cockburn putting together a triple-double with 22 points, 16 rebounds, 11 assists and two steals.

Taryn Priestly finished with nine points, three boards and three assists with Kristen Everard contributing four points, seven rebounds and two assists off the bench.

Jess Jakens worked hard for the Redbacks with 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots with Gaby Clayton adding 12 points, 10 boards, five assists and three steals.

Meike Elkington also had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists for Perth with Gabby O'Sullivan finishing with nine points, three boards, two assists and two steals.

And in the men's action, the Eagles delivered a dominant second half including a 38-point final quarter to come from behind and beat the Lightning by 10 points at home.

The defending champion Eagles kept their slim playoff hopes alive as a result of the win improving to a 7-14 record while the Lightning have now lost three straight to be 9-13 and remaining outside of the top eight.

Rhys Vague ended up top-scoring for the Eagles with 26 points and 10 rebounds with Sunday Dech contributing 20 points and 11 boards, and Jamie Barnett 20 points and nine rebounds.

Captain Drew Williamson returned for East Perth and had 18 points and six assists off the bench with Joe-Alan Tupaea adding 16 points and seven assists as well as he enjoys the freedom just as a player after handing the coaching duties back to the returned Adam Forde.

Jordan Swing did all he could for the Lightning with 33 points, seven rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocked shots while shooting 14-of-21 from the field, and 4-of-7 from three-point territory.

Tom Parkinson added 16 points for Lakeside while Brad Jackson contributed 16 points, Corey Martin 11, Luke Thomas 10 and Jarrad Prue nine to go with 19 rebounds.

The Redbacks also kept their slim hopes alive beating the Cougars by 14 points on Friday night with Perth improving to an 8-14 record as a result while Cockburn's hopes of snatching a top two spot took a hit with the defeat, with the Cougars slipping to 15-8.

Raphiael Putney delivered his best performance with the Redbacks since joining the team late in the season as a replacement for Marshall Brown, finishing with 25 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.

Ray Turner also contributed 24 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks for the Redbacks on the back of shooting 9-of-15 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Joel Wagner added 11 points, eight assists and five rebounds for Perth with Ben Smith contributing nine points and four boards, and Jack Wagner eight points, two assists and two steals.

Eric Milam finished with 23 points and eight rebounds for the Cougars with Gavin Field contributing 23 points and 12 boards.

Julian Pesava contributed 14 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench for the Cougars.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Schweigen East Perth Eagles 69 defeated Lakeside Lightning 48
Perth Redbacks 61 lost to Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 70

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 114 defeated Lakeside Lightning 104
Perth Redbacks 86 defeated Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 72

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin




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