Week 19 Friday night SBL wrap

THE Cockburn Cougars, Joondalup Wolves and Willetton Tigers scored Women's and Men's SBL victories over the Mandurah Magic, Perth Redbacks and Lakeside Lightning respectively on Friday night to open Week 19 action.

The Lady Cougars improved their playoff hopes by beating the Magic while two of the Women's top three teams the Wolves and Tigers scored wins over playoff bound teams in the Redbacks and Lightning. Perth and Lakeside now do battle on Saturday night in response.

The Cougars and Wolves Men respectively set up their battle next Friday night to determine the minor premiership by both winning.

While Cockburn and Joondalup's Men had big wins, it was a thriller between the Tigers and Lightning with Willetton coming away with the heart stopping and crucial three-point win.

Friday's Women's SBL matches saw the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars defeat the Mandurah Magic 58-55, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves beat the Texture WA Perth Redbacks 80-53 and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers down the Lakeside Lightning 72-66.

The corresponding Men's fixtures saw the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars beat the Mandurah Magic 108-75, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves defeat the Texture WA Perth Redbacks 103-75 and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers down the Lakeside Lightning 104-101.

Tigers escape against Lightning, turn focus to Suns
Schwagmeyer, Alexander heroics not quite enough for Lightning

Starting with the Women's matches, the Cougars scored a crucial three-point win over the Magic at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The win was massive for Cockburn's playoff hopes improving them to a 9-12 record with only a game to go next Friday against the Joondalup Wolves. A loss to Mandurah would have all but spelled curtains for the Cougars playoff hopes.

The loss is also a second straight for the Magic as they slip to 10-10 to miss a chance of consolidating fifth place.

It wasn’t the prettiest offensive game of the year with the Cougars starting brightly with 22 points in the first quarter to 17, but they managed just 21 in total the next two. That saw the Magic assume a 44-43 lead heading into the fourth period but the Cougars managed to score the three-point win.

Cockburn ended up shooting 22-of-57 at 38 per cent from the field and Mandurah went 21-of-81 at 25 per cent while hitting 5-of-25 three-pointers. Mandurah did well forcing Cockburn into 26 turnovers as well and scored 20 points off those.

Candace Williams ended up top-scoring with 16 points and 17 rebounds for the Cougars despite having nine turnovers and shooting just 6-of-17 from the floor.

Chelsea Evans added 10 points and four rebounds for Cockburn, Isabelle Miotti eight points and four boards, Vanessa Michael seven points and nine rebounds, and Cherridy Thornton seven points and nine boards.

Annette Davis top-scored for the Magic with 14 points and nine rebounds with Rachel Halleen contributing 11 points, Casey Mihovilovich 10 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Emma Klasztorny eight points and 10 boards.

The Redbacks started impressively against the Lady Wolfpack with 23 points to 19 in the opening quarter but the Wolves took over from there to outscore Perth 61-30 the rest of the game to end up winning by 27.

The win keeps the Wolves on top of the standings at 18-3 with a game next Friday away to the Cougars to go while the Redbacks slip to 9-11 and needing to win at least one of their remaining matches against the Lightning and Tigers to lock away a playoff berth.

Klara Wischer led the way for the Lady Wolfpack with 23 points, seven assists, five rebounds and five steals shooting 10-of-20 from the floor and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.

Ellyce Ironmonger contributed 15 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots for Joondalup, Shani Amos 10 points and four assists, Amy Kidner eight points and six rebounds, and Nikita-Lee Martin eight points and four boards.

Ajay Jones top-scored for the Redbacks with 18 points shooting 3-of-5 from downtown.

Rebecca Benson added 16 points on hitting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc for Perth with Lisa Wallbutton pulling in 13 rebounds and Jess Jakens returning to deliver four points and three rebounds in almost 17 minutes of court time.

The Tigers hosted the Lightning and it was Lakeside that got off to a stunning start on the back of 19 points in the first quarter alone from Alison Schwagmeyer.

However, Willetton gradually whittled Lakeside down and with Louella Tomlinson and Kate Malpass dominating down the stretch, the Tigers gritted out the six-point victory.

The win improves the Tigers to 15-5 to lock away third position while the Lightning remain fifth at 11-10 but have just one game remaining on Saturday night against the Redbacks.

Willetton did well to trail by just eight at quarter-time after the 19 points from Schwagmeyer and the Tigers outscored the Lightning 54-40 the last three quarters to win by six.

Tomlinson finished with 29 points and six rebounds shooting 12-of-15 from the field while Malpass had 20 points and five boards nailing 7-of-14 from the floor, and 6-of-6 at the foul line.

Desiree Kelley added nine points, five rebounds and three steals for Willetton and Zoe Harper four points and seven boards in her 200th SBL appearance.

Schwagmeyer ended up with 28 points and eight rebounds for the Lightning but the Tigers did well locking her down after the first quarter.

Devanny King worked hard for 13 points, 11 rebounds and three assists for Lakeside with Ashleigh Grant contributing 12 points and 11 boards, and Tia Ucich eight points and four assists.

Then in the Men's contests, the Cougars proved too strong beating the Magic on the road by 33 points to ensure they will take out the minor premiership with a win at home over the Wolves next Friday.

The Cougars put the result beyond reach in the first half with 28 points to 17 in the first quarter and 37 points to 16 in the second before cruising in the second half.

Gavin Field (14 points, four rebounds) and Daniel Thomas (four points, eight assists) were welcome returns for the Cougars as well on the night with Marcus Goode top-scoring with 22 points and 15 rebounds.

Rhett Della added 20 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Najee Lane 19 points, nine boards, four assists and four steals, and Travis Hayto 10 points.

Trevor Setty top-scored for the Magic with 22 points, four rebounds and four assists while Ben Smith contributed 19 points and 10 boards, and James Paringatai 11 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

The Wolfpack also gave themselves a chance at the minor premiership with a win next week by beating the Redbacks on the road by 28 points on Friday.

The win improves Joondalup to a 21-4 record while Perth slips to 14-10 to remain in eight position with games remaining against the Lakeside Lightning and Willetton Tigers the next two Saturday nights.

The Wolves pulled away as the night went along and by holding the Redbacks to seven fourth quarter points they managed to run away with the game for the 28-point win against a potential quarter-final opponent.

The pressure proved too much applied by the Wolves with the Redbacks conceding 27 turnovers for the night with Joondalup scoring 29 points directly from those.

Trian Iliadis returned to the bench for the returning Reece Maxwell and top-scored for the Wolfpack with 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.

Greg Hire also came off the bench with 19 points and eight rebounds for Joondalup with Kevin Davis contributing 17 points and 12 boards, Rob Huntington 15 points and eight rebound, Seb Salinas 12 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Joel Questel eight points and five assists.

Ben Smith hit 20 points off the bench for the Redbacks with Jourdan DeMuynck finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds, Lewis Thomas 10 points and 14 boards, and Joel Wagner 10 points and three assists.

Then at Willetton Basketball Stadium, Daniel Alexander put the Lightning on his back and almost delivered a fourth straight win for his team, but his game-winning three just missed and the Tigers held on to win by three points.

It was a crucial win for the Tigers as well to steady them in the top four with a 16-8 record following successive losses and ahead of games against the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Perth Redbacks to finish the regular season.

With Alexander unstoppable, the Lightning were on top in the first half going into the break leading 61-51.

But Alexander was limited a little during the second half by foul trouble and his battle with Charles Funches turned out to be a fascinating one with them going at one another at either end, and coming up with big plays and shots aplenty.

In the end it was Funches and the Tigers who got the three-point win and Funches' numbers might not have told the story with 17 points, five rebounds and two blocks but he had a significant say in the win.

Jay Bowie top-scored for Willetton with 30 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals with Kyle Armour adding 17 points and six boards, Damien Scott 16 points and four rebounds, Nic Cody 11 points and seven boards, and Josh Johnson 10 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Alexander had a remarkable night for the Lightning with 43 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and two blocks while shooting 14-of-26 from the floor, 3-of-8 from deep and 12-of-13 from the free-throw line.

Daniel Grida added 11 points and four rebounds for Lakeside, Matt Vinci 10 points, TJ Hallice nine points, eight rebounds and five assists, Corey Martin nine points and five boards, and Corey Shervill eight points, four rebounds and two steals.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 55 lost to Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 58
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 53 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 80
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 72 defeated Lakeside Lightning 66

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 75 lost to Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 108
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 75 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 103
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 104 defeated Lakeside Lightning 101

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin




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