THE Cockburn Cougars secured top spot in the Men's SBL with a win in a cracking top of the table clash with the Joondalup Wolves on Friday while the Lady Cougars now face a nervous wait and the Perry Lakes Hawks Men secured a playoff berth.

There was plenty at stake on Friday night and it ended up with the Cougars Men beating the Wolves in a classic to secure top spot while the Lady Cougars now have to wait until Saturday night to find out their fate after losing to the minor premiers Joondalup.

The Perry Lakes Hawks made it a double over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns with the Men securing eighth place at the expense of the East Perth Eagles while the Suns Women missed a chance to secure a playoff berth.

The Lady Suns now can't make the playoffs but the Cougars still will unless the Stirling Senators beat the Mandurah Magic on Saturday night. If the Senators win, they will make it at the expense of the Cougars.

East Perth's hopes of making the Men's playoffs were also ended with the Hawks beating the Suns in another thriller on Friday at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The two matches at Wally Hagan Stadium saw the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves defeat the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 90-71 before the Cougars Men prevailed 123-120 in perhaps the game of the season over the Wolves.

Then at Bendat Basketball Centre, the Perry Lakes Hawks Women beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 94-72 before the Hawks Men defeated the Suns 102-96.

Cougars prevail over Wolves as top spot battle delivers

Starting at Wally Hagan Stadium, the Cougars could have secured their place in the Women's playoffs with an upset win over a Wolves team already guaranteed of top spot.

But the Lady Wolfpack proved too strong going on to win by 19 points meaning Cockburn must now rely on Mandurah beating Stirling on Saturday night to see them claim eighth and set up a quarter-final match up against the Wolves.

Amy Kidner was unstoppable in the block for the Wolves with the left-hander having a night to remember finishing with 30 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals on the back of shooting 13-of-18 from the floor.

Nikita-Lee Martin contributed 15 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Wolfpack, Klara Wischer 14 points, seven boards and four assists, Shani Amos 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and Ellyce Ironmonger six points and 21 boards.

Candace Williams tried to keep the Cougars in the contest ending the evening with 27 points and 13 rebounds while Cherridy Thornton added 23 points and eight boards. But the rest of the team combined for just 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Top spot in the Men's SBL then went on the line as the Cougars hosted the Wolves. Both teams entered the clash with 21-4 records and the winner would finish on top.

It was Joondalup who started strongly leading 5-0 and then 12-5 early on with Cockburn suffering an early blow with a hamstring injury to Daniel Thomas. But the Cougars got on a roll in the second quarter with 36 points to 23 and they threatened to blow the game open.

But the Wolves wouldn’t be denied and gave themselves a chance down the stretch to still snatch the win, but the Cougars held on to win by three in perhaps the most intense and high-quality game of the season played in front of a raucous and packed Wally Hagan Stadium.

It was a game that would provide for a tantalising grand final if the top two teams make it that far as well but that is far from a foregone conclusion given the quality of Willetton, Geraldton, Rockingham, Stirling, Perth and Perry Lakes.

Sheldon McIntyre returned from injury to earn life membership of the Cougars by playing his 200th game and the 2012 championship winning vice-captain gave his all in 32 minutes on the floor ending up with four points, six assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Gavin Field showed he can't be forgotten in discussions of the league's most prolific players putting up 33 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots for the Cougars nailing 5-of-10 from downtown.

Najee Lane added 27 points, six boards and six assists for Cockburn while Rhett Della was tremendous off the bench with 24 points and three steals.

Big man Marcus Goode was limited to less than 19 minutes because of foul trouble but was still productive with 23 points, four rebounds and two assists.

Trian Iliadis top-scored for the Wolfpack off the bench with 28 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals with Seb Salinas contributing 23 points, Kevin Davis 22 points and 11 boards, and Greg Hire 19 points, six rebounds and three assists.

The Wolves also celebrated a milestone with Sean Easther reaching 150 SBL games and he hit five points in just three minutes of court time.

At Bendat Basketball Centre, the fourth placed Lady Hawks continued their winning ways beating an Eastern Suns team by 22 points who were without the suspended Carley Mijovic. Her suspension has now played a significant part in the Suns being out of the playoff race.

The Hawks will enter the Women's playoffs in hot form after Kate Anthony led from the front with the captain finishing with 19 points and five rebounds shooting 8-of-10 from the field and 2-of-3 from downtown.

Deanna Smith contributed 18 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Perry Lakes, Antonia Edmondson 16 points, nine boards and nine assists, and Lauren Jeffers 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Stacey Barr top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 29 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots with Melissa Moyle adding nine points and four boards, and Sarah-Jane McMahon nine points and seven rebounds.

The Hawks then had the chance to secure eighth position with a win in the Men's contest over the Eastern Suns, but it was in jeopardy right up until the dying stages.

The Suns have played the season full of heart in coach Michael Clarke's first season in charge and while there have been some heavy losses thrown in, they have shown they can put in some exciting performances and Friday night was another one.

The Eastern Suns wanted to end their season on a high and in turn put a real spanner in the works of Perry Lakes' playoff hopes, but in the end the Hawks had too much at stake and too much experience to hold on to win by six points and secure eighth place at East Perth's expense.

Bryton Hobbs led the way for the Hawks finishing with 29 points, six assists, four rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots despite shooting just 8-of-25 from the field, 3-of-12 from three-point range and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line.

Brian Carlwell added 26 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks for Perry Lakes with Ben Purser contributing 24 points, 21 boards and five assists. Ben Dixon also had 10 points, five assists and two rebounds.

Courtney Belger top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 26 points, nine rebounds and three steals while Brandon McGill added 23 points, six boards, four assists and four steals.

Ryan Blanchett finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for Kalamunda, Anthony Edgar nine points and eight boards, Cooper Lowe eight points and Travis McIlroy five in the final game of his SBL career.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perry Lakes Hawks 94 defeated P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns 72
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 71 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 90

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perry Lakes Hawks 102 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 96
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 123 defeated Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 120

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Sebpix Photography