THE East Perth Eagles had their best night of the SBL season with two wins over the Stirling Senators on Saturday while the Goldfields Giants ended their losing run, the Joondalup Wolves won twice and the Willetton Tigers won big in Geraldton.

The Saturday night results included East Perth's Women getting its second win of the year and the Men moving into the top eight while the Rockingham and Joondalup Women showed their quality over teams fighting for playoff spots.

The Giants ended their 10-game losing run while the Tigers impressed downing the Buccs on the road with the Cougars winning a high-scoring battle with the Flames.

The Women's contests saw the Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles defeat the Bethanie Stirling Senators 70-59, the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames defeat the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 89-68 and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves down the P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns 93-67.

Then the Men's action began with the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants beating the Lakeside Lightning 99-87 and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeating the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 107-96.

The Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles also beat the Bethanie Stirling Senators 102-98 with the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars downing the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 130-22 and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves thrashing the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 139-71.

Starting with the Women's action, the Eagles ended their 11-game losing run to record their second victory of the year beating the Senators by 11 points.

It was an important loss for Stirling as well who needed to go on a winning run to break into the playoffs. The Senators did well to beat the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday but couldn’t back it up on Saturday to slip to 6-12.

The Eagles pulled away in the second and third quarters outscoring the Senators 39 to 27 to set up the win while also collecting 37 rebounds to 29. Both teams had plenty of turnovers with 26 to East Perth and 23 to Stirling.

Nicole Jorre St Jorre set the scene for the Eagles finishing with 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steals while hitting 3-of-4 from three-point range.

Jodee Sontay added 11 points, six rebounds and three assists for East Perth, Haylee DeSousa nine points and Gemma Houghton nine points.

Amber Land top-scored for the Senators with 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals with Chelsea Armstrong contributing 10 points and four assists, Hannah Throns nine points, four steals and three assists, and Lyndal Gardner nine points, six boards, three assists and two steals.

The Flames showed their quality with a 21-point win over the Cougars with Rockingham staying in touch for a top two finish at 15-3 while Cockburn remained outside the playoffs at 7-10 with a third straight loss.

The Flames got on top early with 25 points to 19 in the first quarter and ended up leading 56-38 at the half. The Cougars kept fighting but Rockingham pulled away in the fourth quarter with another 23 points to 13 to win by 21.

Rockingham shot 39-of-85 from the field at 45 per cent while Cockburn shot just 24-of-72 at 33 per cent.

It was the three stars of the Flames who set up the win with Darcee Garbin finishing with 23 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals, Sami Whitcomb 23 points, six boards, five assists and five steals, and Ifunanya Ibekwe 21 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks.

Ella Kennedy added eight points, 11 rebounds and two assists for Rockingham.

Candace Williams had another big performance for the Cougars with 29 points, 17 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Cherridy Thornton contributed 15 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

The Lady Wolfpack maintained top spot with a 26-point win over the Eastern Suns. The win improves Joondalup to 14-2 while Kalamunda is just holding on in the playoffs at 7-9.

Nikita-Lee Martin had 23 points for the Wolves while Klara Wischer contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

Chelsea Belcher top-scored with 26 points with Amy Kidner adding eight points and seven rebounds with Shani Amos pulling off seven steals and Ellyce Ironmonger collecting 14 boards.

And in the Men's contests, the Giants put an end to their 10-game losing run by beating the Lightning by 12 points at Kambalda Recreation Centre.

The win keeps Goldfields a chance still at making the playoffs with a 7-14 record while Lakeside now sits on 4-16 having lost its previous 13 matches.

Nothing separated the two struggling teams in the first half with it all tied up at the long break, but the Giants pulled away with 29 points to 21 in the third quarter, and 22 to 18 in the fourth to secure the 12-point win.

Goldfields shot 43 per cent from the field and 88 per cent from the free-throw line with Lakeside going 35 per cent from the floor and 76 from the line.

Kenny Manigault had a massive night for the Giants with 32 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and four steals on the back of shooting 10-of-21 from the field and 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Jacob Holmen contributed 18 points, 15 rebounds and six assists for Goldfields, Daniel Goodluck 17 points and three assists, Russell Hurst 12 points and seven boards, and Ezra Nikora 11 points, three rebounds and three assists.

TJ Hallice top-scored for the Lightning with 25 points, 10 rebounds and four assists with fellow import Daniel Alexander contributing 23 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots.

Hayden Bell contributed 14 points and Tom Parkinson 11 points.

The Tigers then made the trek to Active West Stadium and scored a tremendous 11-point victory over the Buccs.

The win is a third straight for Willetton to see its record improve to 15-6 and stay in the race for a top two finish while Geraldton took a slip further from the top four to now be 14-8.

Once again the Tigers finished strongly and full of run with 25 points to 15 in the fourth quarter to pull away for the 11-point win.

Kyle Armour top-scored for Willetton with 25 points, seven rebounds and five assists on the back of shooting 8-of-15 from the field, and 6-of-11 from three-point range.

Damien Scott added 24 points and five rebounds for the Tigers, Jay Bowie 18 points and five boards, Nic Cody 13 points, Josh Johnson 11 (nine rebounds, six assists) and Charles Funches 11 (15 boards, five blocks, three assists).

Maurice Barrow battled away for the Buccaneers with 22 points and nine rebounds with Carter Cook top-scoring off the bench with 24 points and seven rebounds.

Jackson Hussey added 13 points, seven boards and four assists for the Buccs, Matthew Adekponya 13 points and seven rebounds, Aaron Ralph 12 points and Mat Wundenberg seven points, 13 boards and four assists.

The Eagles then put an end to a six-game winning run of the Senators with a four-point win at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

East Perth's win sees it break into the top eight ahead of the Perry Lakes Hawks with a 9-12 record while Stirling slipped to 14-7 to miss a chance to stay in touch with the top two.

It was a tight affair all evening with the Eagles fighting for a top eight spot and the Senators for their place in the top four.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter when East Perth managed to pull away with 28 points to 22 to secure the four-point win.

Tom Jervis led the way for the Eagles off the bench with 29 points, 14 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and 15-of-17 at the free-throw line.

Rhys Vague added 21 points and eight rebounds for East Perth, Sunday Dech 14 points, 14 boards, nine assists, four steals and two blocked shots, Nikola Donlagic 13 points and Aiden Murphy 10.

Cody Ellis did all he could to get the Senators over the line with AJ Majstrovich again absent. Ellis delivered 41 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals shooting 16-of-32 from the floor, 6-of-16 from deep and 3-of-5 at the line.

Austin Bruton added 20 points for Stirling while hitting 5-of-9 of his threes. Kyle Lindbergh contributed 11 points, three assists, two rebounds, two steals and two blocks, and Tom Witts nine points, six boards and four assists.

It was a high-scoring thriller at Wally Hagan Stadium with the league-leading Cougars prevailing in the end over the Flames by eight points in a game that features 252 points between both teams.

The win maintains Cockburn's spot on top of the table with a 17-3 record while Rockingham slips to 12-9.

The Flames actually led at half-time 59-57 but the Cougars delivered a scintillating third quarter with 44 points to 30 to set up the eventual eight-point win at home.

Cockburn ended up shooting 44-of-92 at 47 per cent while going to the line a massive 47 times and making 34. Rockingham hit 53-of-115 from the floor at 46 per cent but got to the stripe on just 17 occasions.

Marcus Goode continued his dominant form for the Cougars with 40 points and 21 rebounds with Julian Pesava contributing 27 points, 12 boards and five steals, and Rhett Della 25 points, 11 boards, four assists and two steals.

Daniel Thomas also had 22 points and nine assists for a Cockburn team that was without Gavin Field.

Cooper Land top-scored for the Flames with 30 points, eight rebounds and five assists shooting 14-of-22 from the floor.

Taylor Land added 25 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds for Rockingham, Ryan Godfrey 20 points and five boards, Jarryd Griffin 18 points and eight rebounds, and Justin Beard 15 points.

The Wolves then flexed their muscles at Ray Owen Recreation Centre thumping the Eastern Suns by 68 points with Joondalup maintaining second spot at 16-4 while Kalamunda slipped to 4-16.

It was a dominant performance by the Wolfpack with Rob Huntington delivering 31 points, Kevin Davis 22, Trian Iliadis 15, Seb Salinas 14 (five assists), Jordan Wellsteed 12 (nine rebounds) and Rhys Smyth 11.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 70 defeated Bethanie Stirling Senators 59
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 68 lost to Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 89
P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns 67 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 93

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 99 defeated Lakeside Lightning 87
S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 96 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 107
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 102 defeated Bethanie Stirling Senators 98
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 130 defeated Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 122
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 71 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 139

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Vikki Hile