THE Perry Lakes Hawks and Willetton Tigers Women were among the teams to send a message on Saturday night with one round remaining until the SBL playoffs while the Geraldton Buccaneers, Willetton Tigers, Rockingham Flames and Stirling Senators Men all had crucial victories.

It was a massive night in the Women's SBL with five matches including the Perry Lakes Hawks defeating the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 75-62, the Bethanie Stirling Senators beating the Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 64-50 and the Texture WA Perth Redbacks downing the Lakeside Lightning 69-42.

The Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers also rediscovered some imposing form beating the P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns 92-62 and the Mandurah Magic bounced back from a loss the previous night to defeat the Print Sync South West Slammers 78-52.

Saturday night's Men's action began with the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 113-85 at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames also beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 93-90, the Bethanie Stirling Senators downed Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 112-100 and the Texture WA Perth Redbacks downed the Lakeside Lightning 97-82.

The Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers also defeated the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 125-104 and the Print Sync South West Slammers beat the Mandurah Magic 125-96 on the road.

Starting with the Women's action, the Hawks proved they could be a serious threat at the 2016 championship beating the defending champion Flames by 13 points at Bendat Basketball Centre.

Both Perry Lakes and Rockingham should still finish fourth and second respectively despite the result, but it will give the Hawks plenty of confidence heading into the playoffs despite the Flames being without Darcee Garbin and Jacinta Bourne.

The game was still up for grabs going into the fourth quarter with the Hawks only holding a three-point lead, but they restricted the Flames to five points in the final period to end up winning by 13.

Deanna Smith led the way for the Hawks with 19 points and 10 rebounds despite shooting just 3-of-16 from the floor. She did nail 11-of-11 from the foul line.

Lauren Jeffers added 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Perry Lakes, Sarah Donovan 14 points and five boards, and Antonia Edmondson 12 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.

Ifunanya Ibekwe was impressive for the Flames finishing with 25 points, 10 rebounds and five steals on the back of shooting 12-of-18 from the floor.

Sami Whitcomb added 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocked shots for Rockingham.

The Senators then celebrated the career of Tegan Walker at Warwick Stadium with a 14-point win over the Eagles as she returned to the court for a final time and hit the game's final shot.

The win kept Stirling's faint playoff hopes alive too improving the Senators to 8-13 with a game against the Magic to come next Saturday night in Rockingham.

Amber Land had a terrific night for the Senators finishing with 23 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and three steals on shooting 7-of-13 from the floor, 1-of-1 from deep and 8-of-11 from the foul line.

Brianna Fisher added 11 points for Stirling, Emma Berryman eight and Hannah Throns seven to go with seven rebounds and three assists.

Amy Chinnery finished with 12 points off the bench for East Perth, Gemma Houghton 11 (six rebounds) and Haylee DeSousa seven.

The Redbacks bounced back from a Friday night thumping from the Lady Wolfpack to beat the Lightning by 27 points at Belmont Oasis Recreation Centre.

It was an important win for Perth as well to improve them to 10-11 while it was Lakeside's final game of the regular season and they will finish on a record of 11-11.

Rebecca Benson had one of her best nights of the season since joining the Redbacks with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists on shooting 10-of-23 from the field, 3-of-6 from downtown and 4-of-4 from the line.

Ajay Jones added 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals for Perth and Bianca Donovan eight points, five boards, three steals and two assists.

The Lightning were again without Courtney Byrnes with Devanny King top-scoring with 14 points and seven rebounds while Alison Schwagmeyer added 11 points and eight boards.

The Tigers built some confidence beating the Lightning at home on Friday night and backed that up with a 30-point thumping of the Eastern Suns at Ray Owen Recreation Centre on Saturday.

The win improves Willetton to a 16-5 record and the Tigers could still snatch second spot if the Flames lose to the Eagles next Saturday night. It was a tough loss for Kalamunda who were without the suspended Carley Mijovic and the Suns slip to 9-12 and still in eighth spot as a result.

The Tigers shot 38-of-80 at 47 per cent from the field while the Suns struggled for 20-of-72 at 27 per cent.

Louella Tomlinson had a monster performance for the Tigers with 35 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots on the back of shooting 14-of-23 from the floor, 2-of-3 from downtown and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Kate Malpass also contributed 18 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for Willetton, Zoe Harper 13 points and seven boards, Desiree Kelley 10 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Ebony Antonio five points, five boards and three assists.

Melissa Moyle top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 19 points and three assists while nailing 5-of-9 of her three-point attempts.

Stacey Barr added 13 points and six rebounds for the Suns, Sarah-Jane McMahon 10 points and Sabrina Jeridore seven points, five boards, four blocks and two assists.

The Magic were also missing the suspended Adijat Adams but bounced back from losing on Friday night to the Cockburn Cougars beating the Slammers comfortably by 26 points at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The win steadies the Mandurah at an 11-10 record to strengthen their hopes of finishing fifth while the Slammers have lost six straight to be 2-20.

The Magic held the Slammers to just four second quarter points and 16 for the first half on the way to the win with Casey Mihovilovich top-scoring with 19 points and six rebounds.

Bree Klasztorny came into the starting line-up for Mandurah and had 18 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals while Emma Klasztorny contributed 16 points and 13 boards, Rachel Halleen nine points, three rebounds and three assists, and Annette Davis five points, 10 boards and four assists.

Courtney Bayliss top-scored for South West with 15 points and 12 rebounds with Georgia Denehey adding 11 points, four boards and three steals, and Dena English 10 points and four assists.

Then in the Men's competition, the Buccaneers travelled to Kalgoorlie and won by 28 points over the Giants to further consolidate a top four position with a 17-8 record and a game to go next Saturday night against the Lakeside Lightning.

The Giants, meanwhile, have lost their last four matches to now be sitting 12th at 7-18.

Maurice Barrow had a terrific night for the Buccaneers with 29 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and three assists shooting 12-of-20 from the field.

Matthew Adekponya added 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists for the Buccs and Jackson Hussey 22 points, seven boards and six assists.

Carter Cook also had 13 points, five rebounds and two assists for Geraldton, Aaron Ralph eight points and six boards, and Mat Wundenberg eight points and 13 rebounds.

Jacob Holmen top-scored for the Giants with 26 points, six rebounds and two assists with Kenny Manigault adding 25 points, eight assists and seven boards. Russell Hurst also had 10 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

The Flames won their fourth straight match to stay in the top four race as well with a three-point win over the Hawks at Bendat Basketball Centre. Rockingham now sits fifth at 16-9 a win behind both the Buccs and Tigers.

The Hawks remain eighth despite the loss with a 10-15 record that they share with the ninth placed Eagles. Perry Lakes finish the season next Friday night at home to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

Cooper Land top-scored for the Flames with 20 points and 12 rebounds but he got plenty of support with Taylor Land finishing with 19 points, eight assists and four boards shooting 9-of-15 from the field.

Ryan Godfrey added 18 points, five rebounds and three assists for Rockingham, Chudier Pal 12 points and 16 boards, and Justin Beard 10 points, three boards and two blocked shots.

Bryton Hobbs continued to get back to some ominous form for the Hawks with 35 points, 11 rebounds and three assists shooting 13-of-26 from the field and 6-of-6 at the stripe.

Brian Carlwell contributed 21 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two blocked shots for Perry Lakes, Ben Dixon 11 points and four boards, Ryan O'Sullivan nine points and Ryan Smith seven points and six assists.

The Senators also kept their faint hopes of a top four finish alive by beating the Eagles at home by 12 points on Saturday night. The win stops a three-game losing run for the Senators with them improving to a 16-9 record while the Eagles were again without Sunday Dech and Drew Williamson.

East Perth has now lost two straight to be 10-15 and needing to beat Rockingham next Saturday and hoping Perry Lakes loses to Kalamunda on Friday.

Cody Ellis had a big scoring night for the Senators finishing with 35 points along with three steals, three blocks and three assists while shooting 11-of-22 from the field and 9-of-14 from three.

AJ Majstrovich added 26 points and seven rebounds for Stirling, Kyle Lindbergh 18 points, 14 boards, six assists and three steals, and Ashley Litterick 13 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Rhys Vague top-scored for the Eagles with 23 points, 19 rebounds and five assists with Nikola Donlagic adding 20 points and six boards, Joe-Alan Tupaea 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, and Tom Jervis 12 points and seven boards in just 12 minutes.

The Redbacks bounced back from a loss to the Wolves on Friday night to score an important win over the Lightning. Lakeside had beaten Perth two weeks previous and had only narrowly lost to Willetton on Friday, but the Redbacks did well to win by 15 points.

However, they look set to finish seventh with a 15-10 record heading into a clash next Saturday against the Tigers.

The Redbacks got an even contribution across the board with Jourdan DeMuynck finishing with 19 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals and Ben Smith 16 points and five boards while nailing 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Lewis Thomas added 14 points and nine rebounds for Perth, Joel Wagner 14 points, six boards and four steals, and Simon Lokan 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

TJ Hallice top-scored for the Lightning with 26 points, 10 rebounds and three steals while Daniel Alexander couldn’t reproduce his heroics of Friday night with 15 points, 15 rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Daniel Grida added 14 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Lakeside and Matt Vinci seven points.

Willetton backed up its win on Friday over Lakeside beating Kalamunda by 21 points at Ray Owen Recreation Centre seeing the Tigers go a long way to securing a top four finish with a 17-8 record.

The Tigers got off to a fast start with 37 points to 22 in the opening quarter and they led by 31 points at three quarter-time before winning by 21.

Lachlan Evans had the best night of his young career for the Tigers off the bench delivering 27 points on the back of shooting 7-of-16 of his three-point attempts.

Jay Bowie contributed another 25 points and seven rebounds for Willetton, Charles Funches 14 points, six boards and four blocked shots, Andrew Black 13 points, eight assists, four steals and three blocks, Daniel Casey 11 points and nine rebounds, and Nic Cody 11 points.

Courtney Belger top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 30 points, eight rebounds, six steals and four assists with Tim Squire contributing 18 points, Carl Aylett nine and Nathan Drown nine.

The Slammers ended their five-game losing slide beating the Magic by 29 points at Mike Barnett Sports Complex in a battle between two teams well out of playoff contention.

Tre Nichols had a night out for the Slammers delivering 51 points, seven assists, six steals and four rebounds on the back of 16-of-29 shooting from the field, 7-of-12 from three-point range and 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.

Corey Easley added 27 points and six rebounds for South West and Clive Weeden 21 points and 12 boards.

Trevor Setty finished with 30 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists for Mandurah while Ben Smith added 20 points and 23 rebounds, Tom Remmerswaal 10 points, five assists and four boards, and James Paringatai 10 points and seven rebounds.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perry Lakes Hawks 75 defeated Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 62
Bethanie Stirling Senators 64 defeated Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 50
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 69 defeated Lakeside Lightning 42
P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns 62 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 92
Mandurah Magic 78 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 52

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 85 lost to S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 113
Perry Lakes Hawks 90 lost to Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 93
Bethanie Stirling Senators 112 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 100
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 97 defeated Lakeside Lightning 82
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 104 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 125
Mandurah Magic 96 lost to Print Sync South West Slammers 125

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin