THE Joondalup Wolves Women and Men both scored hard fought wins over the Cockburn Cougars in Friday night's SBL action while the Perry Lakes Hawks and Mandurah Magic split their battles to open the Anzac Round.

The Lady Wolfpack scored a third straight win on Friday by beating the Cougars while the Hawks bounced back beating the Magic following their first loss of 2016 last week against the Wolves.

The two Friday night Women's matches saw the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves defeat the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 82-69 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium, and the Perry Lakes Hawks down the Mandurah Magic 66-56 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

In the Men's action, the defending champion Wolves handed the Cougars their second loss of the season in a battle of the top two teams winning 108-95 while the Magic handed the Hawks a third successive defeat winning 85-77.

Starting with the Friday night Women's contests, the Wolves improved to a 4-1 record on the season with a third straight win beating the Cougars who have now slipped to 2-5 despite the monster performance from reigning Player of the Week Candace Williams.

Williams has 26 points and 12 rebounds. That was just at half-time and she finished with 36 points, 20 rebounds and two assists on shooting 15-of-25 from the floor for Cockburn. But it wasn’t enough for the win against the Wolves.

Joondalup dominated the glass with 48 rebounds to 34, coughed up just the nine turnovers to 16 from the Cougars and ended up scoring 22 points from turnovers, and 27 from second chances to secure the 13-point victory.

Klara Wischer continued her strong form for the Lady Wolfpack with another 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists with Nikita-Lee Martin adding 19 points, five boards and four assists.

Amy Kidner also had a double-double for the Wolves with 13 points and 11 rebounds while Shani Amos contributed 13 points, six assists, four steals and four boards. Ellyce Ironmonger raked in 11 rebounds to go with four points, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

On top of Williams' 36 points and 20 boards for the Cougars, Cherridy Thornton contributed 12 points and five rebounds but no other player scored more than five points or had more than three rebounds.

The Hawks suffered their first loss of 2016 at the hands of the Wolves last week, and bounced back with a 10-point victory on the road against the Magic on Friday night.

It was a tight first half but Perry Lakes broke the game open in the third quarter with 21 points to nine to set up the win despite a strong fourth period from Mandurah.

Deanna Smith once again was the top-scorer for the Hawks with 18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and four steals but she received plenty of help.

Antonia Edmondson contributed 14 points, 12 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots for Perry Lakes while Lauren Jeffers finished with 13 points, three steals, three assists and three boards, and Sarah Donovan 11 points and eight rebounds.

Adijat Adams top-scored for the Magic with 16 points, five steals and three rebounds with Emma Klasztorny contributing 14 points, 12 boards and three steals.

Annette Davis added 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic with Rachel Halleen finishing with six points, seven boards and two steals.

The night had further disappointment for the Magic with a serious knee injury suffered by the emerging Ashlee Norman who was moved into the starting line-up.

And in the Men's competition on Friday night, the defending champion Wolves hosted the league-leading Cougars in a tantalising match-up.

Cockburn came into the contest on a four-game winning streak but taking a win at Joondalup Basketball Stadium is never an easy task.

The Wolfpack started strongly with 31 points to 22 in the opening quarter but by half-time the Cougars only trailed by three and it was game on in the battle for top spot.

But the Wolves had another strong third period with 31 points to 20 and that was enough to secure the eventual 13-point win.

The biggest difference proved to be the pressure from the Wolves forcing the Cougars into 16 turnovers and the Wolfpack were able to score 20 points from those.

It was another strong, even performance from Joondalup as well with Trian Iliadis top-scoring with 19 points, six assists, four rebounds and four steals.

Reece Maxwell had his best game since returning to basketball after a stint with Australian Rules Football. He had 15 points and four rebounds nailing 6-of-10 from the field.

Kevin Davis added 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Wolves, Seb Salinas 13 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Ben Ironmonger 13 points. Bobby Evans also contributed eight points and nine boards from the bench.

Gavin Field top-scored for the Cougars with 28 points and five rebounds with Marcus Goode contributing 21 points and 12 boards.

Najee Lane finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for Cockburn, Rhett Della 12 points and 10 boards, and Julian Pesava 10 points.

Then at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, it was a low-scoring affair between the Magic and Hawks, with Mandurah winning by eight points for its second win of 2016 and handing Perry Lakes a third successive loss in the absence of Bryton Hobbs.

The Hawks managed to lead 44-36 at half-time but the Magic controlled the second half with 26 points to 16 in the third quarter, and 23 to 17 in the fourth.

That was despite Perry Lakes winning the rebound battle 53 to 42 but the Magic did force the Hawks into 17 turnovers and got to the foul line on 35 occasions where they made 25. The Hawks were 8-of-13 at the foul line.

Taylor Mullenax led the way for the Magic with 22 points, six rebounds and two steals with Trevor Setty contributing 17 points and seven boards, and Jarrad Jackson 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Ben Smith added 15 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots as well for Mandurah with Daniel Florance finishing with six points, six boards and four assists.

Brian Carlwell stood tall for the Hawks finishing with 27 points and 15 rebounds shooting 13-of-22 from the floor.

Josh Garlepp contributed 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench for Perry Lakes while Ben Dixon scored 10 points and Ben Purser eight to go with eight rebounds and four assists.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 82 defeated Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 69
Mandurah Magic 56 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 66

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 108 defeated Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 95
Mandurah Magic 85 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 77

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography