Week 8 Friday night SBL wrap

THE Willetton Tigers, Lakeside Lightning and Rockingham Flames all scored Women's SBL victories on Friday night but their Men's counterparts couldn’t back it up losing to the Stirling Senators, Mandurah Magic and Perth Redbacks respectively.

The three Women's matches on Friday night to open Week 8 saw the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers beat the Bethanie Stirling Senators 80-45, the Lakeside Lightning defeat the Mandurah Magic 77-67 and the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames down the Textile WA Perth Redbacks 94-77.

Then in the corresponding Men's fixtures, the Bethanie Stirling Senators defeated the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 109-98, the Mandurah Magic downed the Lakeside Lightning 91-83 and the Textile WA Perth Redbacks prevailed over the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 108-92.

Starting with the Women's contests, the Tigers scored their second big win over former coach Glenn Clarke and his Senators for the season, winning by 35 points at Warwick Stadium.

Stirling was competitive in the first half to only trail by six at half-time, but the Senators scored just six points in the third quarter and then remarkably did not score a single point in the fourth period with Willetton scoring 10 to win by 35.

The Tigers' pressure defensively was too much for the Senators with the home team conceding 28 turnovers with Willetton scoring 32 points from them. The Tigers were also too strong inside hitting 44 points to just 12 from the Senators in the paint.

Louella Tomlinson was again the star for the Tigers with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots but she received plenty of help.

Kate Malpass added 20 points, Zoe Harper 12 to go with 10 rebounds and Desiree Kelley 11 with six boards, five steals and two assists.

Taylor Bestry top-scored for the Senators with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds with Lyndal Gardner adding 11 points, four boards and two assists.

The Lightning made a terribly slow start at Lakeside Recreation Centre against the Magic to fall 21 points down by quarter-time, but Lakeside hit back in the second quarter with 28 points to 16.

They still trailed by nine at the half but restricted Mandurah to six third quarter points to assume the lead and then go on to win by 10 to improve to a 4-4 record and consolidate themselves in the top eight. The loss sees the Magic slip to 2-5 on the season.

Neither team did a good job taking care of the ball with the Magic having 27 turnovers and the Lightning 25 but Lakeside shot a little better at 42 per cent compared to 38 per cent and nailed eight three-pointers on the night.

Alison Schwagmeyer had another standout performance for the Lightning with 23 points, 13 rebounds, six steals and two assists.

Devanny King added 18 points, four boards, two assists, two steals and two blocks for Lakeside, and Courtney Byrnes 17 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Adijat Adams had a strong performance for the Magic with 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals with Annette Davis contributing 19 points, six boards, three assists and two steals, and Rachel Halleen 12 points, four rebounds and two steals.

The defending champion Flames won their eighth straight match for the season to remain on top of the standings with a 17-point win over the Redbacks. Perth has now lost four of its last five matches following a strong start to the season.

Sami Whitcomb led the way for Rockingham with 29 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

Ashlee Sidebottom added 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and two blocks for the Flames, Jacinta Bourne 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots, and Amanda Pether 14 points and four boards.

Rebecca Mercer top-scored for the Redbacks with 21 points and seven rebounds while hitting 3-of-4 from three-point territory.

Jess Jakens contributed 14 points and 10 rebounds for Perth, Ashley Gilmore 11 points, 12 boards and four assists, and Ajay Jones 10 points.

Then in the Men's battles, the Senators continued their strong form with a hard fought 11-point win over the Tigers that sees Stirling improve to 7-4 and Willetton slip to 6-4.

The Senators were able to open up an advantage during the second quarter to lead 53-43 at half-time and then stuck firm throughout the second half for the win.

Cody Ellis led the way for Stirling again with 27 points, four assists and two steals with Jayden Coburn continuing his breakout season with 21 points, four rebounds and three assists while nailing 3-of-6 from three-point range.

AJ Majstrovich added 18 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Senators, Kyle Lindbergh 17 points, 17 boards and three assists, and Tom Witts 11 points and five rebounds off the bench.

Damien Scott top-scored for the Tigers with 26 points and four rebounds with Jay Bowie adding 25 points, Charles Funches 10 points and nine boards, and Josh Johnson eight points and eight rebounds.

The Magic scored a crucial victory on the road on Friday night to improve to a 3-7 record. Slipping to 2-8 would have meant Mandurah had a tough time ahead to remain in playoff contention, but the win keeps them right in the mix.

It took a huge last quarter for the Magic to prevail as well with them outscoring the Lightning 30 points to 18 to come from behind and score the eight-point win at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Lightning dominated the rebound count 62 to 43 but shooting just 18 per cent with 6-of-32 from three-point range ended up hurting. Mandurah hit 12-of-23 from three with Trevor Setty hitting five of them, Jarrad Jackson three, Tom Remmerswaal two and Chad Simpson two.

Setty ended up top-scoring for the Magic with 26 points to go with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Taylor Mullenax added 18 points and 11 boards for Mandurah, Remmerswaal 14 points, seven assists, four boards and two blocks, Jackson 12 points and 11 assists, and Simpson 10 points and six rebounds.

Daniel Alexander again did all he could to try and get the Lightning over the line with another 23 points, 18 rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

TJ Hallice added 18 points, six rebounds and six assists for Lakeside and Tom Parkinson 14 points and 10 boards.

The Redbacks, like the Magic, needed a win badly on Friday night and they delivered to beat the in-form Flames by 16 points at Belmont Oasis.

Perth improved to 3-6 with the win on the back of an impressive first quarter, and then strong second half where the Redbacks outscored the Flames 51-43.

It was a good shooting night for the Redbacks going 38-of-80 from the floor at 47 per cent and 19-of-36 from three-point territory with Rockingham hitting just 35 per cent from the field and 29 per cent from downtown.

It was the evenness of contributors from the Redbacks that was most impressive with Jourdan DeMuynck top-scoring with 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Joel Wagner added 20 points and four assists, Reed McConnell 16 points and three steals, Ben Smith 16 points and three boards and Lewis Thomas 12 points and 16 rebounds.

The return of Michael Vigor for his first game of the season can't be underestimated either with him contributing 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Cooper Land top-scored again for Rockingham with 25 points and nine rebounds, Taylor Land 21 points and six boards, and Nebojsha Franich 13 points and seven boards.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Bethanie Stirling Senators 45 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 80
Lakeside Lightning 77 defeated Mandurah Magic 67
Textile WA Perth Redbacks 77 lost to Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 94

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Bethanie Stirling Senators 109 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 98
Lakeside Lightning 83 lost to Mandurah Magic 91
Textile WA Perth Redbacks 108 defeated Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 92

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin




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