Week 18 Saturday night SBL wrap

THE defending Women's SBL champion Rockingham Flames scored a win in the grand final rematch over the Willetton Tigers on Saturday night all but secures a top two position but it proved an eventful evening with the wet weather of Perth creating some havoc.

After the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames defeated the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 76-62 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, the crucial Men's fixture between the two teams couldn’t go ahead because of dangerous court conditions caused by the rain.

The Men's match will now be held on Sunday conditions permitting.

It was a similar case at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and that stopped both the Women's and Men's battles between the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves and Kalamunda Eastern Suns from taking place. Both games are expected to take place now on Tuesday evening.

The other Women's match completed saw the Texture WA Perth Redbacks win an import clash 100-59 over the Print Sync South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre.

In the three Men's matches to be played, the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars beat the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 113-95 at Wally Hagan Stadium, the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers defeated the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 115-96 at Active West Stadium and the Texture WA Perth Redbacks downed the Print Sync South West Slammers 105-85.

Starting with the Women's matches, all eyes were on the grand final rematch with both the Flames and Tigers also doing battle over second position this season.

It was Rockingham who proved too strong winning at home by 14 points to see the Flames improve to a 17-3 record with the Tigers slipping to 14-5 to be all but out of the running for a top two finish.

The Flames were coming off a good win on the road to Stirling on Friday and jumped out of the blocks with 22 points to 14 in the first quarter and another 24 to 18 in the second. They still led by seven points heading into the fourth period and pulled away to win by 14.

Ifunanya Ibekwe was again a standout for the Flames finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, three blocked shots and two steals.

Sami Whitcomb recovered from feeling ill and playing just 13 minutes on Friday to play 33 on Saturday and deliver 19 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Ella Kennedy added 13 points for Rockingham and Darcee Garbin nine to go with 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

Kate Malpass top-scored for the Tigers with 20 points, nine rebounds and two assists with Louella Tomlinson adding 15 boards, seven boards, five blocks and four assists, Zoe Harper eight points and five boards, and Lara Napier seven points and seven rebounds.

The Redbacks then stopped their three-game losing slide beating the Slammers on the road by 36 points to improve to a 9-10 record and consolidated themselves in the top eight while South West lost a fourth straight match.

The Redbacks needed to find some form and did so at the expense of the Slammers increasing their lead at every change including a dominant 55-point to 26 second half.

Perth shot tremendously going 37-of-71 from the floor at 52 per cent and 6-of-15 from three at 40 per cent while South West managed just 19-of-66 from the field at 28 per cent and 2-of-15 from three at 13 per cent.

Ashley Gilmore dominated inside for the Redbacks finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds shooting 10-of-11 from the field and 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. Ajay Jones also had 17 points, three boards, three assist and two steals.

Lisa Wallbutton contributed 16 points and nine rebounds for Perth, Rebecca Benson 14 points and eight assists while nailing four threes, Alix Hayward 10 points and six rebounds, and Gabby O'Sullivan 10 points. Kaitlyn Fashho also scored the first two points of her SBL career.

Courtney Bayliss top-scored for the Slammers with 18 points and nine rebounds.

In the Men's action, the Buccs took another step towards a top four finish beating the Eagles at home by 19 points. The win improves Geraldton to a 16-8 record and up into third place for now while East Perth remains locked with Perry Lakes at 10-14 battling for eighth position.

The Buccaneers continued to show their depth of weapons with Matthew Adekponya top-scoring with 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Maurice Barrow added 25 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and two assists for Geraldton with Jackson Hussey contributing 17 points, nine boards and five assists, Carter Cook 13 points, Mat Wundenberg 10 points (24 rebounds, two blocks), Luke Wrensted eight points (six assists) and Aaron Ralph seven points.

The Eagles were without Tom Jervis and Sunday Dech while still missing Drew Williamson to make life challenging but Andrej Donlagic worked hard for 26 points and eight rebounds.

Playing-coach Joe-Alan Tupaea delivered 19 points and four assists with Nikola Donlagic contributing 14 points, Amen Osayande 13 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Rhys Vague nine points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and two blocked shots.

The Cougars bounced back after losing to the Hawks on Friday night at home to beat the Giants by 18 points. The win keeps Cockburn in top spot for now at 20-4 while the loss all but ends Goldfields playoff hopes at 7-16.

Cockburn was still missing Gavin Field, Sheldon McIntyre and Daniel Thomas, and they weren’t able to cover their absence on Friday but they did on Saturday despite a slow start to the Giants.

Goldfields led 31-23 by quarter-time but the Cougars responded with a 32-15 second quarter and then ran over the top in the fourth for the 18-point victory.

Marcus Goode came up huge again for Cockburn with 37 points, 13 rebounds, seven blocked shots and three assists on shooting 15-of-23 from the floor, 2-of-4 from deep and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line.

Najee Lane added 26 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and three steals with Julian Pesava adding 12 points and 11 boards, Rhett Della 10 points and eight rebounds. Travis Hayto had the best night of his career with 13 points shooting 5-of-8 from the field nailing two triples.

Kenny Manigault top-scored for the Giants with 27 points, seven rebounds and four steals despite 10 turnovers. Jacob Holmen added 24 points and 10 rebounds, Billy Hicks 15 points and Russell Hurst 10.

The Redbacks then bounced back from a loss to the Lakeside Lightning last week to beat the Slammers on the road by 20 points to see Perth improve to a 13-9 record with South West having now lost five straight to be 6-18.

The Redbacks welcomed back captain Joel Wagner from an ankle injury and that helped them rebound from last week's loss to the Lightning. He finished with nine points and four assists getting through almost 22 minutes of court time hitting 4-of-6 from the field and nailing his one free-throw.

Jourdan DeMuynck had a strong performance also for the Redbacks with 27 points, 16 rebounds and three assists while Lewis Thomas contributed 21 points and eight boards.

Reed McConnell added 11 points for Perth, Kyle Bowen 10 points and four rebounds, and Ben Smith seven points, four assists and two steals.

Tre Nichols again led the way for the Slammers with 33 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots with Clive Weeden contributing 13 points, 10 boards, five assists and three steals, Trent Worthington 12 points and 10 rebounds, Corey Easley 10 points and six boards, and Teny Puot 10 points and four rebounds.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 76 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 62
Print Sync South West Slammers 59 lost to Texture WA Perth Redbacks 100

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 113 defeated Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 95
S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 115 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 96
Print Sync South West Slammers 85 lost to Texture WA Perth Redbacks 105

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin




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