DESPITE at times this season looking to be a genuine men's SBL title contender, last year's grand finalists the Joondalup Wolves have missed out on a playoff berth in 2014 with the Mandurah Magic securing their spot with a win over the South West Slammers on Saturday night.

The 2014 SBL regular season concluded on Saturday night with the women's top eight teams already settled but with all eyes on the Mandurah Magic men when they took on the South West Slammers.

The equation was simple with the Magic needing to win to make the playoffs while if they lost, they would end up finishing ninth and it would be the Joondalup Wolves finishing inside the top eight.

However, the Magic beat the Slammers by 14 points and the playoff teams were sealed.

The women's regular season ends with the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (20-2) the minor premiers ahead of the Lakeside Lightning (19-3), Joondalup Wolves (15-7), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (14-8), Soprano Lady Cougars (13-9), Stirling Senators (12-10), Mandurah Magic (12-10) and Willetton Tigers (10-12).

That means that the Flames take on the Tigers, the Lightning play the Magic, the Wolves face the Senators and the Eastern Suns battle the Cougars in the women's SBL quarter finals for 2014.

The Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (7-15), Perry Lakes Hawks (6-16), Schweigen East Perth Eagles (2-20) and Perth Redbacks (2-20) missed out on the playoffs.

While the men's regular season finishes with the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers (19-7) on top ahead of the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (17-9), Perth Redbacks (17-9), Lakeside Lightning (16-10), Stirling Senators (16-10), Mandurah Magic (15-11), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (14-12) and Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (14-12).

That means that Buccaneers will face the Slammers, the Flames take on the Eagles, the Redbacks battle the Magic and the Lighting tackle the Senators in the first round of the playoffs.

The Joondalup Wolves (14-12), Perry Lakes Hawks (11-15), Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars (10-16), Willetton Tigers (8-18), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (6-20) and Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (5-21) all missed making the men's playoffs for 2014.

The final night of the regular season saw three women's matches take place on Saturday with the Mandurah Magic beating the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 77-56 at Eaton Recreation Centre, the Soprano Lady Cougars defeating the Schweigen East Perth Eagles 74-44 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Willetton Tigers downing the Perth Redbacks 76-69 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Magic geared up for the playoffs with a solid 21-point win over the Slammers with South West coming into the game knowing it could no longer make post-season action in 2014.

Hailey Dunham top-scored for the Magic with 18 points, 13 rebounds and four assists with Casey Mihovilovich contributing 17 points, seven boards, six steals and three assists. Ashlee Sidebottom also contributed 15 points and four rebounds for Mandurah.

Amy Patton had a big night for the losing Slammers finishing with 23 points and 13 rebounds while hitting 5-of-8 from three-point territory.

Lauren Jeffers added 13 points and four boards for South West as well.

The Cougars ensured the Eagles finished their season in miserable fashion and with a 16-game losing streak as they recorded a comfortable 30-point victory to secure fifth position heading into the playoffs.

Chelsea Evans top-scored for the Cougars with 16 points while Deanna Smith contributed 11 points and Emma Pass 10.

Jodee Sontay top-scored for the Eagles with 12 points, four rebounds, four steals, two assists and a blocked shot.

The Tigers had a tough time up against the wooden spoon claiming Redbacks who have actually finished the season in good form and with plenty of reason to look optimistically to 2015.

However, Willetton still prevailed by seven points to head into the playoffs from eighth position and looking to do to the Rockingham Flames what The Slammers did to the Tigers last year.

Antonia Edmondson top-scored for the Tigers with 18 points and four rebounds with Lisa Wallbutton contributing 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Emma Lobb also had 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists with Melissa Marsh finishing with 11 points, seven boards and three assists.

Gabby O'Sullivan finished her season again top-scoring for the Redbacks with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Jess Jakens also had 16 points and eight rebounds for Perth, and Alix Hayward 14 points and nine boards.

While the women's standings were set coming into the Saturday night action, that was far from the case with the men.

The match to decide the last spot saw the Mandurah Magic beat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 102-88 at Eaton Recreation Centre to see the Magic make the playoffs and mean that the Joondalup Wolves miss out.

The other Saturday night matches saw the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 110-104 at Active West Stadium and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants defeat the Perry Lakes Hawks 109-94 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars also downed the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 109-103 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Perth Redbacks thrashed the Willetton Tigers 128-103 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

Mandurah did well prevailing by 14 points over South West to not only secure a playoff berth, but also end up finishing in sixth position while the Slammers finish eighth on a 14-12 record.

Captain Taylor Mullenax led the way for the Magic with 26 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots with Trent Gerovich contributing 17 points, Ben Smith 17, Daniel Florance 16 and Rhett Della 12 to go with 13 rebounds.

Trent Worthington top-scored for the Slammers with 18 points and seven rebounds with Markus Monroe adding 16 points, Clive Weeden 12 (10 rebounds) and Wade Hitchcock 10.

The minor premiers Buccaneers and second bottom Eastern Suns met in a mismatch on Saturday night with Geraldton winning a tight and entertaining contest by six points.

Bennie Lewis had another terrific night for the Buccaneers finishing with 33 points, six rebounds and five assists while shooting 14-of-24 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point territory.

Carter Cook also had a good showing for the Buccs with 29 points, 10 rebounds and five rebounds with Aaron Ralph contributing 25 points and six rebounds for Geraldton.

Adhar Mayen did all he could for the Suns in the final game of 2014 with 30 points, 12 rebounds and five assists with Ben Smith adding 26 points for Kalamunda and Joel Questel 18 to go with eight assists, three rebounds and three steals while shooting 6-of-13 from three-point range.

The Giants and Hawks both had nothing to play for on Saturday night except to finish their seasons on a high note and the wooden spooners Goldfields prevailed over the 10th-placed Perry Lakes by 15 points.

Duran Blue led the way for the Giants with 32 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and two steals on the back of shooting 11-of-19 from the floor.

Adrian Majstrovich also had another good night the Giants with 24 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Matthew Leske added 17 points also for Goldfields while Miles Tierney finished with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Ben Purser had a strong finish to the season for the Hawks with 29 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals on the back of shooting 13-of-21 from the floor.

Justin Cecil also had 23 points, six rebounds and six assists for Perry Lakes while Corey Easley added 16 points, eight boards and four assists, and Josh Garlepp 13 points and 15 rebounds.

The Cougars have now had two disappointing seasons since winning the 2012 SBL championship, but they at least finished the season on a high beating the seventh-placed Eagles by six points.

Damien Scott was the major reason why the Cougars were able to finish their season off on a winning note finishing with a massive 47 points, four rebounds and three assists while shooting 14-of-26 from the field 13-of-14 from the free-throw line.

Gavin Field gave him good support with 24 points and 12 rebounds with Jaarod Holmes adding 14 points and nine rebounds for Cockburn, and Seva Chan 10 points, six assists and five boards.

Kyle Armour top-scored for the Eagles with 25 points and five assists with Sunday Dech adding 20 points and nine rebounds, and Austin Kisselev 11 points and nine boards.

The Redbacks had third position to secure when taking on a Tigers team who have ended the season in disappointing fashion despite having two highly productive imports.

Perth simply had too much to play for and again showed Willetton's lack of defence for the second time this weekend with the Redbacks winning by 25 points to end up in third position with a 17-9 record.

Stan Okoye once again starred for the Redbacks with 34 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots while hitting 15-of-25 from the floor.

Lee Roberts was equally effective for Perth with 33 points and 13 rebounds while Dennis Tawhiti contributed 23 points and 10 rebounds.

John Dickson had yet another huge individual game for the Tigers to close out the season with 39 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots on the back of shooting 14-of-26 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Quinn McDowell also added 24 points and nine rebounds for Willetton while Mitchell Clarke scored 13 points.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 56 lost to Mandurah Magic 77
Soprano Lady Cougars 74 defeated Schweigen East Perth Eagles 44
Willetton Tigers 76 defeated Perth Redbacks 69

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 110 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 104
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 109 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 94
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 88 lost to Mandurah Magic 102
Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 109 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 103
Willetton Tigers 103 lost to Perth Redbacks 128

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin