Meriweather puts Perth in box seat (Men's Wrap)
Perth looked destined to lose game one of the best-of-three series when it trailed by 15 with eight minutes left, but outscored the Wolves 38-14 from that point to put itself in a dominant position.
The Redbacks have two opportunities to get the clinching second win next weekend at home, where it was 11-2 during the regular season.
Jon Meriweather led Perth with 39 points and Joel Wagner had 34 points and 11 assists, while for Wanneroo, Zachary Coverstone (39 points) was the best performer.
Southlands Willetton Tigers thrashed SKILLED Goldfields Giants 101-68 in Kalgoorlie, continuing the Giants’ horror run and putting the Tigers in the box seat.
Goldfields won just one of its last seven in the regular season and again struggled, looking outclassed against one of the title favourites.
Cam Tovey had 31 points to lead the Tigers, which will advance with a home win next week, while Ryan Hulme (23 points) and Michael Haney (19 points) were the only Giants players to reach double figures.
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers will face the Tigers in the semi-finals barring a major turnaround in either series after winning 108-91 at Total Connections Perry Lakes Hawks.
The scores were level at half-time but the Buccaneers took control in the third quarter before blowing the Hawks away in the fourth to take the series back to Geraldton with a commanding advantage.
Import Ryan Zamroz top-scored for Geraldton with 29 points while Peter Crawford (30 points, five assists) and Robert Kempf (25 points, 13 rebounds) were Perry Lakes’ two best.
Lakeside Lightning dominated Australian Central East Perth Eagles 98-76 to give the first placed side control of the series.
The Lightning have won eight straight including the regular season and were 11-2 at home this year, making East Perth’s task of winning at Lakeside twice next week nearly impossible.
Luke Payne had 25 points and Jarrad Prue 14 points and 22 rebounds for Lakeside, while Stephen Weigh had 27 points to lead the Eagles.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Marg Prior
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