Perry Lakes one win away from upsetting Lakeside
Total Connections Perry Lakes Hawks are on the verge of causing a major upset after they beat Lakeside Lightning in a 78-76 thriller in the men's State Basketball League semi-finals.
The Hawks survived a late comeback to take game one of the best-of-three series, but they still must do what no team has done this season and win at Lakeside to advance to face either Wanneroo or Cockburn in the Grand Final.
Perry Lakes looked set to cruise to victory when they led by 11 points late in the final quarter, but a 9-0 run to Lakeside ensured late drama.
The hosts still were up by five with 34 seconds left, but a foolish foul on Ben Beran allowed him to score three free-throws and cut the deficit to two.
The Lightning then made a stop and had possession in the final seconds, but a contentious out-of-bounds call took away any chance of the minor premiers extending their winning streak to 19 games.
Anthony Lee once again starred for the Hawks with 38 points and 14 rebounds, while Ben Purser (14 points) also impressed on both ends of the court.
Luke Payne top-scored with 27 points for Lakeside despite missing significant minutes in the second and third quarters after picking up an eye injury.
"That was awesome. To keep them to 76 points is a great effort and we're over the moon with it," Hawks coach Dion Dagostino said.
"Going into their house we only have to take one of two and we like our chances."
The game was tied at quarter-time after spectacular early efforts from Lee and Payne. Lee made eight of his 11 field goal attempts to have 18 points in the first quarter for the Hawks, while Payne had 15 for Lakeside.
Purser picked up two early fouls on Beran and also allowed the import power forward to six points and five rebounds in less than six minutes, but defending Payne proved to be the bigger problem for Perry Lakes.
The American made two quick baskets in the second quarter to take his total to 20 points and extend Lakeside's lead to seven.
But the Hawks responded with a quick 7-0 run to level the scores and went to half-time up by two, thanks to Lee's 26 points and 10 rebounds in the first half.
The momentum of the game shifted when Payne's injury forced him off with three minutes left in the first half. Lakeside led by one point when he went off, but were six points down and looking stagnant on offense when he finally returned with five minutes left in the third.
Payne's return did little to help Lakeside's struggling offense - which scored just eight points in the third quarter - as a Jesse Dixon lay-up in the final seconds gave the Hawks a 12-point advantage at the final break.
The result looked beyond doubt when Perry Lakes held a double-digit lead in the final five minutes and it managed to hold on despite being held to eight points in the last quarter.
Game two of the series is on Friday at Lakeside, with the third match (if required) on Saturday.
Article by Jacob Kagi at the WA Basketball Centre
Photo by Travis Hayto (Outerbounds Photography)
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