Tigers level WSBL series with Wolves
Defending champions Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tigers and Glasscraft Wanneroo Wolves are headed to a deciding third game after the Tigers levelled their WSBL semi-final series at one game apiece with a 76-68 victory.
The deciding game of the best-of-three series will take place at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Saturday night, with the winner will advance to face either Perry Lakes or East Perth in the Grand Final.
Kate Malpass was back to her best for the Tigers, leading her team with 20 points and adding 10 rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Zoe Harper also added 17 points and 13 rebounds, proving to be a handful down in the low post. For the Wolves, Rebecca Mercer dominated with 23 points while Shani Amos contributed 15.
“It was good, the girls did really well,” Willetton coach Glenn Clarke said.
“We had a good session during the week with a lot of shooting. One from 20 last game was disappointing so we needed to work on that and the girls came through.”
The Tigers raced out to an early eight point lead with Malpass and Harper both making early shots from the perimeter and inside the key. Harper took the early advantage drawing two early fouls on Ainsleigh Sanders which saw her head to the bench early.
Willetton also tightened their half-court defense and placed immense pressure on the Wanneroo ball handlers, forcing them into costly turnovers resulting in easy layups for Malpass. She exploded for 11 first quarter points as the Tigers raced away early.
The Wolves immediately hit back with an early second quarter run, scoring 12 of the first 14 points with Mercer and Amos sharing the load. However Willetton continued to force turnovers at mid court and held on to their lead going into half time.
The second half started with Wolves coach Craig Friday wanting his team to push the tempo up the court. His cries were answered with Amos and Meghan Lee directing the fast breaks with Mercer on the receiving end of long passes, finishing them with easy layups.
However the Wolves’ hard work was countered with some accurate long distance shooting from the Tigers. Melissa Marsh found her shooting touch along with Malpass and Ebony Antonio. The Tigers combined for 64% shooting from the three point line for the game compared to 25% for Wanneroo.
Once again the Wolves clawed their way back to only trail by three points at the final break. But that was as close as they could get for the remainder of the game as the outside shooting of the Tigers proved too much for the Wanneroo defenders.
Mercer was held to only two points in the fourth quarter as Antonio and Jasmine Hooper stepped up with some big shots for the Tigers. Offensive rebounding also hurt Wanneroo as the Tigers outscored them 13-2 in second chance points, however it was the rebounding count that was the major factor as the Tigers won the offensive count 17-2 and overall 47-28.
“We played well as a team tonight which is really important for us,” Malpass said.
“Tomorrow night is not going to be easy. As long as we look for the open shots and not the first shot everything else should fall into place."
Article by Nathan Winch at Willetton Basketball Stadium
Photo by Grant Lauterbach
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