THE four best men's SBL teams have all made it through to the semi finals which begin this Saturday with East Perth, Lakeside, Wanneroo and Perry Lakes all genuine championship contenders.

Both Game 1 semi-final matches this weekend will take place on Saturday night with the People's Choice Eagles hosting the Lakeside Lightning at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and the Australian Belt Scrapers Wanneroo Wolves face the Perry Lakes Hawks at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

While the Mandurah Magic, BOQ Perth Redbacks, Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers and Sun City Plumbing were all deserving finalists, Mandurah was the only one to manage a quarter-final victory and there's little doubt the four best men's SBL teams are now left in the competition.

The East Perth Eagles host its Game 1 semi-final match-up against the Lakeside Lightning on Saturday night looking to continue its hot form from the quarter finals.

The Eagles finished the regular season with a 15-11 record in fourth position and then dominated the Slammers in the quarter finals winning Game 1 at Eaton Recreation Centre 102-70 and then Game 2 at home 134-101 to secure the two-nil victory.

While Jarrod Balcombe didn’t play in the quarter-final series, Tom Jervis, Joe-Alan Tupaea, Drew Williamson and Michael Jones, in particular, are in terrific form for the Eagles.

However, Lakeside was the dominant team right throughout the regular season losing just three games to finish with a 23-3 record to be five matches clear on top of the ladder with a seven-game winning streak.

The Lightning then took on a talented and experienced Redbacks team in the quarter finals, but won Game 1 84-79 at Belmont Oasis and then in Game 2 at Lakeside Recreation Centre, prevailed 106-90 to wrap up the series.

If there is a team with the talent to knock off the Lightning, it would be the Eagles but Lakeside still deserves to head into the series as favourites with Game 1 at Morley on Saturday before next weekend Games 2 and 3 are at Lakeside Recreation Centre on Friday and then Saturday if required.

The other semi-final men's SBL series pits the Wanneroo Wolves up against the Perry Lakes Hawks with the Wolfpack hosting Game 1 on Saturday night before the series switches to the WA Basketball Centre next weekend.

The Wolves would have been disappointed to finish the regular season in sixth position in the standings, but they did have the same record as the fourth-placed Eagles so they weren’t far off the mark.

Wanneroo showed its quality in the quarter-final series up against the third-placed Geraldton Buccaneers, who finished the regular season in third position.

However, the Wolves took it right up to the higher-ranked team to beat Geraldton 96-81 in Game 1 at Joondalup Basketball Centre and then prevailed 93-81 in Game 2 at Active West Stadium.

That will certainly have the Hawks cautious of the Wolves who have plenty of talent with the likes of Damian Matacz, Brad Robbins, Reece Maxwell, Trian Iliadis, Seb Salinas and Rob Huntington in their line-up.

The Hawks did well to finish the regular season with an 18-8 record to be second position in the standings but they had a tough time of it against the Mandurah Magic in the quarter finals.

The Magic won Game 1 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre 107-96 but then the Hawks responded to win Game 2 106-90 and then the deciding third game 84-74 both at the WA Basketball Centre to advance to the semi finals.

The Hawks' team also has Ben Purser, Corey Easley, Adrian Majstrovich, Michael Lay and Rob Cassir so are certainly not lacking in talent either.

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Grant Lauterbach (www.carstereo.com.au)