THE East Perth Eagles had its best night in some time scoring women's and men's wins over Stirling on Saturday night while last year's minor premiers Willetton fell to a third straight loss to start the 2014 SBL season.

There were five men's SBL matches on Saturday night with the Wanneroo Wolves beating the Sun City Geraldton Buccaneers 99-91, Lakeside Lightning defeating the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 112-97, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers downing the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 95-87, the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles beating the Stirling Senators 110-99 and the Willetton Tigers taking care of the Cockburn Cougars 101-89.

And in the three women's games on Saturday night, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 64-50, the Schweigen East Perth Eagles beat the Stirling Senators 67-62 and the Cockburn Cougars defeated the Willetton Tigers 75-63.

The men's action began with the defending champion Lakeside beating the winless from three games Goldfields by 15 points at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

Brad Tinsley starred for the Lightning with 32 points and eight rebounds on the back of shooting 11-of-19 from the floor.

Caleb Palkert was also terrific with 29 points and 11 rebounds shooting 13-of-23 from the field as well while Tom Parkinson contributed 17 points and Corey Martin 13.

Tommy Hannon finished with 29 points and eight rebounds for the Giants with Lordan Franich adding 26 points, nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and two blocks on the back of shooting 11-of-19 from the field.

Duran Blue also had 18 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and two steals for Goldfields.

The Eagles beat the Senators by 11 points at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre with Austin Kisselev top-scoring for East Perth with 23 points and seven rebounds.

Drew Williamson added 20 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals with Kyle Armour finishing with 20 points, Nikola Donlagic 14 and Joe-Alan Tupaea 11.

Cory Cooperwood top-scored for the Senators with 29 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks with Jordan Wild adding 25 points and 10 boards while shooting 11-of-17 from the field.

The Slammers remained unbeaten this season with an eight-point win over the Suns at Eaton Recreation Centre on Saturday night.

Playing-coach Ty Harrelson was terrific with 27 points, 12 assists, five steals and four rebounds with Clive Weeden adding 27 points and 10 rebounds, and Jonathan Todd Hendley 18 points, and 10 boards.

Ben Smith finished with 19 points and eight assists for Kalamunda with Louis Timms adding 19 points and 12 rebounds while Adhar Mayen contributed 17 points and 13 boards.

Willetton scored a 12-point win over Cockburn at Willetton Basketball Stadium with John Dickson again leading the way for the Tigers with 31 points and 11 rebounds.

Nick Cody added 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Hayden Noordhoek 18 to go with six boards.

Damien Scott led the way for the Cougars with 28 points and eight rebounds with Seva Chan adding 22 points and five assists, and Gavin Field 18 points and 12 boards.

In women's action at the Willetton Basketball Stadium, the Tigers fell to a third straight loss to open the 2014 season with the Cougars scoring their second straight win triumphing by 12 points in the finish after holding Willetton to just seven third quarter points.

Sam Richards top-scored for Cockburn with 16 points while Marita Payne added 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Taryn Priestly and Emma Pass both scored 12 points also for the Cougars with Chelsea Evans adding 10 points and six rebounds.

Antonia Edmondson tried hard for Willetton with 19 points and seven rebounds with Lisa Wallbutton contributing 14 points and 10 boards while shooting just 2-of-13 from the field, but 10-of-11 from the foul line.

The Tigers now have lost their first three games of the 2014 women's SBL season coming off a 2013 where they finished atop the standings but lost in the quarter finals to the Slammers.

After winning just one game in all of 2013, the Eagles are on the board nice and early in 2014 after a solid five-point win over the Senators at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Saturday night.

Dannielle Devenny top-scored for East Perth with 16 points and eight rebounds with Emily Burton adding 13 points and eight boards.

Jodee Sontay also contributed 12 points for the Eagles on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and Nicole Jorre St Jorre 11 points, five assists and four rebounds.

Taylor Wild top-scored for the Senators with 14 points, five rebounds and three assists with Lyndal Gardner adding 13 points and Amber Land 12 to go with 14 rebounds on the back of an efficient 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.

The final women's match on Saturday night saw the Slammers make their first appearance of 2014 by recording an impressive 14-point win over last year's grand finalists Kalamunda.

Bianca Donovan was the star of the night for the Slammers with 27 points and seven rebounds but Amy Patton wasn’t far behind contributing 21 points, 17 rebounds and five assists. The pair combined for 48 of South West's 64 points on the night.

The Suns are now winless this season coming off last year's grand final appearance with Jessie Edwards top-scoring on Saturday night with 15 points while Jennie Rintala finished with 11 points and 17 rebounds.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 64 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 50
Schweigen East Perth Eagles 67 defeated Stirling Senators 62
Willetton Tigers 63 lost to Cockburn Cougars 75

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 91 lost to Wanneroo Wolves 99
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 97 lost to Lakeside Lightning 112
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 95 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 87
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 110 defeated Stirling Senators 99
Willetton Tigers 101 defeated Cockburn Cougars 89

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Ashley Pearce