THE Cockburn Cougars men topped off a terrific weekend double beating Lakeside and Rockingham but its women only managed to lose to both the Lightning and Flames after Saturday night's SBL action.

There were four women's SBL matches on Saturday night with the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers defeating the Joondalup Wolves 79-66 at Eaton Recreation Centre, the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beating the Soprano Lady Cougars 73-65 at Wally Hagan Stadium, the Stirling Senators winning a thriller over the Lakeside Lightning 78-75 at Warwick Leisure Centre and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns downing the Willetton Tigers 76-62 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Slammers beat the Wolves by 13 points to move back into fourth position with a 4-7 record while the defending champion Joondalup slips to 7-4 in fifth place.

Bianca Donovan top-scored for the Slammers with 23 points and five rebounds with Lauren Jeffers contributing 21 points and Amy Patton 16 to go with a massive 19 rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Chelsea Burns top-scored for Joondalup with 20 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals with Tarryn MacPherson adding 14 points and Ellyce Ironmonger 13 and 15 boards.

The Flames then stretched their unbeaten run to open the 2014 women's SBL season beating the Cougars by eight points.

The win improves Rockingham to a 14-0 record to open the campaign while the Cougars lost their second match of the weekend after losing also to Lakeside on Friday. Cockburn now sits on just a 6-6 record in seventh position.

Samantha Whitcomb continued her dominant form for the Flames with 21 points and 12 rebounds while Kaye Tucker added 16 points for Rockingham, Darcee Garbin 14 and Talisia Bourne 10.

Emma Pass tried hard all night for the Cougars finishing with 25 points and 12 rebounds and Marita Payne contributed 17 points, 11 boards and three blocked shots, and Taryn Priestly 12 points and six rebounds.

The Senators backed up a big win over Perry Lakes on Friday by beating the Lightning in a thriller by three points on Saturday to see them improve to a 7-3 record while the Lightning slipped to 10-3 with the loss.

Taylor Wild top-scored for the Senators with 18 points while Amber Land contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds. Tegan Walker also finished with 15 points.

Kari Pickens did all she could for Lakeside with 27 points and 13 rebounds while Emily Fielding added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Ashleigh Grant 16 points and five boards.

The Eastern Suns had little trouble continuing the Tigers' disappointing season despite a change in coach.

Kalamunda won by 14 points to improve to a 6-6 record while Willetton slumped to 3-9.

Alison Schwagmeyer top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Adrienne Jones and Chelsea Armstrong both scored 13 points apiece for the Suns.

Lisa Wallbutton scored 17 points and had seven rebounds for Willetton with Ebony Antonio contributing 17 points and seven rebounds, and Desiree Kelley adding 10 points and six boards.

It was a massive night of men's action on Saturday with six huge matches which included the Cougars topping off a terrific weekend while the Buccaneers moved ahead in top spot.

The action began at Active West Stadium with the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers winning a thriller 92-90 over the Mandurah Magic while the Perth Redbacks beat the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 111-105 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium and the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers also downed the Joondalup Wolves 97-88 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars defeated the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 98-94, the Lakeside Lightning thrashed the Stirling Senators 118-80 and the Willetton Tigers got over the top of the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 112-99.

The Buccaneers now sit on top of the men's standings with two fewer losses and with two games in hand of the Flames following Saturday night's narrow two-point win over the Magic at home.

Geraldton now improves to a 12-3 record while Mandurah slips to 7-6.

Carter Cook led the way for the Buccaneers with 42 points and nine rebounds on the back of shooting 15-of-26 from the field and 2-of-3 from downtown.

Bennie Lewis also contributed 18 points and eight rebounds, and Odartey Blankson 11 points, five boards and three assists.

Taylor Mullenax did all he could for the Magic with 37 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 16-of-25 from the floor.

Rhett Della Maddalena also contributed 18 points and nine rebounds for Mandurah with Paul Hafford finishing with 11 points and 12 boards, and Ben Smith 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Redbacks didn’t have it all their own way in Kalgoorlie but ended up prevailing by six points of the bottom-placed Giants.

Perth improves to a 9-6 record and moves into fourth position with the win while Goldfields slips to 2-12 in last place.

Import Stan Okoye was once again the star for the Redbacks with 33 points and 15 rebounds on the back of shooting 13-of-23 from the field.

Dennis Tawhiti also added 22 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots for Perth with Jarrad Prior contributing 14 points and 10 rebounds, Jarrad Jackson 13 points and 12 assists, and Ashley Stephens 13 points.

Duran Blue led the way for the Giants with 35 points, seven assists and six rebounds with Lordan Franich adding 24 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals.

Matthew Leske also added 16 points and Michael Haney 12 points and nine boards.

The Slammers beat the Wolves at home by nine points with the result leaving both teams on an 8-6 record with South West in sixth position just behind Joondalup in fifth spot.

Jonathan Todd Hendley was the star of the night for the Slammers with 30 points on the back of shooting 12-of-19 from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point territory.

Clive Weeden also added 25 points, 15 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots for South West with Ty Harrelson also contributing a near quadruple-double with 21 points, 12 assists, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Wade Hitchcock also contributed 11 points and six rebounds.

Rhys Smith top-scored for the Wolves with 20 points while Sean Easther added 18 points, Ben Ironmonger 15, Rob Huntington 14 and Jordan Wellsteed 12.

The Cougars then backed up their win over the Lightning on Friday by scoring a four-point victory over the previously top-placed Flames at home on Saturday.

Cockburn still sits in 11th position with just a 6-9 record, but if the Cougars can back up this weekend's form they without question remain a genuine threat this season.

The Flames dropped both games this weekend after losing to the East Perth Eagles on Friday night as well and now concede top spot to the Buccaneers with a 12-5 record on the season.

Alex Prince scored 25 points to lead the way for the Cougars with Gavin Field contributing 22 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals.

Anthony Borden also added 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots for Cockburn with Steven Van Lit adding 18 points and eight boards.

Cooper Land top-scored for Rockingham with 27 points and 11 rebounds with Tom Remmerswaal contributing 16 points, Taylor Land 16 and Ryan Godfrey 12.

The Lightning rebounded from losing to Cockburn on Friday by thrashing the Senators by 38 points on the road on Saturday.

The win improves Lakeside to a 9-6 record on the season to sit in third position while Stirling fell to 5-7 having also lost an incredible double overtime thriller to Perry Lakes on Friday.

Brad Tinsley was the star for the Lightning finishing with 29 points while Caleb Palkert contributed 18 points (12 rebounds, four blocked shots), Brad Jackson 17, Darrel Morgan 17, Jarrad Prue 15 (27 rebounds) and Jesse Dixon 11.

Josh Throns top-scored for Stirling with 17 points and six rebounds with Austin Bruton adding 14 points, Jordan Wild 14 and Ty Caperus 13.

The Tigers then prevailed over an Eastern Suns team without Luke Nevill with Willetton winning on the road by 13 points to improve to a 5-8 record while Kalamunda fell to 3-11.

Once again it was Willetton's imports who starred with Quinn McDowell finishing with 39 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on the back of shooting 12-of-19 from the field, 7-of-11 from three-point range and 8-of-9 from the foul line.

John Dickson finished with 29 points, 12 boards, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Nicholas Cody added 15 points and eight rebounds with Jacob Reed finishing with 12 points.

Ben Smith top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 24 points while Louis Timms scored 18 points, Ngor Manyang 13, Adhar Mayen 12, Jonathan Diaz 12 and Joel Questel 11.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 79 defeated Joondalup Wolves 66
Soprano Lady Cougars 65 lost to Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 73
Stirling Senators 78 defeated Lakeside Lightning 75
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 76 defeated Willetton Tigers 62

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 92 defeated Mandurah Magic 90
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 105 lost to Perth Redbacks 111
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 97 defeated Joondalup Wolves 88
Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 98 defeated Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 94
Stirling Senators 80 lost to Lakeside Lightning 118
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 99 lost to Willetton Tigers 112

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin