THE Joondalup Wolves and South West Slammers both split their men's and women's SBL matches on Sunday while the Goldfields Giants broke through for a win and the Geraldton Buccaneers maintained top spot in the men's competition.

There were just the two women's matches on Sunday afternoon to close out the Week 12 action with the Joondalup Wolves beating the Mandurah Magic 62-53 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and then the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers winning a 77-75 thriller over the Stirling Senators at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The Wolves backed up their thumping 30-point win over the Cockburn Cougars with another strong performance on Sunday to beat the Magic at home by nine points despite shooting just 29.7 per cent from the field, 22.2 from three-point range and 62.1 from the foul line.

The result improves the Lady Wolfpack to a 9-4 record on the season in third position while Mandurah now also sits on 9-4 in fourth spot.

Shani Amos again top-scored for the Wolves with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals with Ellyce Ironmonger adding 11 points, 12 boards and three assists.

Casey Mihovilovich did all she could for the Magic with 18 points and six rebounds with Briana Klasztorny adding 16 points and 10 rebounds. Hailey Dunham contributed 11 points and five boards as well.

The Slammers then made their first appearance of the weekend and had to take on the in-form Senators coming off another win over the Redbacks, but it was South West who prevailed by two points in a thriller.

The win lifts the Slammers to a 5-7 record in eighth position in the women's standings while the Senators are 8-4 now in fifth.

Bianca Donovan had a strong afternoon for the Slammers with 22 points, four rebounds and three assists while nailing 4-of-5 from three-point territory.

Amy Patton also had a good game for South West with 17 points, 16 rebounds and three assists with Rebecca Preston and Catherine Waycott adding 10 points apiece.

Taylor Wild top-scored for the Senators with 21 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Tegan Walker added 21 points and nine rebounds for Stirling with Lyndal Gardner scoring 13 points and Amber Land 12 to go with 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

There were then four massive men's matches on Sunday including the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants beating the Perry Lakes Hawks at the WA Basketball Centre and then in the double-header, the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers defeated the Perth Redbacks 100-98 in a thriller.

The other two Sunday matches saw the Mandurah Magic beat the Joondalup Wolves 101-98 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Stirling Senators defeat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Despite sitting on the bottom of the standings, the Giants had been starting to play better basketball of late and they finally got their third win of the season with a five-point victory over the Hawks on Sunday at the WABC.

Duran Blue once again was the star for the Giants finishing with 30 points, five rebounds and four assists with Russell Hurst adding 17 points, Michael Haney 15 and Matthew Leske 13.

Justin Cecil did all he could for the Hawks with 31 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots with Corey Easley adding 16 points, Ben Purser 14 and Josh Garlepp 11.

The Buccaneers and Redbacks then played out a terrific contest, but in the end the Buccaneers won by two points to remain on top of the standings with a 14-3 record while the Redbacks slipped to 9-8 with the loss in sixth spot.

Bennie Lewis had a big night for the Buccaneers with 34 points on the back of shooting 9-of-18 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range.

Carter Cook also added 26 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for Geraldton with Matt Wundenberg adding 13 points, Shamus Ballantyne 11 and Aaron Ralph 10.

Stan Okoye top-scored for the Redbacks with 26 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists with Lee Roberts adding 24 points, 16 boards, five blocked shots, two steals and two assists.

Dennis Tawhiti also had 17 points, six rebounds, four blocked shots and three assists for Perth with Jarrad Prior scoring 14 points.

The Magic then won another thriller beating the Wolves by just three points with Mandurah improving to an 8-7 record in fourth spot while Joondalup slips to 8-8 in eighth position.

Ben Smith starred for the Magic with 29 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 11-of-19 from the field.

Captain Taylor Mullenax added another 20 points and six rebounds for Mandurah with Rhett Della Maddalena scoring 20 points and Daniel Florance 12.

Seb Salinas again led the way for the Wolves with 30 points, six assists, four rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.

Rob Huntington also added 23 points and six rebounds on the back of shooting 10-of-14 from the floor with Ephrem Davis adding 15 points and nine rebounds, Rhys Smith 13 points, five boards and four assists, and Sean Easther 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots.

The round then concluded in Eaton with the Senators recording a comprehensive 22-point victory over the Slammers. Stirling improves to a 7-7 record as a result while South West slips to 8-7.

Austin Bruton top-scored for Stirling with 21 points with Josh Throns contributing 17 points, Ryan Woodbury 14, Jordan Wild 14 (20 rebounds), Thomas Witts 13 and Ashley Litterick 10.

Clive Weeden top-scored for the Slammers with 27 points and 11 rebounds with Trent Worthington adding 16 points and Ty Harrelson 14 points and five rebounds.

SUNDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Joondalup Wolves 62 defeated Mandurah Magic 53
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 77 defeated Stirling Senators 75

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perry Lakes Hawks 90 lost to Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 95
Joondalup Wolves 98 lost to Mandurah Magic 101
Perth Redbacks 98 lost to Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 100
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 84 lost to Stirling Senators 106

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene Maisey