THE Perth Redbacks women have finally won a game in 2014 and seriously hurt the South West Slammers' playoff hopes in the process while the Joondalup Wolves men won their second game of the weekend to return to eighth position in the SBL.

The women's results on Saturday night saw the Redbacks upset the Slammers while the Wolves and Cougars scored important wins over the Magic and Hawks respectively.

The men's results were highlighted by the Eagles beating the league-leading Buccaneers, the Redbacks thrashing the Slammers and the Wolves recording their second win of the weekend to move back into the top eight.

The women's Saturday night results saw the Perth Redbacks beat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 88-78 at Belmont Oasis, the Joondalup Wolves down the Mandurah Magic 81-66 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and the Soprano Lady Cougars defeat the Perry Lakes Hawks 73-49 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The Redbacks had lost their opening 18 matches of the 2014 women's season but came out and upset the Slammers at home on Saturday night by 10 points to give themselves a chance to still avoid claiming the wooden spoon.

The Redbacks at 1-18 are now just one game behind the 2-18 East Perth Eagles while the Slammers missed a chance to move back into the top eight with the loss slipping to a 7-14 record behind the 7-12 Willetton Tigers.

Gabby O'Sullivan was the star of the night for the Redbacks finishing with 32 points and 10 rebounds while Jess Jakens added 17 points and 11 boards, Alix Hayward 14 points and Monique Kickett 10 to go with eight rebounds and three assists.

Amy Patton did all she could for the Slammers finishing with 25 points, 14 rebounds and three assists with Lauren Jeffers contributing 19 points and Jemma Stallard 12.

The Wolves backed up their win over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Friday night by beating the Magic by three points on Saturday with the defending champions now improving to a 15-5 record to be two games clear in third spot, and two games behind second.

The Magic slipped to an 11-9 record in sixth position with the defeat.

Nikita-Lee Martin top-scored for the Wolves with 23 points and four assists with Ellyce Ironmonger adding 20 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. Amy Kidner also scored 10 points while shooting 4-of-6 from the field.

Casey Mihovilovich top-scored for the Magic with 31 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals with Hailey Dunham contributing 14 points and six boards.

The Cougars then scored a crucial and comprehensive 24-point win over the Hawks with Cockburn improving to an 11-9 record in seventh position while Perry Lakes is struggling in 10th spot on 6-14.

Emma Pass finished with 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for the Cougars with Deanna Smith adding 24 points, seven boards, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

Megan McKay scored 14 points for the Hawks and Anna Kovats 13.

The men's action on Saturday night then saw the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles beat the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 101-96 at Active West Stadium and the Willetton Tigers win a 110-107 thriller over the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Perth Redbacks also beat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 111-81 at Belmont Oasis with the Joondalup Wolves downing the Mandurah Magic 120-113 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, and the Perry Lakes Hawks beating the Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 103-82 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

All eyes were on the Eagles and Buccaneers clash on Saturday night to see if the Buccs could restamp their authority on the competition or if East Perth could continue to emerge as genuine championship contenders.

In the end, it was the latter that occurred with the Eagles beating the Buccaneers by five points in Geraldton to see East Perth improve to a 14-10 record in fifth spot while the Buccs remain on top of the standings on 17-6.

The Eagles scored the win without Tom Jervis as well with Mathiang Muo finishing up with 25 points and Kyle Armour 25 as well to go with eight assists and five rebounds.

Nikola Donlagic also added 17 points, four rebounds and three assists for East Perth while hitting a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point territory. Drew Williamson added 13 points, seven assists and four rebounds as well.

Bennie Lewis did all he could for the Buccaneers with 37 points and five rebounds with Carter Cook contributing 23 points, Shamus Ballantyne 14 and Jerrah Young 10 to go with 11 rebounds, seven blocked shots, two assists and two steals.

The Tigers and Giants met in a battle featuring two teams out of playoff contention with Willetton coming out thrilling three-point winners at home.

The result sees the Tigers improve to a 8-14 record but with just four games remaining they can only finish on 12 wins for the season with the eighth-ranked team already having 13 wins under their belt. The Giants remain last on 3-20.

John Dickson was the star of the night for Willetton finishing with 33 points, 17 rebounds, six assists, four blocks and two steals on the back of shooting 15-of-24 from the floor, and 2-of-3 from downtown.

Quinn McDowell also added 25 points and 13 rebounds for Willetton while Jacob Reed contributed 21 points and Hayden Noordhoek 12.

Adrian Majstrovich had his biggest game of the season since joining the Giants with 41 points, 12 rebounds and four assists on the back of shooting 15-of-29 from the floor and 4-of-8 from long range.

Russell Hurst added 22 points and 13 rebounds for Goldfields with Matthew Leske contributing 16 points and Miles Tierney 12.

The Redbacks continued their good form recording a massive 30-point win over the Slammers at home with Perth holding on to fourth position in the process with a 14-9 record.

South West, meanwhile, slipped down to ninth position on a 13-11 record.

Stan Okoye top-scored for the Redbacks with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two assists with Joel Wagner contributing 20 points, six boards and five assists, Lee Roberts 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Jarrad Jackson 15 points.

Trent Worthington top-scored for the Slammers with 21 points with Markus Monroe adding 17 points, Ty Harrelson 14 (nine rebounds, six assists) and Clive Weeden 11.

The Wolves scored a crucial win on Friday night over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns to stay in touch with the top eight and now they have returned to eighth position following Saturday's seven-point win over the Magic in Mandurah.

Joondalup has now improved to a 13-11 record to hold that eighth position ahead of the Slammers while the Magic sit in seventh only narrowly ahead on 13-10.

Seb Salinas had yet another massive night for the Wolves with 37 points, eight assists and seven rebounds.

Trian Iliadis contributed 22 points for the Wolves, Ephrem Davis 20 and Rob Huntington 14 to go with 13 rebounds.

Taylor Mullenax top-scored for the Magic with 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and three blocks with Ben Smith adding 26 points and 18 rebounds.

Paul Hafford added 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals with Rhett Della finishing with 14 points, five rebounds and two assists.

The Hawks are still unlikely finals aspirants but at least mathematically kept their hopes alive with a 21-point win over the out of contention Cougars.

Perry Lakes improved to a 10-13 record with the victory but still sit three games out of the eight with three games remaining in the season. Cockburn has now slipped to 9-15 in 11th position.

Justin Cecil led the way for the Hawks with 28 points with Ben Purser adding 25 points, Corey Easley 16 (11 rebounds, eight assists, three blocked shots) and Josh Garlepp 11 (nine boards).

Gavin Field top-scored for the Cougars with 18 points and eight rebounds with Jaarod Holmes adding 13 points, Rhys Vague 11 and Anthony Borden 10. Damien Scott had just three points and four assists.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks 88 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 78
Mandurah Magic 66 lost to Joondalup Wolves 81
Soprano Lady Cougars 73 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 49

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 96 lost to Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 101
Willetton Tigers 110 defeated Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 107
Perth Redbacks 111 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 81
Mandurah Magic 113 lost to Joondalup Wolves 120
Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 82 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 103

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene Maisey