Lady Hawks suffer first loss; men record first win (Week 3 Saturday night SBL wrap)

THE Mandurah Magic women remained unbeaten so far in 2015 after beating Perry Lakes in Saturday night's action while the Hawks men got their first win on the board winning a one-point thriller over the Magic.

There were three women's matches on Saturday night with the Mandurah Magic beating the Perry Lakes Hawks 79-72 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, the Cockburn Cougars downing the East Perth Eagles 74-65 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the South West Slammers defeating the Stirling Senators 71-62 at Warwick Leisure Centre.

It was then a jam packed night of men's action with five matches beginning with the Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Lakeside Lightning 117-105 at Active West Stadium and the Joondalup Wolves downing the Goldfields Giants 111-101 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Perry Lakes Hawks then won the thriller of the night beating the Mandurah Magic 91-90 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre while the Cockburn Cougars beat the East Perth 110-94 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the South West Slammers defeated the Stirling Senators 130-116 at Warwick Leisure Centre.

In women's action, the Cougars bounced back from losing to the Willetton Tigers on Friday night to beat the Eagles by nine points with East Perth's losing streak now extending to 21 matches.

Playing-coach Deanna Smith once led the way for the Cougars coming off two successive Player of the Week awards with another 23 points, nine rebounds and four assists off the bench.

However, she received plenty of support with Katie Loberg contributing 21 points and 11 rebounds, Taryn Priestly 13 points and Kristen Everard eight points, six boards and four assists.

Nicole Jorre St Jorre again did all she could for the Eagles finishing with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists with Stephanie Jones adding 15 points and eight boards.

The Slammers won their third straight match to open the new season beating the Senators by nine points at Warwick on the back of a 42 to 28 second half.

Deanica McCormick was again the star of the night for the Slammers finishing with 22 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Kate Fielding had her best game of the season as well for South West with 16 points, six boards and three assists despite shooting 5-of-21 from the field.

Patricia Bright made a good contribution with 12 points, 11 boards and four blocked shots.

Amber Land had a massive game for the Senators with 29 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 9-of-27 from the floor but 10-of-13 from the free-throw line.

In the battle of the two unbeaten teams, it was the Magic who kept their streak going to open the 2015 season with a seven-point victory over the Hawks in Mandurah.

Casey Mihovilovich had a tremendous night for the Magic leading the way with 30 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists while shooting 8-of-17 from the floor, 4-of-10 from three-point territory and 10-of-11 from the field.

Briana Klasztorny also finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists for Mandurah with Ashlee Sidebottom adding 11 points, three boards, three assists and two steals.

Kassi Conditt worked hard for the Hawks with 20 points and four rebounds with Lucy Stewart adding 12 points off the bench and Danika Pisconeri contributing six points, six boards and five assists.

And then in the men's contests on Saturday night, the Buccaneers continued their hot form with a 12-point victory over the Lightning at home.

Bennie Lewis led the way for the Buccs with 30 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots while Carter Cook wasn’t far behind adding 29 points, five boards, three steals and two blocks.

Aaron Ralph contributed 14 points and nine rebounds as well with Daniel Thomas adding 10 points and three assists off the bench.

Jordan Swing did all he could to spark the Lightning with 38 points and 14 rebounds which included him hitting 4-of-9 from three-point territory.

Luke Thomas also had 20 points and seven rebounds for Lakeside while Tom Parkinson finished with 16 points and six boards, Corey Martin 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks, and Jesse Dixon 11 points.

The Giants then put up a strong showing against the Wolves in Kalgoorlie but ultimately Joondalup won its third straight match to start the season to the tune of 10 points.

Trian Iliadis led the way for the Wolves finishing with31 points, eight assists, five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

Kevin Davis had another double-double for Joondalup with 28 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two assists as well with Seb Salinas having his biggest performance of the new season with 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals.

Rob Huntington also had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Wolfpack.

Mathiang Muo made a big contribution with the Giants in his first SBL appearance of the new season coming off playing in East Perth's championship victory in 2014.

He delivered 31 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and three steals while shooting 12-of-23 from the floor and 6-of-9 from downtown in an impressive display.

Jacob Holmen also added 25 points, nine rebounds and three assists for Goldfields with Jay Bowie finishing with 13 points, six boards and six assists, and Rob Hurst 11 points and five rebounds.

The Eagles' championship defence continued to get off to a slow start with another loss this time at the hands of the surprising Cougars who are making an impressive opening to the new season despite losing some key players over the summer

Cockburn backed up from losing a thriller by two points to Willetton on Friday night by beating East Perth by 16 points on Saturday thanks to a dominant first three periods.

Eric Milam, Gavin Field and Najee Lane were all outstanding for the Cougars in setting up the victory.

Milam delivered 29 points and seven rebounds with Field adding 26 points, nine rebounds, seven blocked shots and six assists, and Lane 22 points, 17 rebounds, nine assists and three steals.

Between the trio they also shot an impressive 30-of-54 from the field. Sheldon McIntyre also did well contributing four points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Drew Williamson put in a big performance in the loss for the Eagles with 25 points on the back of shooting 7-of-9 from the field, 2-of-2 from downtown and 9-of-11 from the foul line.

Sunday Dech also delivered 24 points for East Perth, Jamie Barnett 15, Rhys Vague 13 (nine rebounds) and Brighton Pass 12 (six rebounds, three assists and two steals).

The Slammers and Senators played out the high-scoring attacking affair of the night at Warwick and it was South West who remained unbeaten so far in 2015 by recording the 14-point victory in a game that featured 246 points between the two teams.

Clive Weeden top-scored for the Slammers with 34 points but it was the fact that four South West players all had big nights that was the key to the victory.

Tre Nichols contributed 32 points as well while playing-coach Ty Harrellson also had 23 points, nine assists and five rebounds with Brian Voelkel almost delivering another triple-double finishing with 11 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists.

Jordan Hickert also had nine points for the Slammers, Mitchell Keller eight and Trent Worthington eight.

Cody Ellis led the way for the Senators with 26 points, nine rebounds and four assists with Kyle Lindbergh adding 23 points, seven boards and four assists. Ryan Woodbury also finished with 20 points for Stirling and Austin Bruton 17.

And finally, the Hawks opened their account for 2015 after losing the first three matches with a thrilling one-point win over the Magic in Mandurah.

Bryton Hobbs delivered his best performance of his SBL career to date for the Hawks finishing with 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists even if he did shoot just 8-of-27 from the floor, 4-of-13 from downtown and 10-of-19 from the charity stripe.

Ben Purser also delivered 20 points, 12 rebounds and four assists for Perry Lakes with James Elliott contributing 10 points and four boards.

Taylor Mullenax delivered a good performance for the Magic with 21 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals while shooting 8-of-16 from the field.

Jarrad Jackson also contributed 16 points, seven assists and five rebounds for Mandurah with Ben Smith finishing with 14 points, 13 rebounds and three assists.

Daniel Florance also had 12 points, five boards and four assists for the Magic with Rhett Della contributing 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 79 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 72
Cockburn Cougars 74 defeated East Perth Eagles 65
Stirling Senators 62 lost to South West Slammers 71

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Geraldton Buccaneers 117 defeated Lakeside Lightning 105
Goldfields Giants 101 lost to Joondalup Wolves 111
Mandurah Magic 90 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 91
Cockburn Cougars 110 defeated East Perth Eagles 94
Stirling Senators 116 lost to South West Slammers 130

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin




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