THE men's SBL grand final rematch from last year took place on Saturday night in Geraldton with the Buccaneers gaining a measure of revenge on the undermanned Eagles recording a 10th straight victory while handing East Perth a 10th consecutive defeat.

The Goldfields Giants also won a second straight match with the South West Slammers' men beating the Willetton Tigers but the reverse happening in the women's action all as part of the Saturday night action in Week 8 of the 2015 SBL season.

The Saturday night women's SBL matches saw the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers beat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 84-75 at Willetton Basketball Stadium; the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves defeat the Mandurah Magic 73-54 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns down the Perth Redbacks 74-66 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Then in the five men's matches on Saturday night, it started with a grand final rematch with the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 106-89 at Active West Stadium.

The Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants also beat Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 110-102 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium with the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers beating the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 116-102 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves also downed the Mandurah Magic 128-87 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns won a thriller 102-99 over the Perth Redbacks at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The Saturday night's women's action began with the Tigers beating the Slammers by nine points at home to see Willetton back up its win on Friday over the Hawks to improve to an 8-1 record while South West slips to 5-5.

Louella Tomlinson had another monster night for the Tigers finishing with 28 points, 10 rebounds, four blocked shots, three steals and two assists while Zoe Harper added 19 points and 16 boards.

Kate Malpass also contributed 12 points for Willetton, Desiree Kelley nine points and Ebony Antonio five to go with 11 assists and six rebounds.

Kate Fielding top-scored for the Slammers with 20 points to go with four rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots.

Patricia Bright added 17 points for South West with Kelly Bastow also scoring 17 points and Deanica McCormick 12 points to go with nine assists and five boards.

The Wolves then beat the Magic by 19 points at home to record a seventh straight victory to improve to a 7-1 record against a Mandurah team that entered the round on top of the standings and coming off a win over the defending champion Rockingham Flames.

Nikita-Lee Martin led the way for the Lady Wolfpack off the bench with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists with Rebecca Mercer also not starting but adding 12 points, three boards, two assists and two steals.

Chelsea Burns also finished with 10 points and five rebounds for Joondalup City with Ellyce Ironmonger contributing seven points and 10 boards.

Casey Mihovilovich did all she could for the Magic finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds, four steals and two assists while Shelley Boston added 12 points and Ashlee Sidebottom 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

The last women's match of the weekend saw the Eastern Suns beat the Redbacks by eight points to consolidate their position in the top eight and to give them two wins for the weekend after also defeating the Lakeside Lightning on Friday night.

Natalia Soli'ai top-scored off the bench for the Suns with 16 points and four rebounds with Melissa Moyle adding 14 points and seven rebounds.

Thea Lemberger also had 13 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals for the Eastern Suns with Madeleine Dennis contributing 13 points, eight boards and three assists, and Jessie Edwards eight points and five rebounds.

Gaby Clayton tried hard for the Redbacks finishing with 22 points and eight rebounds with Jess Jakens adding 15 points and seven boards.

Meike Elkington contributed nine points and six rebounds, Lauren Hall eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocks, and Alix Hayward six points and 10 boards.

The Saturday night men's action began with a grand final rematch and it was the Buccaneers downing the defending champion Eagles by 17 points.

The result sees the Buccs having now won 10 straight matches to improve to a 10-1 record while the Eagles have now lost 10 in-a-row to be 1-10. Geraldton lost its first game of the season and hasn’t lost since while East Perth won its season opener, and hasn’t won since.

Bennie Lewis led the way for the Buccaneers with 30 points and seven assists while Aaron Ralph added 21 points and boards while hitting 5-of-7 from three-point territory.

Mat Wundenberg added 15 points, 26 rebounds and 10 assists in a massive triple-double for Geraldton while Carter Cook scored 13 points and Quincy Hankins-Cole 12.

Joe-Alan Tupaea top-scored for the Eagles with 19 points to go with five rebounds and four assists with Drew Williamson adding 18 points, Rhys Vague 17 and Sunday Dech 17 to go with 18 rebounds. Jamie Barnett also contributed 11 points and seven boards.

The Giants then made it consecutive wins to improve to a 2-8 record with an eight point over a Cougars team that now slips to a 5-6 record.

The Giants' three stars in Jacob Holmen, Jay Bowie and Mathiang Muo all had terrific nights as well in the victory.

Bowie top-scored on this occasion with 32 points to go with seven rebounds, six assists and three steals while Holmen added 28 points and 13 boards, and Muo 27 points and five rebounds.

Eric Millam tried tirelessly for the Cougars with 27 points and 11 rebounds with Gavin Field adding 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

Najee Lane contributed 13 points, seven boards, five steals and three assists, and Grant Davey 12 points and five assists.

The Slammers then beat the Tigers by 14 points at Willetton with South West improving to an 11-1 record to remain on top of the standings while the Tigers slip to 8-3 unable to back up their win over the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday night.

Tre Nicholls again top-scored for the Slammers with another 34 points, five rebounds and five assists while Brian Voelkel narrowly missed yet another triple-double finishing with 16 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists.

Clive Weeden added 22 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for South West with playing-coach Ty Harrelson finishing with 22 points, eight assists and seven boards, and Wade Hitchcock 17 points.

Nic Cody worked hard for the Tigers in the loss to the Slammers finishing with 25 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots on the back of shooting 8-of-11 from the floor.

Damien Scott added 15 points for Willetton, Corey Easley 14 points and 12 rebounds, Jake Burston 14 points, five assists and four boards, and Hayden Noordhoek 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Wolves recorded an emphatic 41-point victory over the Magic at Joondalup on Saturday night to improve to an 8-2 record while Mandurah's four-game winning run came to an end as the Magic fall to a 7-4 record.

The Wolves remarkably had seven players all scoring in double-figures led by Trian Iliadis finishing with 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Kevin Davis added 18 points and 12 rebounds, Damian Matacz 18 points and nine boards, Seb Salinas 18 points, five rebounds and four assists, Ben Ironmonger 14 points and four assists, Rob Huntington 13 points and five boards, and Sean Easther 10 points.

Paul Hafford top-scored for the Magic with 18 points and eight rebounds with Daniel Florance adding 14 points and eight boards, Ben Smith 16 points and six rebounds, and Jarrad Jackson 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The final match of the weekend saw the thriller of the night with the Eastern Suns beating the Redbacks at home by three points.

Coming off a 23-point loss to the Lakeside Lightning on Friday, Kalamunda bounced back to beat Perth and improve to a 2-9 record while Perth slips to 4-7.

Lien Phillip put in another outstanding performance for the Suns finishing with 31 points, 16 rebounds and six assists on the back of shooting 13-of-21 from the field, and 2-of-3 from downtown.

Kevin Anthony had a good night for Kalamunda with 26 points and six boards while Seva Chan added 14 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Jaarod Holmes 12 points, six boards and two blocked shots.

Ray Turner did all he could to try and lift the Redbacks over the line finishing with 39 points, 19 rebounds and three blocked shots.

Dennis Tawhiti added 21 points and 10 rebounds for Perth off the bench with Joel Wagner adding 18 points and seven assists, and Adam Johnston 11 points.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 84 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 75
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 73 defeated Mandurah Magic 54
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 74 defeated Perth Redbacks 66

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 106 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 89
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 110 defeated Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 102
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 102 lost to Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 116
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 128 defeated Mandurah Magic 87
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 102 defeated Perth Redbacks 99

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin