THERE were some exciting SBL matches across Perth on Friday night including 50 points from Ray Tucker wasn’t enough for the Perth Redbacks men while the Willetton Tigers women scored a fifth straight win to set up their clash on Saturday with the Rockingham Flames.

The four women's SBL matches on Friday night saw the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars beat the Perth Redbacks 79-73 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Kalamunda Eastern Suns down the Perry Lakes Hawks 68-63 at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The Mandurah Magic then won another thriller 76-75 over the Lakeside Lightning at Lakeside Recreation Centre and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers scored a big 85-46 win over the Stirling Senators at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

In the four men's SBL matches on Friday night, the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars defeated the Perth Redbacks 121-114 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Perry Lakes Hawks beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 115-103 at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The Mandurah Magic then also downed the Lakeside Lightning 117-101 at Lakeside Recreation Centre and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers downed the Bethanie Stirling Senators 96-91 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

In the women's contests, the Cougars had a slow start against the Redbacks trailing by eight points at quarter-time and still three at half-time, but scored 46 to 37 in the second half to end up winning by six points at home.

The win improves Cockburn to a 6-7 record while Perth has now lost six straight to be 2-9.

Katie Loberg put together a stunning and dominant performance finishing with 36 points and seven rebounds on the back of shooting 16-of-20 from the field for the Cougars.

Playing-coach Deanna Smith also had 28 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals for Cockburn with Taryn Priestly adding seven points and five assists.

Meike Elkington led the way for the Redbacks with 23 points, four steals, three rebounds and three assists while Gabby O'Sullivan made an impact off the bench with 12 points, five assists and two rebounds while playing almost 36 minutes of court time.

Gaby Clayton added 11 points for Perth and Jess Jakens 10 to go with six rebounds and three assists. Alix Hayward added 10 points, three boards and two assists.

The Suns only scored 20 points in the second half against 36 from the Hawks, but Kalamunda's 21-point half-time lead was enough to see them hold on and still win by five points.

Abbey Duinker led the way for the Eastern Suns with 24 points, 14 rebounds and four assists while shooting 10-of-15 from the floor, 1-of-1 from three-point land and 3-of-3 from the charity stripe.

Melissa Moyle contributed 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals as well for Kalamunda while Thea Lemberger finished with 13 points, seven assists and five boards.

Natalia Soli'ai added eight points, five boards, three assists and three steals off the bench as well for Kalamunda with Jessie Edwards ending the night with five points, nine boards and a stunning seven blocks.

Sarah Donovan top-scored for the Hawks off the bench with 14 points to go with seven rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.

Kassi Conditt added 12 points, four boards, two assists, two steals and two blocks as well for Perry Lakes with Danika Pisconeri finishing the night with 11 points and 10 boards, and Lauren Jeffers with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists.

For the second time this season, the Magic escaped with a narrow win over the Lightning this time by one solitary point with Lakeside narrowly missing make it successive wins following their first victory of the season last Saturday night over the Perth Redbacks.

Ashlee Sidebottom had a tremendous night for the Magic finishing with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists while shooting 10-of-17 from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.

Casey Mihovilovich added 22 points, six boards, six assists and five steals in another outstanding performance for Mandurah as well with Emma Klasztorny contributing five points and eight boards off the bench.

Ashleigh Grant again top-scored for the Lightning with another 18 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals with Megan Craig contributing 17 points and eight boards.

Amanda Pether added 14 points off the bench while Tia Ucich also finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Willetton ended up beating Stirling to see the Tigers score a fifth straight win to improve to a 10-1 record ahead of their top-of-the-table clash with the Rockingham Flames on Friday night.

Lisa Wallbutton finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists off the bench for Willetton with Louella Tomlinson adding 16 points, five assists, four boards and two blocked shots. Both of them shot for a combined 15-of-22 from the field as well in impressive performances.

Kate Malpass added 10 points and six rebounds as well for the Tigers while Emma Gandini contributed seven points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals off the bench.

Amber Land top-scored for the Senators with 15 points and six rebounds while Tegan Walker finished with 10 points, eight boards and two assists. Bridget Henderson contributed six points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Then in the men's Saturday night matches, the Cougars and Redbacks played out a high-scoring thriller at Wally Hagan Stadium and it was the home team who ended up recording the seven-point victory.

Gavin Field led the way for the Cougars with 37 points and 11 rebounds on the back of shooting 6-of-11 from three-point territory.

Najee Lane added 25 points and 12 boards while Eric Milam finished with 24 points, Grant Davey 15 and Steven Van Lit 12.

Ray Turner scored a massive 50 points for the Redbacks to go with 12 rebounds on the back of shooting 17-of-22 from the field and 15-of-19 from the charity stripe. Marshall Brown added 15 points and Ben Smith 14. Joel Wagner added nine points, eight assists, three boards and two steals.

The Hawks put some distance between them and the Suns during the second and third quarters with 58 points to 40, and that was enough to set up the eventual 12-point victory.

Bryton Hobbs led the way for Perry Lakes with a terrific performance finishing with 43 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Ben Purser added 19 points, nine assists, seven boards and three steals.

Josh Garlepp also had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists for the hawks and Ryan Smith scored 12 points, Ben Dixon 11 and Mike Krumel eight to go with 11 boards.

Lien Phillip top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 29 points and 18 rebounds with Kevin Anthony contributing 28 points, three boards, two steals and two blocked shots.

Jaarod Holmes also finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots while Seva Chan contributed nine points, seven assists, five boards and two steals.

The Magic started on-fire with a 40-point first quarter against the Lightning at Lakeside on Friday night, and despite the home team fighting hard to come back, it was Mandurah who went on to record the 16-point victory.

Rhett Della finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 12-of-21 from the floor for the Magic with Paul Hafford adding 26 points, six boards, six assists and two steals while hitting 9-of-18 from the field, and 4-of-12 from beyond the arc.

Ben Smith contributed 19 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals as well for Mandurah while Jarrad Jackson finished with 15 points, four boards and four assists, and Taylor Mullenax 15 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots.

Jordan Swing put in another strong performance with a triple-double for the Lightning with 29 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals even if he did shoot just 8-of-27 from the field, and 1-of-9 from three-point territory.

Luke Thomas added 25 points and nine boards as well for Lakeside while Brad Jackson scored 12 points and Corey Martin 10 to go with six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Jarrad Prue contributed nine points and nine boards.

Little separated the Tigers and Senators all night with Stirling starting well, Willetton hitting back in the second quarter and then it was a tight contest in the second half. However, it was the Tigers who held on for the five-point victory in the finish.

Nic Cody led the way for Willetton with 24 points, 10 rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocked shots while Corey Easley contributed 17 points, seven boards and three blocked shots off the bench.

Damien Scott scored 12 points to go with six rebounds, three assists and two steals with Hayden Noordhoek adding 11 points and Ephrem Davis nine to go with seven boards.

Ryan Woodbury top-scored for the Senators with 19 points and five rebounds with Austin Bruton contributing 17 points.

Kyle Lindbergh added a near triple-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and nine assists while Ashley Litterick added 11 points and six boards, and Jordan Wild finished the night with 11 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 79 defeated Perth Redbacks 73
Perry Lakes Hawks 63 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 68
Lakeside Lightning 75 lost to Mandurah Magic 76
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 85 defeated Stirling Senators 46

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 121 defeated Perth Redbacks 114
Perry Lakes Hawks 115 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 103
Lakeside Lightning 101 lost to Mandurah Magic 117
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 96 defeated Bethanie Stirling Senators 91

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Clare Chappell