IT WAS the final night of the SBL regular season for 2015 with top spot in the women's competition was still up for grabs and even though Willetton beat Rockingham, the four-point winning margin wasn’t enough for the Tigers to unseat the Flames for the minor premiership.

The Tigers needed to beat the Flames by five points or more at home on Saturday night, but in the end they won by four points to mean that they will take confidence out of beating the defending champions, but not by claiming the minor premiership.

There were four women's matches on Saturday night to close the regular season but all attention was on the battle for top spot with the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers beating the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 67-63 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Mandurah Magic also defeated the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 72-58 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves downed the Schweigen East Perth Eagles 59-43 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre while the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers prevailed over the Perth Redbacks 73-62 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

That means now that the top eight finished as the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (20-2), Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (20-2), Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (18-4), Mandurah Magic (15-7), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (12-10), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (10-12), Perry Lakes Hawks (10-12) and Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars (9-13).

That means that the quarter-final matches are the Flames against Cougars; Tigers against Hawks; Wolves against Slammers; and Magic against Eastern Suns.

The season is now over for the Schweigen East Perth Eagles (8-14), Perth Redbacks (5-17), Stirling Senators (4-18) and Lakeside Lightning (1-21).

It was a big night of men's action to close out the regular season starting with the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Bethanie Stirling Senators 128-105 at Active West Stadium, and the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants downing the Lakeside Lightning 99-92 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Perth Redbacks defeated the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 115-102 at Eaton Recreation Centre while the Mandurah Magic downed the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 132-114 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves also beat the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 124-99 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeated the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 96-83 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

That means that the final placings in the top eight in the men's competition were the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (23-3), S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers (20-6), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (17-9), Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars (17-9), Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames (15-11), Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (14-12), Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (14-12) and Perry Lakes Hawks (12-14).

That sets up the playoff battles between the Wolves and Hawks; Buccaneers and Giants; Slammers and Tigers; and Cougars and Flames.

Meanwhile, the season is over for the Mandurah Magic (12-14), Bethanie Stirling Senators (10-16), Perth Redbacks (10-16), Lakeside Lightning (9-17), Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (7-19) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (2-24).

The women's matches on Saturday saw the Slammers lock away sixth spot to set up a quarter-final match up with the Wolves by beating the Redbacks by 11 points at home.

Patricia Bright led the way for the Slammers with 16 points, 12 rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals with Bianca Donovan contributing 14 points, Kate Fielding 14 (12 rebounds, five assists) and Deonica McCormick 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.

Jess Jakens ended up top-scoring for the Redbacks with 19 points while Meike Elkington added 15 points and six rebounds, and Alix Hayward 10 point and eight boards.

The Magic and Suns then prepared for their upcoming battle against one another in a dead rubber that saw Mandurah win by 14 points at home on Saturday night.

Emma Klasztorny top-scored for the Magic without Casey Mihovilovich, finishing with 22 points, 10 rebounds and three assists while shooting 9-of-15 from the field.

Peyton Davis added 16 points, 13 rebounds and three steals as well for Mandurah with Ashlee Sidebottom contributing 12 points and Briana Klasztorny nine to go with five boards, five steals and three assists.

Melissa Moyle led the way for the Eastern Suns with 15 points with Abbey Duinker adding 13 points and seven rebounds, and Jessie Edwards 11 points and four boards.

The Tigers then scored a confidence boosting four-point win over the Flames and while that could give them something to call upon in a potential grand final clash, it wasn’t enough for the minor premiership.

Ebony Antonio ended up top-scoring for the Tigers with 15 points and nine rebounds with Desiree Kelley contributing 14 points, six boards, four assists and three steals, Zoe Harper 14 points and seven rebounds, and Kate Malpass 12 points, five assists and three boards.

Sami Whitcomb still played 37 minutes and had 23 points, 10 rebounds and five steals for the Flames with Darcee Garbin contributing 16 points and nine boards, and Jacinta Bourne 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

The Wolves then got ready to attack the playoffs from third position beating a vastly-improved Eagles team by 16 points at Morley on Saturday night.

Nikita-Lee Martin ended up with 16 points and four rebounds for Joondalup with Shani Amos contributing 11 points, seven boards and three assists, Casey Lockwood nine points and eight rebounds, and Ellyce Ironmonger eight points and 15 boards.

No East Perth player was able to score in double-figures with Kelsey Maffin top-scoring with eight points with Denielle Lipscombe adding seven and Nicole Jorre St Jorre six to go with six rebounds.

Then in the men's action, the Buccaneers geared up for their playoff battle with the Giants with a 23-point win over a dangerous Stirling team.

The win means the Buccs finish the season in second spot at 20-6 while the Senators will feel they've underachieved to miss the playoffs at 10-16.

Carter Cook had a standout night for the Buccaneers with 35 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 13-of-19 from the floor.

Bennie Lewis added 23 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Geraldton as well with Aaron Ralph finishing with 16 points and Mat Wundenberg 15 to go with 14 rebounds and seven assists.

Cody Ellis top-scored for the Senators to finish the season with 22 points, five assists and four rebounds while Caleb Davis had 20 points, nine boards and four assists.

Austin Bruton added 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots for Stirling as well with Nikolas Iliadis contributing 19 points and Josh Throns 11.

The Giants continued their impressive form heading to the playoffs for the first time in three years scoring a fourth straight win beating the Lightning at home by seven points with Lakeside ending the season in disappointing fashion with seven straight losses.

Jacob Holmen was the star of the night for the Giants with 36 points and 11 rebounds on the back of shooting 15-of-26 from the field.

Mathiang Muo added 24 points as well for Goldfields nailing 4-of-6 from downtown with Jay Bowie contributing 12 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Brad Jackson top-scored for the Lightning with 19 points while Jordan Swing finished with 17 points, Luke Thomas 14 points and eight rebounds, Jesse Dixon 12 points and Corey Martin 12 points, seven boards, four assists and three steals.

The Redbacks will also feel they have underachieved to miss the playoffs in 2015 but they finished in a high with a strong 13-point win at home over a Slammers team heading for the playoffs from third position.

Ray Turner ensured he will be right in the MVP mix for 2015 with 38 points, 20 rebounds and five assists to close the season for the Redbacks while shooting 17-of-22 from the field.

Raphiael Putney also finished with 31 points and 11 boards for Perth with Ben Smith contributing 17 points, Marshall Nelson 12 (seven rebounds) and Joel Wagner nine to go with nine assists and seven boards.

Tre Nichols top-scored for the Slammers with 45 points on the back of hitting 15-of-28 from the floor and 8-of-13 from three-point territory.

Jordan Hickert added 21 points and 12 rebounds for South West, Wade Hitchcock 14 points and five boards, and Brian Voelkel eight points, eight rebounds and six assists.

The Magic and Suns did battle on Saturday with nothing but pride at stake with both out of the playoff race and Mandurah finished the season with an 18-point win to end their seven-game losing run while Kalamunda finishes the year having lost its last 15 matches.

Paul Hafford finished the season in style for the Magic with 24 points, six rebounds and five assists while hitting 9-of-17 from the field, and 6-of-13 from beyond the arc.

Ben Smith contributed 20 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks for Mandurah while Rhett Della added 18 points, five boards, five steals and here assists, Jarrad Jackson 14 points, Daniel Florance 14 points and 12 rebounds, Brendan Della 12 points and six assists, and Taylor Mullenax 12 points and six rebounds.

Jaarod Holmes did all he could for the Eastern Suns finishing with 27 points, 18 rebounds and five assists but Kevin Anthony was unstoppable ending the season with 40 points, six boards and three assists.

Geordie Murray also had 17 points for the Suns, Ryan Blanchett nine points, Andrew Dunnell eight and James Pado eight to go with eight rebounds and three assists.

The minor premier Wolves then geared up for the playoffs with a 25-point win over the defending champion Eagles who finished their title defence with five straight losses and in second last place with a 7-19 record.

Kevin Davis top-scored for the Wolfpack with 25 points and eight rebounds while hitting 9-of-11 from the field.

Trian Iliadis added 21 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals as well for the Wolves hitting 8-of-11 from the floor and 3-of-4 from three-point territory.

Rob Huntington also finished with 19 points for Joondalup, Jordan Wellsteed 16 and Seb Salinas 12.

Captain Drew Williamson finished on a high for the Eagles with 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists with Andrej Donlagic adding 17 points, Rhys Vague 15, Brighton Pass 13 and Jared Zornada eight to go with 12 rebounds.

The Tigers then won their second straight game to finish the season and to take some confidence into their quarter-final match up with the Slammers by beating the fifth placed Flames by 13 points at Willetton.

Damien Scott led the way for the Tigers with 28 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals with Kyle Armour adding 16 points, five boards and three assists, and Corey Easley 13 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Ephrem Davis also contributed 12 points and 21 rebounds for Willetton, Nic Cody 11 points and Mitch Clarke 11 points along with five rebounds and four assists.

Cooper Land led the way for the Flames with 24 points and 15 rebounds with Taylor Land adding 21 points and eight boards, Andrew Bowman 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Ryan Godfrey 12 points.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 73 defeated Perth Redbacks 62
Mandurah Magic 72 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 58
Schweigen East Perth Eagles 43 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 59
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 67 defeated Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 63

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 128 defeated Bethanie Stirling Senators 105
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 99 defeated Lakeside Lightning 92
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 102 lost to Perth Redbacks 115
Mandurah Magic 132 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 114
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 99 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 124
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 96 defeated Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 83

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Clare Chappell