THE Joondalup Wolves men's and women's SBL teams sent a real message beating the South West Slammers by a combined 97 points on Saturday night but they were far from the only standouts in Week 1 action.

After the 2016 SBL season began on Friday night with three women's and men's contests, it was a big night of action on Saturday with some results that help paint a clearer picture of who the real contenders for the year might pan out to be.

In the three women's contests, the Perth Redbacks beat the Cockburn Cougars 67-56, the Willetton Tigers downed the Rockingham Flames 83-54 and the Joondalup Wolves thumped the South West Slammers 75-36.

There were then five men's contests starting with the Perry Lakes Hawks defeating the Goldfields Giants 116-85 and the Mandurah Magic winning a thriller 104-102 over the Geraldton Buccaneers at their adopted home of Rockingham's Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The Joondalup Wolves also beat the South West Slammers emphatically 117-59 while the Cockburn Cougars downed the Perth Redbacks 112-89 and the Rockingham Flames defeated the Willetton Tigers 106-100.

Starting with the women's action, there was a 2015 grand final rematch at Willetton Basketball Stadium between the Tigers and Flames.

With both teams missing their WNBL stars from the grand final series that wrapped up with the Townsville Fire beating the Perth Lynx on Friday night, it was Willetton who got a measure of revenge over Rockingham winning by 29 points.

The Tigers had also beaten the East Perth Eagles by 15 points on Friday night while the Flames were making their first appearance of 2016, and the home team held the visitors to just 14 points between the second and third quarters to set up the victory.

After starring also on Friday, Ebony Antonio and Kate Malpass were outstanding for the Tigers. Antonio finished with 26 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and 6-of-10 from downtown. Malpass had 25 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Lara Napier contributed 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals off the bench for Willetton with Desiree Kelley also having eight points and 10 boards, and Zoe Harper seven points, four blocked shots and three rebounds.

Jacinta Bourne did line-up for the Flames and top-scored with 17 points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists. Lizel Buckley contributed 10 points and seven rebounds, Tarsha Fletcher 10 points and five boards, and Rhianna Kilsura seven points and seven rebounds.

Then at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre, the Redbacks backed up their opening night win over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns by beating the Cougars by 11 points at home.

Despite only scoring 22 points the entire second half, Perth had done enough in the first half leading 45-21 at the break to still end up winning by double-digits.

Lisa Wallbutton top-scored for the Redbacks with 16 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two blocks with Jess Jakens adding 15 points and nine boards.

Rebecca Mercer contributed 10 points for Perth, Ajay Jones nine (five assists, four rebounds, three steals), and Ashley Gilmore six points, six boards and three steals.

Cockburn captain Chelsea Evans impressed with 18 points and five rebounds while shooting 7-of-14 from the field, and 4-of-9 from deep.

Thornton Cherridy added 14 points and six boards for the Cougars, and Kirsty Pitcher seven points and six rebounds.

And at Eaton Recreation Centre, the Lady Wolfpack proved far too strong for the Slammers. They set the tone in the first quarter with 32 points to 10. Another 22 points to 10 and they led 54-20 at half-time and it was cruise control in the second half on the way to the 39-point victory.

Nikita-Lee Martin led the way for the Wolves with 23 points and 11 rebounds shooting 8-of-10 from the floor, and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Amy Kidner contributed 16 points, nine boards, five assists and three steals for Joondalup while Chelsea Belcher scored eight points and Ellyce Ironmonger added eight points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Dena English top-scored for the Slammers with 12 points while Catherine Waycott had eight points and nine rebounds off the bench.

And on to the men's action on Saturday night, the Giants began their season at home hosting the Hawks but it wasn’t an opener to 2016 they hoped with Perry Lakes taking away a 31-point win.

Bryton Hobbs was the star of the second half of 2015 leading the Hawks into the playoffs and he started 2016 impressively with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

It was a strong, even contribution behind Perry Lakes' win, though, with Ryan Smith contributing 17 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Josh Garlepp 17 points and four boards, Rob Cassir 13 points, seven assists and five steals, Ben Purser 13 points and 12 boards, and Jordan Hickert 13 points.

Jacob Holmen top-scored for Goldfields with 24 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots with Kenny Maniqualt adding 22 points, eight boards, six steals and five assists but eight turnovers as well.

The Buccaneers opened their season on the road and it was a thriller at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, with the Magic prevailing by two points in an overtime beauty.

Mandurah got off to a flying start with 38 points to 24 in the opening period and led 61-40 at the half. But Geraldton turned that around in the second half with 52 points to 31 to force overtime, where the home team got over the line by two.

Captain, and newly classified local, Taylor Mullenax starred for the Magic with 30 points and 14 rebounds. New Mandurah import added 16 points and nine rebounds while Ben Smith had a big impact with 18 points and 15 boards.

The returning Tom Remmerswaal continued the Magic's strong presence inside with 15 points and five rebounds in his first game back at the club after a stint with the Rockingham Flames.

New Buccs import Maurice Barrow made an exciting debut with 30 points and 14 rebounds while a man with NBL experience, Matthew Adekponya showed he could help cover the production of Bennie Lewis with 25 points, six boards and three steals.

Aaron Ralph scored 21 points and pulled in nine rebounds off the bench for the Buccaneers while Carter Cook contributed 18 points and five boards. Mat Wundenberg's absence was felt inside against the Magic's bigs.

The Redbacks played their home opener at Belmont Oasis and couldn’t back up their win on the road to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Friday, with the Cockburn Cougars opening their 2016 with a 23-point win.

It was a tired Perth outfit come the second half after playing the night before, with a fresh Cockburn taking full advantage outscoring the home team 60 to 37 after half-time.

Captain Gavin Field started strongly for the Cougars with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists while shooting 10-of-20 from the field, and 4-of-10 from three-point land.

Najee Lane added 21 points, eight boards and six steals as well for Cockburn with Rhett Della making his debut at his new club with 18 points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

Jourdan DeMuynck top-scored with the Redbacks with 28 points while Joel Wagner had 13 points and nine rebounds, Ben Smith 12 points and Reed McConnell 11 points.

The Willetton Tigers weren’t able to back up their road win over the East Perth Eagles on Friday, with the Rockingham Flames beating them by six points at Willetton Basketball Stadium on the back of a 25-point to 15 third period.

Cooper Land started off the 2016 season in usual fashion for the Flames leading them with 34 points, 15 rebounds and three blocked shots while shooting 12-of-20 from the field.

Ryan Godfrey contributed 23 points for Rockingham, Chudier Pal 18 points and 13 boards, Nebojsha Franich 10 points and five rebounds, and Jarryd Griffin 10 points and six boards.

Kyle Armour did all he could to try and get Willetton over the line with 35 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Damien Scott also had 22 points and six assists, Josh Johnson 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Jay Bowie 10 points and four steals.

And finally in a rematch of last year's grand final, the Wolves could not have been possibly been more emphatic beating the Slammers by 58 points at Eaton Recreation Centre.

It was the evenness of the team performance that was most impressive from the Wolfpack as well with Rob Huntington top-scoring with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Seb Salinas added 18 points and five rebounds, Kevin Davis 18 points and 10 boards, Bobby Evans 15 points and 14 rebounds, Damian Matacz 11 points and eight boards, and Ben Ironmonger 10 points.

Tre Nichols top-scored for the Slammers with 21 points but did have nine turnovers. Royal Crouch added 16 points and nine rebounds while Trent Worthington pulled in 19 boards to go with five points and two assists.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks 67 defeated Cockburn Cougars 56
Willetton Tigers 83 defeated Rockingham Flames 54
South West Slammers 36 lost to Joondalup Wolves 75

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Goldfields Giants 85 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 116
Mandurah Magic 104 defeated Geraldton Buccaneers 102
South West Slammers 59 lost to Joondalup Wolves 117
Perth Redbacks 89 lost to Cockburn Cougars 112
Willetton Tigers 100 lost to Rockingham Flames 106

Article by Chris Pike