Week 1 Men's SBL Wrap
A COUPLE of veterans were back to their best, some new imports made their mark and another from last year started 2016 on fire as just some of the standout performances in Week 1 of the Men's SBL season.
Cooper Land proved that he could be back to his 2014 MVP winning form with the Rockingham Flames while Taylor Mullenax also impressed again with the Mandurah Magic.
Bryton Hobbs started off 2016 with the form he ended 2015 with for the Perry Lakes Hawks while Jourdan DeMuynck (Perth Redbacks) and Maurice Barrow (Goldfields Giants) had a big impact in their first appearances in the SBL.
They were just some of the standout performers of the opening weekend that saw the Willetton Tigers, Perth Redbacks, Lakeside Lightning and Geraldton Buccaneers all go 1-1.
The Rockingham Flames, Perry Lakes Hawks, Mandurah Magic, Joondalup Wolves and Cockburn Cougars won their only game of the weekend with the East Perth Eagles, Stirling Senators, Goldfields Giants, South West Slammers and Kalamunda Eastern Suns losing their only match.
The action began with three matches on Friday with the Willetton Tigers beating the East Perth Eagles 90-82, the Perth Redbacks defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 123-112 and the Lakeside Lightning downing the Stirling Senators 101-98.
Then on Saturday night, it began with the Mandurah Magic beating the Geraldton Buccaneers in overtime 104-102 and the Perry Lakes Hawks topping the Goldfields Giants 116-85.
The Cockburn Cougars then downed the Perth Redbacks 112-89, the Rockingham Flames beat the Willetton Tigers 106-100 and the Joondalup Wolves thumped the South West Slammers 117-59.
And finally on Sunday, the Geraldton Buccaneers beat the Lakeside Lightning 124-103.
The Men's Team of the Week for the round was made up of Hobbs, DeMuynck, Barrow, Land and Mullenax with Land named Player of the Week.
Land led the Flames to a season-opening win over the Tigers with 34 points, 15 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists on the back of shooting 12-of-20 from the floor and 10-of-11 from the line.
Hobbs began 2016 with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals on Saturday against the Giants.
DeMuynck had a stunning debut for the Redbacks in a win over the Eastern Suns on Friday with 49 points and 11 rebounds on 18-of-28 shooting from the field, 4-of-8 from downtown and 9-of-12 from the free-throw line.
He then had 28 points and five rebounds in the loss to the Cougars on Saturday.
Barrow made his SBL debut in the loss to Mandurah on Saturday but he impressed with 30 points and 14 rebounds, while shooting 13-of-25 from the floor. He then added 31 points and 11 rebounds on Sunday in the win over the Lightning.
Mullenax played his first game with the Magic as a local in the overtime win over the Buccs on Saturday and he had 30 points and 14 rebounds.
There were a host of other standout performances as well starting on Friday night in a thriller between the Lightning and Senators.
Lakeside prevailed by three points led by 24 points, 12 rebounds and three steals from new import TJ Hallice. He also had 16 points and 12 rebounds on Sunday.
Fellow new Lightning import Daniel Alexander had 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots on Friday, and then 31 points, eight rebounds and four assists on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Tom Parkinson had 20 points and four rebounds on Friday against the Senators and 26 points and eight boards against the Buccs.
Cody Ellis led the Senators with 24 points and seven rebounds following his strong finish to the NBL season with the Illawarra Hawks. AJ Majstrovich also had 23 points and seven boards for Stirling.
Mullenax received plenty of help for Mandurah particularly from the fellow big men with Ben Smith adding 18 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots, Trevor Setty 16 points and nine boards, and the returning Tom Remmerswaal 15 points and five rebounds.
The depth of the Buccs, meanwhile, was on show with Matthew Adekponya impressing with 25 points, six rebounds and three steals on Saturday night, and then 33 points and 10 boards on Sunday.
Aaron Ralph contributed 21 points and nine rebounds on Saturday, and 24 points and nine boards on Sunday afternoon with Carter Cook adding 18 points and five boards on Saturday and 15 points, five assists and four rebounds on Sunday.
DeMuynck wasn’t the only player for the Redbacks to impress across the weekend with Reed McConnell adding 30 points and nine rebounds on Friday, and 11 points on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Lewis Thomas had 17 points, 20 rebounds and three blocks on Friday, and nine points and 14 rebounds on Saturday. Joel Wagner had eight points, eight assists and four rebounds on Friday, and 13 points and nine boards on Saturday.
Brandon McGill had a solid debut for the Eastern Suns with 25 points while Tim Squire scored 22 on Friday and Ryan Blanchett contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Willetton scored a win over East Perth on Friday with Jay Bowie outstanding with 36 points and 12 rebounds. He backed up with 10 points and four steals on Saturday in a loss to Rockingham.
On Friday, Nic Cody had 12 points for the Tigers and then seven points and eight rebounds on Saturday while Josh Johnson finished with 12 points and seven rebounds on Friday, and 11 points and 12 rebounds on Saturday.
Thomas Korf had an impressive debut for the Eagles with 24 points including 3-of-5 from deep with Rhys Vague finishing with 20 points and seven boards, and Nikola Donlagic 18 points.
Hobbs had plenty of support on Saturday night from his Perry Lakes teammates. Josh Garlepp added 17 points, Ryan Smith 17 and seven rebounds, Rob Cassir 13 points, seven assists, five steals and three rebounds, Ben Purser 13 points and 12 boards, and Jackson Simkovic eight points and 10 rebounds.
Jacob Holmen contributed 24 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks for the Giants with Kenny Maniqualt adding 22 points, eight boards, six steals and five assists.
The Cougars had plenty of standout performers in Saturday's win over the Redbacks with Gavin Field finishing with 27 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, Najee Lane 21 points and eight boards, and Rhett Della 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Land was another to receive good support at Rockingham in a win with Ryan Godfrey finishing with 23 points and Chudier Pal 18 points, and 13 rebounds.
The blowout of the weekend was the Wolves beating the Slammers by 58 points. Rob Huntington had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolfpack, Kevin Davis 18 points and 10 boards, Seb Salinas 18 points and five rebounds, and Bobby Evans 15 points and 14 boards.
Tre Nichols was a lone hand for the Slammers with 21 points while Trent Worthington did pull in 19 rebounds.
WEEK 1 MEN'S TEAM OF THE WEEK
Bryton Hobbs (Perry Lakes Hawks)
Jourdan DeMuynck (Perth Redbacks)
Maurice Barrow (Geraldton Buccaneers)
Cooper Land (Rockingham Flames)
Taylor Mullenax (Mandurah Magic)
WEEK 1 MEN'S PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Cooper Land (Rockingham Flames)
FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
East Perth Eagles 82 lost to Willetton Tigers 90
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 112 lost to Perth Redbacks 123
Stirling Senators 98 lost to Lakeside Lightning 101
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
SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 103 lost to Geraldton Buccaneers 124
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin
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