WEEK 3 of the SBL got underway on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks and Stirling Senators recording women and men's victories while the Perry Lakes Hawks and Lakeside Lightning split their contests.

The three women's matches on Friday night saw the Perth Redbacks thrash the South West Slammers 102-65, the Perry Lakes Hawks defeat the Lakeside Lightning 100-91 and Stirling Senators down the Cockburn Cougars 70-52.

Then in the three men's contests, the Perth Redbacks downed the South West Slammers 111-106, the Lakeside Lightning beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 98-91 and the Stirling Senators won a thriller 102-100 over the Cockburn Cougars.

Starting with the women's action, the Redbacks scored their third straight win to start the season coming off the bye last week to beat the struggling Slammers by 37 points. South West has now lost by 39, 26 and 37 points this season in their three games.

The Redbacks made a flying start with 32 points to 18 in the first quarter and ended up winning by the 37 points.

Ashley Gilmore top-scored for Perth with 22 points and 11 rebounds while Ajay Jones chimed in with 20 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals.

Rebecca Mercer also added 19 points, 10 assists and six rebounds with Jess Jakens contributing 15 points and 10 boards, and Lisa Wallbutton six points to go with six assists and four rebounds.

Dena English had a good night for the Slammers with 23 points, six assists, four steals and three rebounds with Raya Thompson contributing 12 points and Georgia Denehey nine to go with six rebounds, five assists and two steals.

It was an overtime thriller at Lakeside Recreation Centre with the Hawks ending up prevailing by nine points to remain unbeaten this season while the Lightning slipped to 1-2.

Deanna Smith had a big night for the Hawks with 24 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Sarah Donovan also finished with 17 points and six rebounds while Lauren Jeffers had 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals with Antonia Edmondson having a huge game with 13 points, 15 boards and four assists.

Captain Kate Anthony also chipped in with 13 points for Perry Lakes.

Courtney Byrnes did all she could for the Lightning with 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Alison Schwagmeyer also had 19 points and six rebounds for Lakeside, Ashleigh Grant 19 points, eight boards and four blocks, Devanny King 14 points and six boards, and Tiahrn Flynn 13 points and four steals.

The Senators then bounced back from a big loss to the Willetton Tigers last week to beat the Cougars by 18 points at Wally Hagan Stadium.

It was the evenness of the contribution from the Senators that was most impressive with Amber Land top-scoring with 12 points, 12 rebounds and four assists.

Tegan Walker also had eight points and nine rebounds, Chelsea Armstrong eight points, Fiona Madden eight points and five rebounds, Emma Berryman seven points, Lyndal Gardner seven points, Kara van Dyke six points and five rebounds, and Bridget Henderson six points and five boards.

Cherridy Thornton battled hard for Cockburn for 20 points and 10 rebounds with Nicole Roberts adding 10 points and Isabelle Motti eight to go with four boards.

In the men's contests, the Redbacks scored their second win of the season beating the Slammers by five points at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre.

The Slammers were hunting their second win of 2016 and were in with a real shot at three quarter-time, but Perth finished too strong in the fourth quarter coming from behind to win by five points.

Jack Wagner delivered the best game of his young SBL career with 29 points and five rebounds for the Redbacks while shooting 11-of-16 from the floor and 5-of-6 from downtown.

Jourdan DeMuynck finished with 18 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and three steals for Perth while Reed McConnell had 18 points, nine boards and four assists.

Joel Wagner also had 14 points and five assists for the Redbacks, Tyler Viskovich 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Ben Smith 11 points, five boards and five assists.

Royal Crouch is warming up nicely to the NBL leading the Slammers with 30 points and 13 rebounds while Tre Nichols finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to make up a triple-double for the star guard.

Trent Worthington had 14 points and 12 rebounds as well for South West, Corey Easley 16 points and eight boards, and Wade Hitchcock 12 points.

The Lightning came away with a seven-point win at home over the Hawks with Lakeside improving to 2-2 in the process and Perry Lakes sufferings its first defeat of 2016.

The Hawks made a flying start with 26 points to 11 in the first quarter but their advantage was cut to just two by half-time. Lakeside then took over in the third period with 28 points to 14 and that was enough to set up the eventual seven-point win.

Daniel Alexander was the star for Lakeside top-scoring with 39 points and 12 rebounds while shooting 13-of-19 from the field, 2-of-2 from three-point territory and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.

TJ Hallice added 20 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists as well for the Lightning while Hayden Bell contributed 13 points, seven boards and three assists.

Corey Martin had another strong all-round game with eight points, 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.

Bryton Hobbs put in another strong showing for Perry Lakes with 28 points, seven steals, five assists and four rebounds.

Ben Purser also had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists while Brian Carlwell contributed 17 points and 10 boards, and Ben Dixon 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.

And finally the Senators scored a nail-biting two-point over the Cougars on the road for their opening win of 2016.

The Cougars appeared in control of the contest leading 50-46 at half-time and then taking over the third period outscoring the Senators 31 to 19 to lead 81-65 heading into the last quarter.

But the Senators found something special in the fourth stanza, though, piling on 37 points to snatch the two-point victory.

Cody Ellis was the star for the Senators in the comeback victory finishing with 34 points, seven rebounds and three assists shooting 13-of-18 from the field, 3-of-7 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line.

He got plenty of support from his fellow starters with Kyle Lindberg finishing with 18 points and 12 rebounds, AJ Majstrovich 14 points and nine boards, Austin Bruton 14 points and Jayden Coburn 12 points.

Marcus Goode continued his impressive early form on arrival at the Cougars with the big man contributing 29 points, 19 rebound, three assists and two blocked shots.

Najee Lane also had 29 points, 12 boards, four assists and three steals for Cockburn with Julian Pesava adding 18 points and six rebounds, and Gavin Field 13 points, four boards and four assists.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks 102 defeated South West Slammers 65
Lakeside Lightning 91 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 100
Cockburn Cougars 52 lost to Stirling Senators 70

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks 111 defeated South West Slammers 106
Lakeside Lightning 98 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 91
Cockburn Cougars 100 lost to Stirling Senators 102

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin