THE East Perth Eagles lost for the first time with Tom Jervis in the line-up, the Lakeside Lightning fell narrowly short of a big upset to end their losing run and the Perth Redbacks continued their impressive form, and that was just the Men's SBL action on Friday night.

The three Women's fixtures to open Week 11 saw the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves beat the Lakeside Lightning 76-55, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns down the Textile WA Perth Redbacks 93-88 and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeat the Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 78-54.

Then in the corresponding Men's contests, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves won a 94-93 thriller over Lakeside Lightning, the Textile WA Perth Redbacks downed the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 114-95 and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeated the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 105-100.

The Women's matches began the round and it was the Lady Wolfpack recording an eighth straight victory defeating the Lightning by 21 points at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Wolves improved to 9-1 with the victory after they were in control most of the evening and with 17 points to nine in the fourth quarter stretched the winning margin out to 21 against a Lightning team that is now 5-6.

While the Wolves didn’t shoot great at 39 per cent and hitting just 3-of-16 from three, the Lightning struggled on the night going 20-of-63 from the floor and 4-of-22 from three-point range. Joondalup also won the rebound battle 47 to 30 to help put up 16 extra shots.

Klara Wischer led the way again for the Wolfpack with 23 points, 12 rebounds and two assists shooting 11-of-21 from floor.

Shani Amos added 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five steals for Joondalup while Amy Kidner had 14 points and five boards, Nikita-Lee Martin nine points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, and Ellyce Ironmonger six points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

Ashleigh Grant top-scored for a Lightning team missing Alison Schwagmeyer through injury. Grant had 14 points and 10 rebounds with Devanny King contributing 13 points, Courtney Beavis 12 and Tia Ucich 10 along with six rebounds and six assists.

The Redbacks and Eastern Suns played out a tight affair at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre and after a blistering second quarter with 37 points, it was Kalamunda who held on over the fast-finishing home team to win by five points.

It was an important win for the Eastern Suns as well to improve them to a 5-6 record and remain in the top eight while the Redbacks slip to 6-6 with the defeat.

Stacey Barr had another strong night for the Suns to lead her team to the victory finishing with 34 points, eight rebounds and five assists. She shot just 8-of-19 from the field but made 4-of-9 from three-point range and 14-of-17 at the foul line.

Carley Mijovic also finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the Eastern Suns nailing three triples while Sarah-Jane McMahon contributed seven points, five boards and two assists.

Rebecca Benson ended up top-scoring for the Redbacks with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists with Jess Jakens contributing a strong 20 points, seven boards and three assists on shooting 7-of-10 from the floor and 6-of-7 from the stripe.

Ashley Gilmore added 16 points and 10 rebounds for Perth and Ajay Jones 13 points, seven boards, six assists and six steals against her former club. Gabby O'Sullivan also had six points and eight rebounds.

The Tigers continued their winning ways on top of the Women's SBL with a sixth straight win to improve to a 11-1 record beating the Eagles by 24 points at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

Despite a big second quarter by the Tigers, the Eagles were hanging around making it a contest until Willetton pulled away in the fourth quarter with 23 points to 10. The Eagles have just one win in 11 games so far this season.

The Tigers ended up shooting 41 per cent from the field opposed to 30 per cent by the Eagles while forcing East Perth into 25 turnovers where they scored 21 points from. East Perth did outrebound the Louella Tomlinson-less Tigers 43 rebounds to 42 but just couldn’t make, or attempt, enough shots.

Zoe Harper stepped up in the absence of Tomlinson for the Tigers to finish with 25 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots on shooting 9-of-20 from the field and 7-of-8 at the free-throw line.

Kate Malpass contributed 15 points, five rebounds, four steals, three blocked shots and two assists for Willetton while Emma Gandini finished with 10 points, Ebony Antonio nine to go with five rebounds and four assists, and Emma Lobb nine points, seven boards and two blocks.

Jodie Milligan top-scored for the Eagles with 11 points and nine rebounds with Amy Chinnery contributing nine points, Haylee DeSousa seven (six rebounds) and Nicole Jorre St Jorre seven (five boards, four assists).

And in the Men's contests, the Lightning came into their clash at home to the Wolves on a five-game losing run and their backs against the wall against the league-leading defending champions, but they put in a strong showing before falling one-point short of a stunning comeback.

The Wolves did enough to maintain a three-point lead after the first quarter and extended it to eight by half-time and 12 by three quarter-time, but the Lightning refused to go away and ended up just one-point short of what would have been a stunning and important win.

In the end, the loss is the Lightning's sixth in succession as they slip to 4-9 while the Wolves remain on top of the standings at 10-2.

The Wolfpack shot just 29-of-87 from the field at 33 per cent and 9-of-43 from three-point range at 20 per cent but won the rebound battle by 10 and managed to do enough to win. The Lightning shot 44 per cent from the floor and 33 per cent from downtown, but made just 12-of-20 foul attempts.

Seb Salinas ended up the high scorer for Joondalup with 27 points while Trian Iliadis contributed 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

Reece Maxwell finished with 11 points, Rob Huntington 10 (nine rebounds, three assists) and Greg Hire nine (eight boards, three steals, two assists).

Daniel Alexander did his very best to try and lift the Lightning over the line with a season-best 41 points, 10 rebounds and four assists on shooting 16-of-30 from the field, 3-of-6 from long range and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.

TJ Hallice contributed 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for Lakeside while Seva Chan added 17 points, seven boards and six assists.

The Redbacks continued their strong form of late and consolidated their place in the top eight with a 19-point victory over an Eastern Suns team coming off a win last Friday following 26 straight defeats.

Perth improved to a 7-7 record with the win that was set up with a 50-33 first half.

It was a good shooting night by the Redbacks who went 44-of-90 from the field at 48 per cent while only nailing 7-of-33 from three-point range. They also struggled at the line going 19-of-34 but they weren’t made to pay.

The Suns struggled from the field going 34-of-103 at 33 per cent and 12-of-43 from three-point range at 27 per cent. Perth also pulled in 61 rebounds to 52 and forced the Redbacks into 25 turnovers.

Ben Smith continued his strong form for the Redbacks hitting 22 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals off the bench making 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Jourdan DeMuynck finished with 19 points and 21 rebounds for Perth, Michael Vigor 15 points, eight boards, four blocks, three steals and two assists, Joel Wagner 14 points, Jack Wagner 12 points, Kyle Bowen 10 points and Reed McConnell 10 points.

Kerrod Horn top-scored for Kalamunda with 17 points, three rebounds and two assists while hitting 4-of-9 from three-point range. Tim Squire added 15 points and five boards, Courtney Belger 12 points, Ryan Blanchett 10 to go with 10 rebounds and Billy Grey nine points and seven boards.

Meanwhile, Willetton won a fourth straight match defeating East Perth at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Friday by five points. The Tigers improve to 10-4 with the win while the Eagles slipped to 4-9 in what was their first loss with Tom Jervis in the line-up.

Despite the presence of Jervis, the Tigers dominated in the paint outscoring the Eagles 56 points to 36 despite being outrebounded by 14.

Kyle Armour led the way for the Tigers with 25 points and four assists shooting 9-of-17 from the floor and 3-of-7 from downtown.

Jay Bowie added 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Willetton, Nic Cody 19 points, eight boards, three assists and two blocked shots, Damien Scott 14 points and five rebounds, and Charles Funches 13 points, four blocks, three rebounds and two assists.

Jervis top-scored for the Eagles with 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks while Drew Williamson contributed 16 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Joe-Alan Tupaea added 15 points and 10 rebounds, Rhys Vague 14 points, seven boards and four assists, Amen Osayande 12 points, and Sunday Dech 10 points and eight rebounds.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 55 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 76
Textile WA Perth Redbacks 88 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 93
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 78 defeated Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 54

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 93 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 94
Textile WA Perth Redbacks 114 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 95
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 105 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 100

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photoraphy