Week 12 Friday night SBL wrap

THE Perth Redbacks Women's and Men's SBL teams had big nights recording wins over the Rockingham Flames on Friday night to further consolidate their playoff positions while the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and East Perth Eagles split their contests.

The Texture WA Perth Redbacks beat the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 61-60 in a thrilling battle in the Women's contest on Friday night to open Week 12 action at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

That was followed up with the Men's match that saw the Texture WA Perth Redbacks also defeat the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 108-91.

Then at Ray Owen Recreation Centre, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns scored a big Women's win beating the Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 91-42. The Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles Men then defeated the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 112-96.

Starting with the Women's battles, the Redbacks improved to a 7-6 record with their nail-biting one-point win over the Flames that sees them move a step closer to fourth position. The loss sees Rockingham slip to 11-3 after losing without Ifunanya Ibekwe and Darcee Garbin in the line-up.

The Redbacks made a quick start against the Flames leading 21-10 at quarter-time but by half-time their lead was just two points. Rockingham took the lead during the third period holding the Redbacks to just nine points, but Perth responded in the last and held firm for a one-point win.

Rebecca Benson top-scored for the Redbacks with 15 points with Gabby O'Sullivan contributing 12 points, five rebounds and four assists, Ashley Gilmore 10 points and 14 boards, and Jess Jakens three points, 16 rebounds and three assists.

Sami Whitcomb ended up top-scoring for the Flames with 20 points, 14 rebounds, five steals, two blocked shots and two assists but she also had eight turnovers and shot just 7-of-27 from the field and 2-of-12 from deep.

Jacinta Bourne added 15 points, five rebounds and four steals for Rockingham, Ashlee Sidebottom 10 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots, and Ella Kennedy eight points, 11 boards and three assists.

The Eastern Suns then also consolidated their position in the top eight with a 49-point win over the Eagles on their home floor.

The win sees the Suns improve to a 6-6 record on the after winning their second straight game while the Eagles fall to 1-12 having lost their previous seven matches now.

Kalamunda got on top early with 29 first quarter points to 13 and were never threatened by East Perth cruising to the 49-point win.

The Eagles managed to shoot just 16-of-63 from the floor and 1-of-18 from three-point territory. The Suns got the job done shooting 31-of-79 at 39 per cent while winning the rebound count by 20 and forcing East Perth into 26 turnovers.

Carley Mijovic ended up top-scoring for the Suns with 31 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots with Stacey Barr adding 19 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists.

Jaimee Rich also had 11 points and five boards for Kalamunda, Natalia Soli'ai eight points and nine rebounds, and Sabrina Jeridore seven points, 11 boards, three assists and two steals.

Jodee Sontay top-scored off the bench for the Eagles with 15 points and five rebounds.

And in the Men's contests on Friday night, it was a battle of in-form teams when Rockingham hosted Perth and it was the Redbacks who prevailed to win by 17 points.

The result sees the Redbacks improve to an 8-7 record on the season having now won five of their last six matches. The Flames missed a chance to consolidate fourth position and put pressure on for their third falling to 10-7 with their four-game winning run coming to an end.

The Redbacks made a flying start with 34 points to 20 in the first quarter and extended the lead to 59-40 by half-time before ending up winning by 17 points.

Perth had a strong shooting night going 40-of-80 from the field at 50 per cent decide attempting 24 fewer shots than Rockingham who finished up going 41-of-104 at 39 per cent. The Redbacks did make 12 threes compared to six from the Flames with both attempting 27 from long range.

Joel Wagner finished with 20 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals for the Redbacks shooting 9-of-17 from the field and 2-of-4 from three-point range.

Michael Vigor added 20 points, nine rebounds, five blocked shots and four assists for Perth with Reed McConnell contributing 18 points and five boards, Lewis Thomas 17 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks, Jourdan DeMuynck 17 points, 16 boards and six assists, and Ben Smith 13 points.

Cooper Land led the way for the Flames with 29 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

Ryan Godfrey contributed 16 points for Rockingham, Chudier Pal 10 points and 12 rebounds, and Jarryd Griffin nine points and five boards.

Two teams on the improve also did battle at Kalamunda and it was the Eagles with too much experience and firepower beating the vastly more competitive Eastern Suns by 16 points.

The win sees the Eagles improve to a 6-9 record having been tough to beat since the arrival of Tom Jervis and Sunday Dech into the line-up. Despite the loss, the Suns continue to be far more competitive and have managed to still win two of their last four matches.

The Eagles started strongly with a big first half to lead 63-43 at half-time but a mark of the Suns improvement was their second half fightback to close the final margin 16.

Neither team had a great shooting night with East Perth going 36 per cent from the field and 27 per cent from three, but they did take charge inside and attempting 42 free-throws making 34.

Meanwhile, the Suns got up plenty of shots making 33-of-100 and jacked up the threes but made just 18 per cent of them going 9-of-48. There were plenty of turnovers from both teams as well with Kalamunda coughing it up 28 times and East Perth 24.

Despite the presence of Tom Jervis and Sunday Dech, it was Rhys Vague who was the star for the Eagles on the night with 35 points, 15 rebounds and three assists shooting 14-of-28 from the field.

Dech finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals for East Perth, Drew Williamson 15 points, four boards and four assists, Thomas Korf 13 points, three rebounds and two steals, Jervis 11 points and seven boards, and Joe-Alan Tupaea eight points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

New Suns import Courtney Belger top-scored off the bench with 23 points, 11 rebounds, seven steals and six assists hitting 6-of-18 from the field and 11-of-12 from the line.

Brandon McGill contributed 16 points, four rebounds and two steals for the Eastern Suns, and Tim Squire 15 points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 91 defeated Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 42
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 60 lost to Texture WA Perth Redbacks 61

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 96 lost to Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 112
Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 91 lost to Texture WA Perth Redbacks 108

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin




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