THE Joondalup Wolves bounced back from a double loss to the Willetton Tigers on Friday to score two wins over Lakeside Lightning in Saturday night's SBL action while the Perth Redbacks recorded an impressive double and the Cockburn Cougars and Geraldton Buccaneers Men were impressive.

The Wolfpack entered the round on top of both the Men's and Women's SBL but lost in each clash on Friday to the Tigers. But they bounced back impressively against the Lightning on Saturday night while the Tigers Men couldn’t back it up falling to the Cougars.

The Buccs scored a dominant road win to keep the pressure on the Wolves and Cougars at the top of the table while the Redbacks Men did well to overcome the loss of Joel Wagner to beat the Eagles while their Women bounced back from a Friday night loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks strongly.

There were four Women's matches on Saturday night with the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves beating Lakeside Lightning 72-63, the Texture WA Perth Redbacks downing Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 79-65, the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers beating the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 81-66 and the Mandurah Magic defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 92-73.

The Men's action began with the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers defeating the Print Sync South West Slammers 101-75 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Bethanie Stirling Senators winning on the road over the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 110-95 at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns got their third win of the season beating the Mandurah Magic 95-88 while the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars downed the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 107-88, the Texture WA Perth Redbacks downed the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 113-106 and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves defeated the Lakeside Lightning 93-84.

The Magic moved a step closer to a position in the Women's SBL playoffs with a strong 19-point win over the Eastern Suns at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The win improves Mandurah to a 6-8 record, the same as Kalamunda and the Magic could end the weekend inside the top eight unless the Suns beat the Slammers on Sunday.

It was an even first half with scores tied at the break but the Magic took over after half-time with 49 points to 30 to come away with the 19-point win.

Mandurah dominated the rebound count with 45 rebounds to 32 and forcing the Eastern Suns into 22 turnovers.

Rachel Halleen ended up top-scoring for the Magic with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists but all Mandurah's starters had good nights.

Adijat Adams contributed 18 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots for the Magic, Annette Davis 17 points and nine boards, Casey Mihovilovich 16 points, five assists, five steals and three rebounds, and Emma Klasztorny 13 points and 13 boards.

Carley Mijovic top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 24 points while Stacey Barr contributed 21 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Sabrina Jeridore 10 points and nine boards.

The Tigers welcomed back Louella Tomlinson on Friday night as they beat the Wolfpack following two losses and Willetton backed it up with a good win over the Cougars by 15 points at Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday.

The win improves the Tigers to a 13-3 record while the Cougars are just clinging to a place in the top eight at 7-8.

The Tigers made a fast start building on their momentum from beating the Wolves and led 49-34 by half-time before going on to win by that same 15-point margin.

Willetton shot well going 35-of-73 from the field at 47 per cent and the Tigers' pressure forced the Cougars into 20 turnovers which they managed to score 21 points from. Willetton also managed 40 points in the paint to 24 from Cockburn.

Kate Malpass celebrated her 200th appearance for the Tigers in style with 27 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals in the win.

Louella Tomlinson added 17 points, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists for the Tigers, Zoe Harper 14 points and five boards, Ebony Antonio 11 points and six assists, and Lara Napier 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Candace Williams had another impressive performance for the Cougars with 28 points, 11 rebounds and four assists shooting 12-of-23 from the field.

Cherridy Thornton added 10 points, six rebounds and three assists for Cockburn and Isabelle Miotti eight points and three boards.

The Redbacks went down to the Hawks at home on Friday night but did well to bounce back on the road on Saturday beating the struggling Eagles by 14 points.

The win steadies Perth to an 8-7 record inside the top eight while the Eagles have now lost their last 10 matches with just the one victory in 2016.

The Redbacks got on top early and led by eight points after the opening period. While the Eagles continued to fight hard, they could never really close the gap and Perth won by 14.

The Redbacks had a tremendous shooting night going 29-of-53 at 54 per cent from the field and attempted just nine threes, making five. The Redbacks also pulled in 38 rebounds to just 22 by East Perth.

Rebecca Benson was the star of the night for the Redbacks ending up with 29 points, four rebounds and two assists shooting 9-of-13 from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point range and 8-of-12 from the free-throw line.

Alix Hayward contributed 11 points and seven rebounds for Perth, Ashley Gilmore nine points, 13 boards and three assists, Bianca Donovan eight points and Ajay Jones eight to go with three steals and two rebounds.

Haylee DeSousa finished with 14 points for the Eagles with Nicole Jorre St Jorre contributing 14 points and six rebounds but it was Gemma Houghton top-scoring off the bench with 18 points, four steals and two boards.

The final Women's match of the evening saw the Wolves respond to a loss to the Tigers on Friday beating the Lightning at Joondalup Basketball Stadium by nine points.

The win steadies the Lady Wolfpack at 12-2 while the Lightning lost their second game of the weekend after three straight wins to slip to 8-8.

The Lightning gave themselves a chance from bouncing back from a loss on Friday to the Rockingham Flames with an impressive 19 to 10 first quarter but the Wolves took over from there outscoring them in each of the last three quarters to win by nine points.

The difference proved to be the Wolves forcing the Lightning into 26 turnovers and managing to get off eight extra shots, and getting to the line 17 more times on the night.

Amy Kidner continued her tremendous season for the Wolves with another 19 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Klara Wischer added 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals for Joondalup, Nikita-Lee Martin 14 points, and Ellyce Ironmonger 11 points, 13 boards, four assists and three blocked shots.

Alison Schwagmeyer top-scored for the Lightning with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists. Ashleigh Grant added 12 points and nine rebounds for Lakeside and Tia Ucich 10 points and five boards.

In the Men's competition on Saturday night, the Wolves responded as well to a loss to the Tigers on Friday by beating the struggling Lightning by nine points at home.

Joondalup improves to a 14-3 record as a result of the hard fought win while Lakeside has now lost 11 straight matches to sit at 4-14.

The Lightning started strongly in the search of a long-awaited fifth win of the year to lead by eight points at the end of the first quarter. But Joondalup took over from there to end up winning by nine.

Rob Huntington top-scored for the Wolves with 27 points, four rebounds and two assists with Greg Hire adding 25 points, 15 boards, three assists and two steals.

Bobby Evans contributed 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for Joondalup, Joel Questel nine points and Seb Salinas eight.

Daniel Alexander came up big for the Lightning with 36 points, 16 rebounds and four assists.

TJ Hallice added 19 points and 12 rebounds for Lakeside and Matthew Vinci 10 points.

The Eagles might be playing impressive basketball of late and have a strong roster but they do need to string together some with wins if they hope to break into the top eight, and that didn’t happen at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Redbacks came into the clash after beating the Perry Lakes Hawks by 20 points on Friday and having won eight of their last nine games, and despite being without captain Joel Wagner with an ankle injury, they beat the Eagles impressively by seven points.

The win improves the Redbacks to an 11-7 record having won five straight while the Eagles remain outside a playoff spot at 7-11.

The Redbacks were coming off playing the Hawks on Friday and lost Wagner, but they found something in the fourth quarter against the Eagles.

Perth did well to lead 61-54 at the half but East Perth threatened to take over in the third quarter and led 85-79 heading into the fourth. But the Redbacks had another gear with 33 points to 21 to record the seven-point win.

The Redbacks shot 49 per cent from the field and made 17-of-37 from three at 45 per cent. The Eagles shot 45 per cent from the floor and made 9-of-26 from deep at 34 per cent.

Ben Smith came into the starting line-up for the Redbacks and finished with 29 points, five rebounds and two assists shooting 6-of-9 from long range.

Jourdan DeMuynck finished with 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Redbacks with Michael Vigor contributing 15 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists, Lewis Thomas 14 points and Reed McConnell 12 points.

Thomas Korf top-scored for the Eagles with 26 points with Drew Williamson contributing 21 points and five assists, Sunday Dech 18 points and eight rebounds, Rhys Vague 17 points and 16 boards, and Tom Jervis 15 points and nine rebounds.

The Tigers were on a high after a stunning come from behind win over the Wolves on Friday, but they couldn’t replicate that on Saturday with the Cougars defeating them by 19 points at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The win further enhances the Cougars hopes of claiming the minor premiership at 15-3 while the Tigers missed a chance to further cement a top four spot, slipping to 12-6.

After scores were tied at half-time, the Cougars dominated the second half with 57 points to 38 over a tired Tigers outfit to win by 19 points.

The Cougars finished with 61 rebounds to 50 while having just eight turnovers and conceding no points off those. The Cougars did force the Tigers into 15 turnovers scoring 17 points from them while scoring 52 points in the paint to 44.

Marcus Goode top-scored again for the Cougars with 32 points, 19 rebounds and four blocked shots with Najee Lane contributing 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocked shots.

Daniel Thomas added 19 points and seven assists for Cockburn, Gavin Field 10 points and eight rebounds, and Sheldon McIntyre nine points and 10 boards.

Jay Bowie led the way for the Tigers with 20 points and 11 rebounds with Nic Cody adding 17 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocks.

Josh Johnson contributed 14 points, 11 boards and six assists, Kyle Armour 13 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Damien Scott 13 points, six boards and three assists.

The Eastern Suns scored their third win over the season beating the Magic by seven points at Mike Barnett Sports Complex on Saturday night. The win moves Kalamunda within one game of moving off the bottom of the table at 3-14 while Mandurah slipped to 4-14.

It was a tight contest all evening with Mandurah leading 72-68 at three quarter-time but the Eastern Suns finished strongly with a 27-point to 16 fourth quarter to win by seven.

Brandon McGill returned for the Suns with 21 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals while Courtney Belger contributed 13 points, eight boards, five steals and four assists.

Jarrad Prior was also back in the Eastern Suns line-up and had 10 points with Madison Stoveld contributing 10 points and seven rebounds.

Ben Smith top-scored for the Magic with 24 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots with Trevor Setty contributing 21 points, nine boards and four assists.

New Zealand signing James Paringatai made a strong debut with 18 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists for the Magic.

The Senators further enhanced their top four credentials while further hurting the playoff hopes of the Giants with a strong 15-point win in Kalgoorlie on Saturday night.

The impressive road win improves Stirling to a 13-6 record on the season while Goldfields has now lost its last eight matches to be 6-12.

It was a hot opening by both teams with the Giants leading 38 points to 35 after the first quarter. Things quietened down after that and Stirling took over the contest taking control to end up winning by 15 points.

The Giants did well shooting 50 per cent from the field but they did only attempt 76 shots while the Senators attempted 91 and made 41 while winning the rebound count by eight and forcing Goldfields into 23 turnovers, scoring 30 points from those.

Corban Wroe had his best game of the season for the Senators finishing with 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists shooting 8-of-14 from the field, 4-of-7 from three-point range and 5-of-5 from the foul line.

Ashley Litterick added 22 points and 11 rebounds for Stirling, Cody Ellis 21 points, nine boards, five assists, two steals and two blocks, Jayden Coburn 18 points and Kyle Lindbergh 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Kenny Manigault top-scored for the Giants with 26 points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and seven steals with Jacob Holmen contributing 19 points, 10 boards and five assists, Ezra Nikora 12 points and Russell Hurst 12 to go with five rebounds.

The Buccs hit the road for the first half of their double-header weekend and came away with a dominant 26-point win over the Slammers in Eaton.

The Buccs improve to 13-6 with the win while the Slammers slipped further from a playoff position at 5-11.

Geraldton took over the game in the second quarter to end up leading 54-37 at half-time and they took the game away further in the fourth quarter with 26 points to 16 to end up winning by 26.

Neither team shot overly well with the Buccs going 34 per cent from the field and the Slammers 31 per cent while Geraldton pulled in 71 rebounds to 52.

Jackson Hussey showed what a valuable signing he will be for the Buccs with an impressive 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists off the bench in almost 30 minutes of court time.

Matthew Adekponya contributed 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Buccaneers, Maurice Barrow 18 points, 15 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots, Carter Cook 13 points, four boards, two assists and two steals, and Aaron Ralph 10 points and five rebounds.

Tre Nichols top-scored for the Slammers with 16 points, 10 rebounds and five assists with Royal Crouch contributing 15 points and 13 boards, and Clive Weeden 11 points and 11 rebounds.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 92 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 73
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 66 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 81
Schweigen Home Appliances East Perth Eagles 65 lost to Texture WA Perth Redbacks 79
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 72 defeated Lakeside Lightning 63

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Print Sync South West Slammers 75 lost to S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 101
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 95 lost to Bethanie Stirling Senators 110
Mandurah Magic 88 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 95
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 107 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 88
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 106 lost to Texture WA Perth Redbacks 113
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 93 defeated Lakeside Lightning 84

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by June Halliday