The Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tigers Women stretched their magnificent win streak to eight games in Round 7 of the State Basketball League by defeating the Mandurah Magic 95-82 on Friday night. 

The Tigers clawed their way to victory with Kate Malpass leading the way with a stellar, season high 32 points. PowerPlayer of the week for Round 5 Ashley Gilmore also had a great night with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

The Magic, who sit in 8th spot didn’t go down without a fight, putting in a strong second half effort to bring back a 25 point deficit mid way through the third quarter, to come within 5 points with 3 minutes remaining in the game. Shelley Boston was big for the Magic with a huge 31 points and 23 rebounds.

The only team standing between the Tigers Women and top spot of the WSBL standings is an undefeated Rockingham Flames who they come up against in a fortnight.

The Tigers Men had a tougher weekend than the women going down in two close losses. The bottom place Mandurah Magic Men stunned the Tigers to grab their first win for the season. Both teams were undermanned with the Magic still without former NBL player Aaron Trahair and the Tigers without defensive specialist Wes Rule and young gun Josh Johnson.

Despite struggling to get their offence and defence together for the majority of the game the Tigers managed to snatch the lead with 7 minutes remaining in the game. But thanks to a clutch three pointer from Ben Caporn, the Magic toughed out the victory 97 - 95.

Despite having more shots than the Magic (88-75) and winning the rebounding count 53-34 the Tigers couldn’t post a winning score. For the Tigers Robert Epps topped all scorers with 30 points, while The Rock Clint Read toiled for 20 points. For the Magic it was an even scoring spread with six players notching double figures.

The Tigers Men will have to wait until round 9 to have another shot at claiming their first win on the road for the season.

ANZAC Saturday saw the Tigers Men’s long awaited clash with the back to back reigning Champions Skilled Goldfield Giants, who downed the Tigers in the 2008 MSBL Final.

The Tigers, who had the lead with 5 minutes remaining in the third term were confident of getting revenge on the Giants, with knowledge of their ability to finish strongly in tight home games previously this season. Good fortune was going their way early when it came to making big shots with Wes Rule sinking a long three pointer with less than a second remaining on the shot clock in the second quarter.

But the Giants showed their discipline and experience which lead them to two straight championships in another Saturday night thriller at the Boulevarde narrowly winning 89-85. Vice Captain Ryan Hulme showed his extraordinary shooting ability for the Giants with 26 points including 6 deep threes.

For the Tigers, The Rock Read was big with 24 points and 13 rebounds. Import Robert Epps, backed up his 30 points on Friday night with another 25 points at a good clip.

The Tigers Men showed a lot more against the Giants than the night before against Magic and with a few players to come into the team the Tigers will have a lot more to show and will have a greater impact on the League as we approach mid-season.

Next weekend, the Willetton Tigers Men's and Women's teams face off against the Lakeside Lightning. The Women will be looking to continue their form with a solid game against the Lightning to set them up for their Round 9 battle for top spot with the Rockingham Flames.

The Men found out this weekend that nothing will be handed to them this season. This coming week the Men will face a first place Lakeside Lightning Men’s outfit in what is likely to be another great game between these two close town rivals.

The Tigers Women tip off at 6:00pm Saturday night with the Men following at 8:00pm.

Article by Tim Friday