Tigers strike against Lightning to advance to Semi Finals
In the State Basketball League over the weekend the Southlands Willetton Tigers Women’s team won through to the semi finals with a comfortable 27 point (75-48) win over Lakeside Lightning in game two of their best of three quarter finals series.
With the Tigers having beaten the Lightning the previous weekend at Lakeside they knew the Lightning were going to come out and throw everything at the Tigers on Friday night at the Willetton Basketball Stadium just to try and stay in contention. They did exactly that in the first half and in what can only be described as a scrappy affair the Tigers trailed 28-29 at the main break.
There was nothing pretty about the style of game being played but the Lightning were happy with score line at the half and knew they were in with a chance. Then, out came the Tigers with a blistering 15-2 opening run at the start of the third quarter to snatch any hope away from the Lightning and lead 49-42 by three quarter time.
The writing was on the wall by then and the Tigers drove home the message that they are a solid championship threat with a 26-6 last quarter, giving them a convincing win for the second week in a row against the Lightning and putting the rest of the League on notice.
The season dominant Tigers duo of Kate Malpass and Ashley Gilmore were paid their due attention by the Lightning defense and it was Courtney Hargreaves and Jasmine Hooper who stepped up for the Tigers to demonstrate that the depth of the team would see them through. Hooper had her best performance of the season to notch 19 points, while Hargreaves had 16 and Malpass had 20. Gilmore was the game leader in rebound with a massive haul of 18. For the Lightning Nat Young was the leader with 23 points, but was the only player in double figures.
The semi finals commence this weekend with the Tigers playing game one away at Kalamunda. The Tigers have beaten the Suns twice this season (by 18 points and 41 points) but finals can be a whole new ball game and Tigers coach Glenn Clarke is bound to have saved a few tricks to pull out for the business end of the season.
The Tigers will be back home at the Willetton Basketball Stadium the following weekend for game 2 (and 3 if required).
Article by Willetton Basketball Association
Photo by June Halliday
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