IT was a massive night of women's and men's action on Saturday with 10 matches that saw the Lakeside Lightning women break their duck for the season, the Goldfields Giants win a third straight and the South West Slammers men beat the Geraldton Buccaneers for the second time.

There were four women's matches on Saturday night with the Schweigen East Perth Eagles beating the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 80-68 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, and the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers downing the Mandurah Magic 63-53 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves also scored a big 94-51 over the Perry Lakes Hawks at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Lakeside Lightning defeated the Perth Redbacks 66-57 at Curtin Stadium.

There were then six massive men's contests on Saturday night starting with the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants beating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 105-89 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium and the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers defeating the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 122-117 at Active West Stadium.

The Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars also beat the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 91-84 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, the Mandurah Magic downed the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 106-92 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves defeated the Perry Lakes Hawks 85-79 at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and the Lakeside Lightning prevailed over the Perth Redbacks 90-80 at Curtin Stadium.

In the women's contests, the Eagles got their second win of the season beating the Cougars at home by 12 points on Saturday night with Cockburn unable to back up its win over the Stirling Senators on Friday night.

Nicole Jorre St Jorre stop-scored for the Eagles with 18 points to go with five rebounds and four assists in the win with Kelsey Maffin finishing with 16 points and 11 boards.

Jodee Santay contributed 14 points and five rebounds as well with captain Dannielle Devenny adding 15 points, five boards and three assists.

Playing-coach Deanna Smith did all she could for the Cougars with 27 points, eight rebounds and five assists with Taryn Priestly adding 12 points and six assists, and Katie Loberg 11 points.

The Tigers then beat the Magic by 10 points with Willetton improving to a 9-1 record having won four straight as a result while Mandurah slips to 8-3 having now lost two on the trot.

Louella Tomlinson had another terrific game for Willetton with 21 points, an incredible 11 blocked shots, eight rebounds and three steals.

Zoe Harper contributed 17 points and six rebounds for the Tigers with Desiree Kelley adding eight points, seven boards and two assists.

Peyton Davis led the way for the Magic with 14 points and 13 rebounds with Casey Mihovilovich contributing 13 points, six boards and five assists, Ashlee Sidebottom 12 points and Emma Klasztorny 10 rebounds, six assists and three steals.

The Lady Wolfpack scored a thumping 43-point win over the Hawks also on Saturday night with the Wolves bouncing back in style from losing to the Rockingham Flames on Friday night.

Shani Amos top-scored for the Wolves with 19 points, six rebounds and six assists while shooting 7-of-10 from the floor, and 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Rebecca Mercer also had 18 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Lady Wolfpack with Casey Lockwood adding 10 points and four boards, and Chelsea Burns 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Kassi Conditt worked hard for the Hawks finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds with Lucy Stewart adding 10 points and Lauren Jeffers eight.

The Lightning then finally got their first win of the season after nine consecutive losses coming off making last year's grand final.

Lakeside had come close on a host of occasions already this season, but then beat the Redbacks by nine points at Curtin Stadium on Saturday night with Perth having now lost five straight.

Ashleigh Grant had a massive night for the Lightning finishing with 29 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two assists while shooting 12-of-19 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point territory.

Courtney Byrnes added 15 points, nine boards and seven assists for Lakeside with Megan Craig contributing seven points and 10 boards off the bench.

Lauren Hall led the way for the Redbacks with 20 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists with Gaby Clayton adding 11 points and six boards, and Jess Jakens eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.

In the men's action on Saturday night, the Giants scored a third straight victory after losing the first eight of the season with a 16-point victory over the Eastern Suns.

Jay Bowie top-scored for the Giants with 24 points and eight rebounds with Jacob Holmen adding 20 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots.

Russell Hurst scored 15 points to go with six rebounds and four blocked shots also for Goldfields while Edin Zunic contributed 14 points and 12 boards, Brandon Hewitt-Holloway 12 points and five assists, and Mathiang Muo 11 points and nine rebounds.

Lien Phillip top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 24 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and three steals with Kevin Anthony contributing 22 points, six boards and two assists. Jaarod Holmes also finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds for Kalamunda, and Seva Chan 16 points and seven assists.

The Slammers then moved clear on top of the men's SBL standings with a five-point over the Buccaneers in Geraldton.

It is now the second time that South West has beaten Geraldton for the season and the Slammers move to a 12-1 record on top of the standings while the Buccs slip to 10-2 having had their 10-game winning run ended by the same team that beat them to open the season.

Tre Nicholls had a tremendous game for the Slammers with 40 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists on the back of shooting 13-of-28 from the field and 4-of-9 from downtown.

Wade Hitchcock contributed 26 points as well for South West with Clive Weeden finishing with 21 points and six rebounds, Ty Harrelson 17 points, 11 assists and seven boards, and Brian Voelkel 10 points, 14 rebounds, six assists and two blocked shots.

Bennie Lewis did all he could to try and get the Buccaneers over the line with 36 points, nine rebounds and four assists with Quincy Hankins-Cole stepping into the starting line-up in the absence of Aaron Ralph, and finishing with 30 points, 16 boards and five blocked shots.

Carter Cook added 23 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals also for the Buccs with Daniel Thomas finishing with 20 points and three assists in the absence of Luke Wrensted. Captain Mat Wundenberg also had three points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The Cougars then back up their win over the Stirling Senators on Friday night by also beating the Eagles by seven points in Morley on Saturday. The defending champions East Perth has now 11 straight matches to remain on the bottom of the standings.

Gavin Field had his second tremendous game of the weekend with 35 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots on Saturday night on the back of shooting 12-of-21 from the field and 5-of-13 from downtown.

Najee Lane added 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Cougars with Sheldon McIntyre also having 12 points, seven boards, four assists and three steals, and Grant Davey 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.

Jamie Barnett top-scored for the Eagles with 22 points while Drew Williamson added 21 points, Rhys Vague 16 (12 rebounds) and Sunday Dech seven (15 rebounds, five assists).

Playing-coach Joe-Alan Tupaea also finished with nine points and eight assists.

The Magic handed the Tigers a second straight defeat with a 14-point win at home on Saturday night with Mandurah improving to an 8-4 record as a result while Willetton slips to 8-4 as well.

Taylor Mullenax led the way for the Magic with 30 points, nine rebounds, three steals, two blocked shots and two assists while Rhett Della adding 23 points, 11 boards and three assists.

Ben Smith contributed 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists for Mandurah while Paul Hafford finished with 14 points, 11 boards, 10 assists and five steals giving him a triple-double.

Damien Scott top-scored for the Tigers with 19 points with Corey Easley contributing 15 points, Mitch Clarke 14, Kyle Armour 13, Hayden Noordhoek 11 (six rebounds) and Ephrem Davis 10 (nine rebounds, three blocks).

The Wolves scored a 30-point win over the Flames on Friday night and then backed up at home on Saturday with a hard fought six-point win over a Hawks team that is now on a six-match losing run.

Seb Salinas finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves with Trian Iliadis adding 19 points and Damian Matacz 17 and seven boards off the bench.

Rob Huntington contributed 15 points as well for Joondalup City and Kevin Davis 10 to go with nine rebounds and two steals.

Bryton Hobbs did all he could to try and get the Hawks over the line with 33 points with Mike Krumel adding 10 points and 10 rebounds, Ryan Smith 10 points, eight boards and five assists, and Ben Purser nine points and seven rebounds.

The weekend's action then concluded with the Lightning beating the Redbacks at home by 10 points with Lakeside improving to a 5-6 record and Perth falling to 4-8.

Jordan Swing continued his terrific form for the Lightning with another 27 points, 12 rebounds and five assists with Corey Martin adding 25 points, five boards, three assists and two steals.

Brad Jackson came into the starting line-up for Lakeside with 19 points and seven rebounds while Jarrad Prue also started and pulled in 20 rebounds to go with five points.

Ray Turner had 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Redbacks shooting an efficient 9-of-15 from the floor with fellow import adding 14 points, five boards, two assists and two blocked shots.

Ben Smith finished with 14 points and four rebounds as well for Perth with Joel Wagner contributing five points, six rebounds and six assists.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Schweigen East Perth Eagles 80 defeated Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 68
Mandurah Magic 53 lost to Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 63
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 94 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 51
Perth Redbacks 57 lost to Lakeside Lightning 66

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Siler Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 105 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 89
S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 117 lost to Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 122
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 84 lost to Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 91
Mandurah Magic 106 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 92
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 85 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 79
Perth Redbacks 80 lost to Lakeside Lightning 90

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin