THE men's defending champion East Perth Eagles joined their women in victory over the Lakeside Lightning in Friday night's SBL action with the Rockingham Flames and Mandurah Magic both coming away with double road wins as well.

The East Perth men and women both scored wins over the Lightning on Friday night to open Week 11 action with the Eagles men snapping a 13-game losing run in the process while the Flames and Magic scored double wins over the Perth Redbacks and South West Slammers respectively.

The four women's matches on Friday night in the SBL saw some fascinating results with the Kalamunda Eastern Suns beating the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 83-55 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Schweigen East Perth Eagles defeating the Lakeside Lightning 78-64 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Orange Autos Rockingham Flames also beat the Perth Redbacks 80-71 at Curtin Stadium and the Mandurah Magic defeated the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 78-69 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

Then in the four men's matches on Friday night, the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 124-105 at Wally Hagan Stadium and the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles downed the Lakeside Lightning 100-90 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames won a thriller 100-98 over the Perth Redbacks at Curtin Stadium and the Mandurah Magic won another tight contest 109-106 over the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre.

In the women's action on Friday night, the Eastern Suns scored a fifth straight victory beating the Cougars by 28 points with Kalamunda consolidating sixth position with a 6-5 record while Cockburn slips to 6-8 with the defeat.

Jessie Edwards led the way for the Eastern Suns with 20 points and 12 rebounds while Melissa Moyle also worked hard to finish the night with 17 points, 10 boards and three steals.

Thea Lemberger contributed 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds as well for the Suns while Rebecca Motroni added 14 points and Abbey Duinker 14 (10 rebounds, five assists).

Playing-coach Deanna Smith top-scored for the Cougars with 15 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds with Katie Loberg adding 14 points and five boards.

The Eagles continued to show their vast improvement this season under coach Narelle Henry scoring a third win beating the Lightning by 14 points at Lakeside.

Kelsey Maffin led the way for the Eagles finishing the evening with 19 points with Dannielle Devenny adding 14 points, five rebounds and five assists while Nicole Jorre St Jorre contributing 12 points, four boards, three assists and three steals.

Megan Craig top-scored for the Lightning with 23 points and five rebounds while Ashleigh Grant contributed 10 points and eight boards and Courtney Byrnes seven points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Redbacks then took it right up to the defending champion Flames, but the league-leading Rockingham ended up prevailing by nine points to improve to an 11-1 record.

Darcee Garbin had a monster night for the Flames with 39 points and 12 rebounds while Jacinta Bourne contributed 11 points and seven boards, and Samantha Whitcomb 11 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Gaby Clayton top-scored for the Redbacks with 22 points and seven assists while Jess Jakens contributed 20 points, 12 boards and four assists. Gabby O'Sullivan also added seven points and six assists for Perth.

The Magic then also improved to an impressive 10-3 record to continue to hold a handy lead in fourth position after beating the Slammers by nine points. South West has now lost three straight matches to slip to a 5-7 record.

Casey Mihovilovich again led the way for the Magic as she continues yet another outstanding season. On Friday night, she finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and three assists while Ashlee Sidebottom added 17 points and four boards.

Peyton Davis added 14 points and 15 rebounds as well for Mandurah with Rachel Halleen contributing eight points and four assists.

Patricia Bright top-scored for the Slammers with 19 points to go with her 16 rebounds while Kate Fielding added 18 points, eight assists and seven boards. Deonica McCormick also had 12 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for South West.

And in the men's contests, the Cougars beat the Suns by 19 points at home with Cockburn improving to a 9-6 record in sixth position having now won four straight matches while Kalamunda has lost three straight to slip to a 2-12 record.

The Cougars' three guns Eric Millam, Gavin Field and Najee Lane all had outstanding games with Millam finishing with 34 points and seven rebounds on the back of shooting 14-of-22 from the field.

Field added 33 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and three blocked shots in a terrific all-round performance while Lane finished with 29 points, 15 boards, seven assists and five steals as well.

Steven Van Lit contributed 15 points as well for Cockburn with Sheldon McIntyre adding seven points, eight assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Jaarod Holmes led the way for the Eastern Suns with 23 points and four rebounds while shooting 11-of-17 from the floor.

Seva Chan added 18 points, seven assists, five boards and three steals while Lien Phillip contributed 17 points and 17 rebounds, Kevin Anthony 15 points and five assists, and James Dech 12 points, four boards and four assists.

The defending champion Eagles then snapped their 13-game losing streak and won their second match of the season by beating the Lightning at Lakeside by 10 points on Friday night.

Sunday Dech led the way for the Eagles in the breakthrough win finishing with 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals while Rhys Vague added 20 points, nine boards and four assists.

Drew Williamson also added 16 points and five steals for East Perth, Jamie Barnett 12 points and Keanu Pinder nine to go with 12 rebounds and six assists.

Jordan Swing battled hard all night for the Lightning ending up with 23 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four steals with Luke Thomas contributing 21 points, seven boards and six assists as well.

Captain Jesse Dixon added 16 points for Lakeside while Tom Parkinson scored 11 points, Corey Martin had 11 points seven rebounds, six assists, five steals and two blocks, and Jarrad Prue eight points and 14 boards.

The Flames then consolidated their position in the top eight after winning a two-point thriller over the Redbacks at Curtin on Friday night.

The Land brothers were again major factors in the win for Rockingham with Taylor finishing the night with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Ryan Godfrey 23 points and five boards.

Tom Remmerswaal contributed 19 points as well for the Flames with Travis Moore adding nine points and five rebounds off the bench.

Ray Turner once again did all he possibly could for the Redbacks continuing his remarkable form with another 39 points, 20 rebounds and five blocked shots on the back of shooting a phenomenal 17-of-24 from the field.

Joel Wagner added 17 points, nine assists and five rebounds as well for Perth while Ben Smith contributed 16 points, Marshall Brown 11 and Marshall Nelson 10.

The Magic then handed the Slammers their third loss of the season with a hard fought three-point victory at Eaton on Friday night. That sees the Magic improve to a 10-5 record in fourth spot and the Slammers slip to 12-3 in third.

Paul Hafford top-scored for the Magic with 23 points, 10 rebounds and four assists while Taylor Mullenax contributed 20 points and 10 boards.

Ben Smith also finished with 15 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists for Mandurah with Rhett Della contributing 14 points and six boards, Daniel Florance 14 points and Jarrad Jackson 10.

Tre Nicholls did all he could to inspire the Slammers to the win and finished with 41 points, five assists and four steals with Ty Harrelson contributing 26 points, seven boards and six assists.

Wade Hitchcock also finished with 10 points for South West, Clive Weeden eight and 18 rebounds, and Brian Voelkel eight to go with 12 boards and six assists.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 55 lost to Kalamunda Eastern Suns 83
Lakeside Lightning 64 lost to Schweigen East Perth Eagles 78
Perth Redbacks 71 lost to Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 80
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 69 lost to Mandurah Magic 78

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 124 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 105
Lakeside Lightning 90 lost to Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 100
Perth Redbacks 98 lost to Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 100
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 106 lost to Mandurah Magic 109

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by HoopShots