THE Anzac Round of SBL began on Friday night with the Joondalup Wolves winning both their matches comfortably over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns while the Stirling Senators won two thrillers over the Lakeside Lightning.

Two venues hosted the action on Friday night and at Joondalup Basketball Stadium the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves recorded men's and women's victories over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

The Lady Wolfpack defeated the Eastern Suns 74-49 and then to top off the night the men's Wolves team beat the Suns 123-82.

The other venue to host Friday night SBL action was Warwick Leisure Centre and that saw the women's Stirling Senators beat the Lakeside Lightning 79-76 and then the Senators' men win another thriller 105-103 over the Lightning as well.

In the women's contests on Friday night, the Wolves were on top of the Suns all evening and ended up recording the 25-point victory despite the absence of Rebecca Mercer.

Shani Amos led the way on the evening for the Lady Wolfpack finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Casey Lockwood added 11 points and nine rebounds as well for Joondalup with Chelsea Burns adding 10 points, seven boards, five assists and three steals.

Abbie Ironmonger also contributed 10 points off the bench for the Wolves with Amy Kerr scoring nine points and Ellyce Ironmonger pulling in 12 rebounds.

Thea Lemberger did all she could for the Eastern Suns finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists with Abbey Duinker also contributing 16 points and nine boards. However, no other Kalamunda player managed more than four points.

For much of the evening at Warwick it appeared that the Lightning women were going to win their first game of the 2015 season with them leading by four points at quarter-time, by 19 at half-time and still 13 at three quarter-time.

However, it was yet another heartbreaking loss for Lakeside to start the year with the Senators scoring 29 points to 13 in the fourth period to end up winning by three points in a thriller.

Tegan Walker had a big double-double for the Senators finishing with 23 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two steals with Amber Land also contributing 14 points, 12 boards and seven assists.

Aisha Collymore added 11 points off the bench for Stirling with Fiona Madden finishing with eight points, Maria Robinson seven, Bridget Henderson six and Elleana Donaldson six. Cassie Bates also had four points, eight assists, three steals and three rebounds despite failing to hit a field goal.

Courtney Byrnes did all she could for the Lightning finishing with 21 points, six assists, four rebounds and two steals.

Ashleigh Grant contributed 14 points, nine boards, two steals and two blocked shots as well for Lakeside while Megan Craig had 14 points and four rebounds off the bench. Amie Nash added 10 points, four rebounds and three assists as well.

The men's Wolves recorded a thumping 41-point win over the Suns on Friday night at home having outscored their opponents by 39 points over the last three quarters.

Kevin Davis top-scored for Joondalup with 24 points and seven rebounds on the back of shooting 6-of-11 from the field, but he was just one of four players to hit the 20-point mark for the night.

Seb Salinas also had 23 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals for the Wolves on the back of hitting 9-of-12 from the floor and a scorching 5-of-6 from downtown.

Trian Iliadis also had 23 points, five assists and three assists for the Wolfpack with Rob Huntington adding 20 points and six boards, and Damian Matacz 13 points. Brad Robbins also had six rebounds and two steals in almost 19 minutes of court time.

Seva Chan worked hard for the Eastern Suns and top-scored with 21 points with Jaarod Holmes contributing 17 points, Lien Philip 17 points and eight rebounds, and Kevin Anthony 12 points, six boards, three blocks and two steals.

The Senators' men then held on to win a thriller by two points in an exciting and high-scoring affair over the Lightning at home.

Lakeside held the 103-102 advantage with four seconds of the game remaining after Jordan Swing hit a jumper, but Stirling had one more chance to snatch back the lead and Cody Ellis took that to nail a three-pointer with Austin Bruton providing the assists and the Senators won by two points.

On top of hitting the game-winning shot, Ellis had 31 points, five assists, five steals and three rebounds for the night for Stirling while Kyle Lindbergh top-scored with 32 points, 12 boards, seven assists and five blocks while shooting 13-of-19 from the field.

Bruton added 17 points and three assists for the Senators as well with Tom Witts scoring nine points, Ryan Woodbury eight and Sean Gilmore eight off the bench.

Jordan Swing top-scored for the Lightning with 31 points, six rebounds and three assists with Luke Thomas contributing 18 points, 12 boards and seven assists.

Jarrad Prue added 15 points and 23 rebounds off the bench with Corey Martin finishing with 15 points and five assists, and Brad Jackson 11 points and four boards.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 74 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 49
Stirling Senators 79 defeated Lakeside Lightning 76

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 123 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 82
Bethanie Stirling Senators 105 defeated Lakeside Lightning 103

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by June Halliday