MSBL leaders Lakeside Lightning ensured the South West Slammers remained winless this season with a comprehensive 125 – 84 victory on Saturday night at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The 41-point demolition was Lakeside's sixth consecutive win and ensured it maintained its comfortable four-point lead over the next highest teams, Cockburn and Wanneroo.

In a game dominated by Lakeside’s three point shooting, it was the first half accuracy of the Lightning’s Luke Payne, which helped set up an insurmountable lead. Payne had 21 points to half time, as Lakeside connected on 12 first half three point field goals.

Lakeside’s lead blew out to as many as 34 in the first half as their suffocating full court defense forced the Slammers into numerous turnovers and easy points for the Lightning. The Slammers finished the game with 30 turnovers, double Lakeside's total.

Lakeside continued the full court press early into the second half, with eight players recording two or more steals for the entire game.

Although both teams shot 42% from the field, Lakeside shot the ball 33 more times than the Slammers. They also took 52 shots from beyond the arc, making 19 for a 37% conversion rate.

The Lightning bench had an outstanding influence on the game outscoring the Slammers’ bench 55-8, with Patrick Banks scoring 11 points in six minutes of play in the final term, which proved to be extremely crowd pleasing.

The Slammers were dominated in all areas on the court, however it was South West import Nick Freer who was the game-high scorer with 35 points. Matthew Smith was next best for the Slammers with 21.

For the Lightning, Payne had a team high 30 points, and was well supported by Ben Beran who finished with 20 points. Jarrad Prue had an outstanding game inside the paint with a game-high 22 rebounds for the Lightning.

“I thought we were pretty intense during the game, however our field goal percentage was pretty disappointing,” Lightning coach Andy Stewart said.

“We worked on it all week and we will need to revisit it again. We have a lot to prepare for in the next couple of weeks against Mandurah and Willetton."

The Lightning travel south to Mandurah to face the Magic next Saturday night, however the Slammers must travel back home to face the SKILLED Goldfields Giants Sunday afternoon in Eaton.

Earlier in the night, Lakeside's women set the trend for the night with a 42-point thumping of the Slammers.

In a game dominated by smothering defense and numerous turnovers, Courtney Bayliss had an outstanding game for the Lightning with 23 points, 17 rebounds and eight steals. Courtney Byrnes had 20 points, five assists and five steals for Lakeside.

The Slammers committed 40 turnovers for the game, and struggled to gain any momentum offensively or defensively. Top scorer for the Slammers was Rebecca Preston with 10 points.

Article by Nathan Winch at Lakeside Recreation Centre
Photo by Wayne Wright (Wayne Wright Photography)

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