Perry Lakes strike Lightning, advance to face Wolves in GF (MSBL Semi-Final Wrap)
Total Connections Perry Lakes Hawks have completed a major upset by eliminating Lakeside Lightning from the men's State Basketball League playoffs and will now face Wanneroo Wolves in the Grand Final.
The Lightning only lost twice during the regular season but fell 2-1 in their best-of-three semi-finals series against the Hawks, while Wanneroo booked its spot in Saturday night's title decider at the WA Basketball Centre after it thrashed Cockburn Cougars 113-76 to take the series 2-0.
After losing game one last weekend, Lakeside got back into the series with a thrilling 92-88 win in game two, but it came at a huge cost as star import Luke Payne suffered an injury which ruled him out of game three.
The Lightning struggled offensively without Payne in the deciding game and were overrun in the final quarter as the Hawks wrapped up the match-up with an 84-71 win.
Key Lakeside forward Ben Beran struggled in game three, hitting just four of his 23 field goal attempts and making nine turnovers, which Perry Lakes took advantage of as it advanced to the Grand Final for the seventh time in 11 seasons.
Import Anthony Lee had 21 points and 17 rebounds and young forward Ben Purser added 19 points to help the Hawks become the first side to win at Lakeside this season.
A stunning performance from new Perth Wildcats recruit Greg Hire helped Wanneroo comfortably wrap up its series against the Cougars.
Hire had 34 points and 25 rebounds to lead the Wolves to their game two victory, while NBL team-mate Brad Robbins (20 points and eight assists) and veteran Damian Matacz (21 points and 14 rebounds) also impressed.
The Cougars were in the game at half-time but were outscored 65-38 in the second half as Wanneroo's 61-36 dominance of the rebound count helped it advance to the Grand Final for the first time since 1993.
Star import Stanley Ocitti struggled to just six points and seven rebounds and the Cougars couldn't overcome his lack of production, despite the best efforts of fellow American Ty Harrelson (16 points) and rising star Damian Scott (10 points).
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Helen Theoharakis (Hoop Shots)
Comments
Comment Guidelines: The SportsTG Network is made up of players, families and passionate sports followers like you who have a strong opinion about sport. That's great - we want you to have your say and share your thoughts with the world. However, we have a few rules that you must follow to keep it fun for all. Please don't be rude, abusive, swear or vilify others. Apart from some pretty serious sport sanctions, we also can ban you and report you if things get out of hand. So play fair and have fun, and thanks for your contribution.