Four to survive, four out (Mens QF Week 2 Preview)
MANDURAH, Lakeside, East Perth and Wanneroo all enter the second week of the men's SBL quarter finals needing just one more victory to advance through to the next round of the finals.
The quarter-final action got underway last weekend with the Mandurah Magic upsetting the Perry Lakes Hawks, the Lakeside Lightning downing the BOQ Perth Redbacks, the People's Choice Eagles beating the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers and the Australian Belt Scrapers Wanneroo Wolves knocking off the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers.
Those results mean that the Magic, Lightning, Eagles and Slammers need just the one victory this weekend with two opportunities to do so in Games 2 and 3 of the quarter-final match-ups.
The Game 2 action begins this weekend with three matches on Friday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks taking on the Mandurah Magic at the WA Basketball Centre.
The Lakeside Lightning also plays the Perth Redbacks at Lakeside Recreation Centre and the East Perth Eagles face the South West Slammers at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.
The only Game 2 to be played on Saturday night pits the Geraldton Buccaneers against the Wanneroo Wolves at Active West Stadium.
The Perry Lakes Hawks might have had a coaching changeover mid-season with Charles Nix taking over from Shawn Dennis but they still did well to finish in second position in the standings.
However, there was a hiccup last Saturday against the Magic who won 107-96 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre meaning that Perry Lakes now needs to win both games this weekend at the WA Basketball Centre to advance to the semi finals.
It is a talented Mandurah team they need to overcome as well with Taylor Mullenax on fire for the Magic last Saturday with 38 points while Taylor Land, Andrew Bowman and Rhett Della Maddalena are all quality players not to mention the outside shooting of veteran Aaron Trahair.
However, Ben Purser will be determined to bounce back from his four-point game last weekend while Adrian Majstrovich is in hot form coming off 37 points and 13 rebounds with Michael Lay continuing to do well despite a thumb injury he is playing through.
If Perry Lakes is able to win on Friday, Game 3 will be played also at the WA Basketball Centre on Saturday night.
The Lakeside Lightning were the dominant team right throughout the regular season finishing five games clear on top of the standings but they didn’t have it all their own way last Saturday managing a tight win over the Perth Redbacks 84-79 at Belmont Oasis.
However, the Lightning got the job done despite just eight points from Ben Beran with Justin Cecil stepping up scoring 26, Chris Sofoulis 18 and Jesse Dixon 11.
The Redbacks remain a threat, though, despite the series moving to Lakeside Recreation Centre this weekend with Game 2 on Friday and Game, if required, on Saturday.
Perth's line-up includes NBL quality talent Bennie Lewis, Justin Brown, Jarrad Prior, Michael Vigor and Joel Wagner and will be looking to upset Lakeside's run.
The East Perth Eagles scored the biggest win of the opening weekend with a 102-70 thumping over the South West Slammers at Eaton Recreation Centre.
The Slammers will now face massive task of continuing their first SBL finals appearance in 12 years when the series moves to the Morley Sport and Recreation Centre with Game 2 on Friday and Game 3, if required, on Saturday.
South West has the added problem of having to cover for the absence of import Clive Weeden who had 21 points last Saturday. Ty Harrelson, Trent Worthington, Wade Hitchcock and the rest of the Slammers will all have to step up.
It won't be easy, though, with the Eagles possessing the likes of Tom Jervis, Jo-Alan Tupaea, Drew Williamson, Michael Jones and Sunday Dech with Jarrod Balcombe under an injury cloud.
The Wanneroo Wolves might have finished the regular season sixth in the standings and the Geraldton Buccaneers in third, but the Wolves got the quarter-final series off to a perfect start for them with a 96-81 win last Saturday at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.
The Buccaneers deservedly entered the finals series as one of the genuine championship hopefuls, but now Daniel Thomas, Rob Kampman, Matt Wundenberg, Mark Heron, Carter Cook and Aaron Ralph need to win both matches at Active West Stadium this weekend.
Game 2 will be played on Saturday night and if the Buccaneers win that, Game 3 will be on Sunday afternoon with tip-off at midday.
Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Clare Chappell
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