THE men's SBL grand finalists for 2013 are set with the Lakeside Lightning and Wanneroo Wolves winning their semi-final Game 2's on Friday night while the Rockingham women levelled their own series with the Wolfpack.

The Lakeside Lightning have dominated the men's SBL competition all season long and they rammed that home on Friday night at Lakeside Recreation Centre with an annihilation of the People's Choice Eagles by a massive 56 points.

The East Perth Eagles were already without Jarrod Balcombe and then didn’t have star centre Tom Jervis on Friday so that made their task of taking on the Lightning all the tougher, and Lakeside ensured it became a nightmare.

Lakeside finished the regular season five games clear on top of the standings and then got through its quarter-final against the BOQ Perth Redbacks, but had to come from behind at three quarter-time last weekend to beat the Eagles in the semi-final Game 1.

However, there were no such problems this Friday night with Lakeside putting on an awesome first three quarters at home.

The Lightning forced East Perth into 11 first quarter turnovers and then scored 29-13 before adding another 40 to 22 in the second period and 38 to 16 in the third quarter before cruising to the massive 131-75 victory.

Justin Cecil top-scored for the Lightning with 24 points to go with six rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots.

Darrel Morgan also scored 20 points on the back of 6-of-8 shooting from three-point territory with Ben Beran adding 16 points, 11 boards, five assists and three steals, and Jarrad Prue six points and 19 rebounds.

Drew Williamson led the way for the Eagles with 19 points with John Taylor scoring 13 points, Nathan Friend 12 and Michael Jones 10.

The Wanneroo Wolves might have finished the men's regular season in sixth position in the standings, but they are now in the grand final to take on Lakeside next Saturday night after wrapping up its semi-final series against the Perry Lakes Hawks on Friday.

The Wolves might have finished sixth, but then upset the third-placed Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers in two quarter-final matches and now have beaten the second-placed Hawks as well in two matches in the semi finals.

It was a tight affair all night on Friday, though, at the WA Basketball Centre before the Wolves score 34 to 28 points in the final period to pull off the 104-98 victory to advance to the grand final.

Damian Matacz had a massive night for the Wolves finishing with 30 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Trian Iliadis added 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals with Reece Maxwell scoring 17 points, Seb Salinas 13 and Rob Huntington 12.

Adrian Majstrovich did all he could for the Hawks finishing with 28 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and two assists. Ben Purser also scored 28 points and Michael Lay 20.

The only women's semi-final to be played on Friday saw the Rockingham Flames level its semi-final series at one win apiece with an 82-72 victory over the Wanneroo Wolves Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The deciding Game 3 will now take place on Saturday night also in Rockingham with the winner to still face the winner of the semi-final series between the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers.

Game 2 of that series takes place on Saturday at Ray Owen Sports Centre as will Game 3 if required at midday on Sunday.

Meanwhile on Friday, Samantha Whitcomb had a big game for the Flames with 27 points, 11 rebounds and four assists with Cortney Hargreaves adding 21 points, Darcee Garbin 14 and Jacinta Bourne 12.

Nikita-Lee Martin again did all she could for the Wolves with 27 points and 11 rebounds with Shani Amos adding 14 points and Chelsea Burns 11.

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene Maisey (PandaSnap Photography)