THE Geraldton Buccaneers continued the Goldfields Giants' losing slide in Saturday night's SBL action while the Wolves scored a double over the Magic, the Hawks scored two crucial wins over the Tigers and the Lightning and Cougars split their contests.

With each team playing their final matches prior to Monday's SBL All-Star Games at the Bendat Basketball Centre, there were some fascinating results starting with both Perry Lakes Women's and Men's teams beating their higher ranked Willetton opponents.

The Lightning Women also scored a big win over the Cougars while the Lakeside Men lost for a seventh straight time and the Wolfpack had two victories over the Magic.

The three Women's matches on Saturday night saw the Lakeside Lightning defeat the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 94-79, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves defeated Mandurah 65-61 and the Perry Lakes Hawks downed the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 76-69.

Then in the Men's matches, the S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers beat the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 112-93, the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars downed the Lakeside Lightning 124-109, the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves defeated Mandurah Magic 96-73 and the Perry Lakes Hawks beat the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 114-88.

Starting with the Women's contests, the Lightning levelled their ledger at 6-6 with a 15-point win over a Cougars team who slip to 5-7 to just be clinging to their position inside the top eight.

It took until the third quarter for the Lightning to break clear of the Cougars when they scored 30 points to 18 and that was enough to set up the strong 15-point victory in the finish.

Ashleigh Grant led the way for the Lightning with 24 points, 15 rebounds, six blocked shots and four assists on the back of shooting 10-of-17 from the field.

Alison Schwagmeyer shrugged off a niggling injury to play and finish with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Courtney Byrnes also played and had 17 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals for Lakeside and Devanny King 16 points, 11 boards and four assists.

Candace Williams had another big performance for the Cougars with 41 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and two steals with Cherridy Thornton adding 19 points and nine boards.

The Lady Wolfpack and Magic played out a thriller at Joondalup Basketball Stadium and it was the Wolves who ended up stretching their winning run to nine. It improves Joondalup to a 10-1 record to leave them the only team in the Women's SBL to have only lost once.

Mandurah missed the chance to break into the top eight despite the strong effort with the Magic slipping to a 5-8 record.

The Wolves made a flying start with 28 points to 12 in the opening quarter but the Magic refused to go away and closed the final margin to four points, but couldn’t quite get over the line.

Amy Kidner was the star for Joondalup with 26 points, eight rebounds and four steals while Ellyce Ironmonger contributed 13 points, 12 boards and three blocked shots, and Nikita-Lee Martin 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists and two blocks.

Adijat Adams ended up with 20 points and 15 rebounds for Mandurah while Emma Klasztorny contributed 15 points and five boards, Casey Mihovilovich 11 points and Annette Davis nine points and 12 rebounds.

The Hawks bounced back from three straight losses to consolidate their place in the top four knocking off the Tigers by seven points at Bendat Basketball Centre.

The win improves Perry Lakes to an 8-5 record while Willetton's six-game winning run ended with the Tigers now 11-2.

Perry Lakes were in control for the first three quarters opening up a 59-41 advantage and then held on for the seven-point win despite a strong last quarter by Willetton.

Kate Anthony top-scored for the Hawks with 17 points and five rebounds with Sarah Donovan adding 16 points, Emily Burton 15, Deanna Smith 10 to go with nine rebounds, seven assists and five steals, and Lauren Jeffers eight points, eight assists, six steals and four rebounds despite 13 turnovers.

The Tigers were without Louella Tomlinson, Desiree Kelley and Ebony Antonio with Lara Napier stepping up to lead the scoring with 20 points along with five rebounds, five steals and three assists.

Kate Malpass also had 18 points, seven assists, three rebounds and three steals while Emma Gandini contributed 17 points, seven boards and three steals.

And in the Men's Saturday night action, the Buccaneers bounced back from two road losses to beat the Giants at home by 19 points. The win improves the Buccs to 11-6 while the Giants have now lost six straight to be 6-10.

The Buccs managed to lead by six points at half-time but that was down to just four at three quarter-time, but they managed to put their foot down with 36 points to 21 to end up winning comfortably by 19 points.

Geraldton had a good shooting night going 39-of-78 from the field at 50 per cent while getting to the line 33 times and making 24 of them. Goldfields shot 33-of-86 from the floor at 38 per cent, 3-of-20 from three and 24-of-31 from the line.

Maurice Barrow top-scored for the Buccaneers with 36 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, three blocked shots and two steals shooting 12-of-19 from the field and 11-of-14 at the free-throw line.

Mat Wundenberg contributed 22 points, 12 rebounds and three assists for the Buccs, and Carter Cook 20 points, nine boards and three assists.

Jacob Holmen top-scored for the Giants with 36 points and eight rebounds with Kenny Manigault contributing 18 points, seven boards, three assists and two steals, Edin Zunic 12 points and Daniel Goodluck 11 along with three steals, two assists and two rebounds.

The Cougars continued their strong form scoring a 15-point victory over the Lightning at Lakeside Recreation Centre. The win improves Cockburn to 12-3 in second spot while Lakeside has now lost seven on the trot to be 4-10.

Both teams scored 31 points in the opening period but then the Cougars shot clear in the second with 40 points to 20 to set up the eventual 15-point win.

While the Lightning shot well for the night with 42-of-88 from the field at 47 per cent, the Cougars were on fire finishing with 46-of-82 at 56 per cent.

Lakeside did win the rebound battle with 45 to 34 but the Lightning turned the ball over 20 times and conceded 29 points from those while also being outscored in the paint 68 to 52.

Gavin Field had a huge night for the Cougars with 43 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals shooting 15-of-20 from the floor, 2-of-5 from three-point range and 11-of-14 at the free-throw line.

Najee Lane also had 23 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals for Cockburn, and Marcus Goode 22 points, 10 boards, three assists and three blocked shots.

Daniel Alexander did all he could for the Lightning with 37 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and two steals while fellow import TJ Hallice contributed 23 points, 18 boards and three assists.

Corey Shervill also had 11 points and five rebounds off the bench for Lakeside.

The defending champion Wolfpack maintained their hold on top position with a 23-point win over the Magic at Joondalup Basketball Stadium. The Wolves improve to 12-2 while the Magic have lost five straight now and are 4-12.

It took until the second half for the Wolves to shake the undermanned Magic but eventually the league-leaders worked their way on top with 56 points to 38 in the second half to win by 23.

Kevin Davis led the way for the Wolfpack with 28 points, 10 rebounds, three blocked shots, two steals and two assists shooting 12-of-19 from the floor.

Jordan Wellsteed delivered a strong performance for Joondalup with 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals while Rob Huntington contributed 11 points and six boards, Rhys Smyth 11 points and Reece Maxwell eight points and nine rebounds.

Smyth was celebrating his 150th game in the process while Damian Matacz had seven points and five rebounds in his 300th appearance.

Trevor Setty top-scored for the Magic with 23 points and 13 rebounds with Chad Simpson contributing 13 points and five boards, Ben Smith 12 points and 16 rebounds, Daniel Florance 10 points and seven boards, and Jarrad Jackson 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.

The Hawks not only scored an important win over the Tigers by 26 points at Bendat Basketball Centre to consolidate their playoff position, but sent a real message that they are a real threat in 2016.

The win sees Perry Lakes improve to an 8-8 record while Willetton slips to 10-5 with the Tigers' four-game winning run coming to an end.

The Hawks started strongly with 25 points to 12 in the opening quarter and another 28 points to 20 in the second period to lead 53-32 at half-time to set up the eventual 26-point victory.

Perry Lakes had a hot shooting night going 46-of-83 from the field at 55 per cent while Willetton hot just 33 per cent. The Hawks also had 52 rebounds to 37 and scored 52 points in the paint to 36.

Brian Carlwell continued his dominant run of form for Perry Lakes with 30 points, 10 rebounds and four assists shooting 13-of-17 from the floor.

Ben Purser added 21 points, nine assists and five boards for the Hawks, Ryan Smith 16 points, six rebounds and six assists, Josh Garlepp 14 points, Matthew Sellers 13 points and 10 boards, and Ryan O'Sullivan 10.

Jay Bowie top-scored for the Tigers with 22 points and seven rebounds with Damien Scott contributing 16 points, Charles Funches 13, Nic Cody 12 and Kyle Armour 12 to go with eight rebounds and four assists.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Lakeside Lightning 94 defeated Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 79
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 65 defeated Mandurah Magic 61
Perry Lakes Hawks 76 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 69

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers 112 defeated Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 93
Lakeside Lightning 109 lost to Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 124
Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 96 defeated Mandurah Magic 73
Perry Lakes Hawks 114 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 88

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin