Both Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tiger’s Men and Women staged impressive home victories over the Stirling Senators in week 15 of the State Basketball League.

The Tigers Men were set to face an extreme battle for the finals with an eighth placed Stirling Senators who would have fancied themselves against an inconsistent Tigers outfit.

Five year old Studio24 music student Savannah Fajarda set the tone pre-game with a sensational performance singing the national anthem in front of a 350+ crowd. This was a launching platform for the Tigers Men with the crowd on an emotional high right from the start.

The Tigers Men jumped out to an early lead thanks to the shooting theatrics of veteran Wayne Biddle who put on a show for the home crowd displaying the full potential of his in form shooting mechanic with a phenomenal six straight three pointers in the first period off the bench.

The Senators received another blow with scoring machine Carmichael Olowoyo in foul trouble early, leaving much of the scoring responsibilities to American import Edward Morris Jr.

Morris, who wasn’t afraid to showcase his freakish dunking ability on numerous occasions, had to grind it out in the paint, undersized against Tigers man-mountain Chris Christofferson.

The Senators showed signs of a comeback in the fourth cutting the lead to single digits but they couldn’t recover from the first quarter blowout. Jacob Reed sealed the game with two late threes as the Tigers got across the line 110-96, claiming a critical victory in their journey for the finals.

Import Robert Epps, despite coughing the ball up 9 times led the way for the Tigers with 25 points and a massive 18 boards. Three-point assassin Wayne Biddle wasn’t far behind finishing with an amazing 7 of 10 from beyond the arc for 21 points.

For the Senators, Olowoyo restricted to just over 20 minutes of play left Morris free to lead all scorers putting up 31 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

The third placed Tigers Women finished another successful weekend with a convincing victory over a last placed Senators Women.

The women, who were simply physically superior, didn’t hesitate once on their way to defeating the Senators 78-57. Kate Malpass led all scorers with an impressive 22 points. Perth Lynx team mate Ashley Gilmore wasn’t far behind with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

All signs look positive for a solid end to the regular season for the Tigers Women who are eyeing a second placed finish. Still waiting on the return of young gun Courtney Hargreaves, the Tigers line up will get deeper as they approach the finals.

Both Tigers Men and Women face double headers in week 16 on the road against the East Perth Eagles on Friday night and welcoming the Southwest Slammers to the Boulevarde on Saturday.

The Tigers Women will look out for a much improved East Perth Eagles outfit from when they last met in week 3 - which now includes Perth Lynx star Carly Wilson, who was recently acquired on her return from playing in Europe.

The battle for eighth place in the MSBL standings is red hot and two wins are crucial for the Tigers Men to take the lead in the finals hunt. Coming off a big win will give the team confidence, but consistency will be the key as they are yet to win more than back to back games this season.

The Tigers Women tip off at 6pm with the Men following at 8 pm for Saturday night’s home clash with the Southwest Slammers.

Article by Tim Friday
Photo by June Halliday