The finals series came to an abrupt halt at the first hurdle for the Wolves men’s and women’s teams last Saturday night after both teams went down in the second game of the best-of-three series to Perry Lakes at Joondalup.

After dropping their first game of the series the previous week, it was do or die for both Wolves teams in Game Two and unfortunately it wasn’t to be after Perry Lakes took the men’s and women’s games in a convincing fashion. With respect to the men’s team, it may be said that it was a disappointing end to what had promised to be a strong tilt at an SBL championship this season, especially after team captain Damien Matacz had re-joined the team in recent weeks following his return from overseas. The Wolves finished in third place after the regular season and had their rivals wary of them after a strong run into the playoffs.

In the end, the men’s team went down 112-95 in Game Two after Perry Lakes took an early lead before pulling away late in the third quarter and never looked back. Following on from Game One, tensions were again tested throughout the game with a double technical foul being issued in the second quarter following a confrontation between Wolves’ guard Tony Pearman and Tom Garlepp of the Hawks.

The Wolves trailed 63-50 at the half before some strong inside play early in the third quarter from Jeff Dowdell (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Damien Matacz (15 points, 4 rebounds) got the Wolves back to within 3 points. However, Perry Lakes again lifted the tempo by knocking down some big outside shots late in the third and the Wolves were unable to go with them. The Wolves trailed 88-74 at the end of the third and the margin remained in double figures throughout the fourth quarter.

Rhys Smyth also enjoyed extra minutes at point guard for the Wolves after import Scott Moore re-injured his finger early in the fourth quarter and never returned to the game.

In the women’s game, the Wolves went down to Perry Lakes 72-58. The women’s team again took it up to the Hawks in the first half with the Wolves leading by a point at the main break and threatening to take the series to a Game Three decider. However, just as the case was the previous week, Perry Lakes were able to gain the ascendancy early in the third quarter and while the Wolves kept it close, they trailed for the majority of the second half. The Hawks pulled away mid-way through the fourth quarter to take the game comfortably.

Jodie Wallace (11 points) who top scored for the Wolves was only player in double figures as the scoring was spread throughout the team. Meghan D’Arcy also shot well in the third quarter to keep the Wolves in touch. It was a solid display in both games from the women’s team against the championship favouite Hawks, and this will provide a lot of encouragement for them heading into the 2010 season.

Article by Scott Palmer
Photo by Travis Hayto