THE Willetton Tigers Men's and Women's teams scored two huge wins over the league-leading Joondalup Wolves in Friday night SBL action while the Rockingham Flames won twice over the Lakeside Lightning, and the Perth Redbacks and Perry Lakes Hawks did the split.

It was always going to be a defining night in the Women's SBL in particular with the top six teams all locking horns with one another. It was last year's grand finalists the Tigers and Flames who again showed their quality with the Hawks signalling they are to be taken seriously in 2016 as well.

The three matches saw the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeat the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 63-60, the Perry Lakes Hawks down the Texture WA Perth Redbacks 75-65 and the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beat the Lakeside Lightning 76-58.

And in the corresponding Men's fixtures, the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers finished all over the top of the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves winning 104-98 while the Texture WA Perth Redbacks beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 113-93 and the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames defeated the Lakeside Lightning 109-79.

The Lady Tigers entered their clash with the Wolfpack at Willetton Basketball Stadium on the back of two straight losses but hit back against the league leaders with a thrilling three-point victory.

It's a big result for the Tigers who improve to a 12-3 record as a result when a loss would have made a top two finish tough. The Wolves suffered just their second loss of the season with their 10-game winning run coming to an end.

The Tigers welcomed back Louella Tomlinson and she made an immediate difference with the Tigers having lost twice without her. But she was back contributing 20 points and seven rebounds and Willetton returned to the winner's list.

Kate Malpass added 16 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Tigers on the back of shooting 8-of-14 from the field. Ebony Antonio contributed 11 points and five rebounds, and Zoe Harper nine points and 10 boards.

Nikita-Lee Martin top-scored for the Lady Wolfpack with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists with Shani Amos contributing 12 points and four assists, Amy Kidner 10 points and four rebounds, Klara Wischer 10 points and 10 boards, and Ellyce Ironmonger eight points, 14 rebounds and two blocked shots.

The Lady Hawks bounced back from a loss last Sunday to the Wolves to beat the Redbacks by 10 points at Belmont Oasis Leisure Centre.

It was a game Perry Lakes appeared in control of for most of the night and the Hawks answered all the challenges from the Redbacks for the important win to improve to 10-6 and the Redbacks slipped to 7-7.

The Hawks started strongly away from home but Ajay Jones caught fire late in the opening period to bring the Redbacks back within a point by quarter-time. But Perry Lakes had the edge the rest of the way and managed to pull away to the 10-point victory.

The Hawks attempted just 58 shots but made 24 at 41 per cent while attempting just eight threes and making one. They also dominated the glass with 48 rebounds to 32 with the Redbacks missing the hustle of Jess Jakens due to an ankle injury.

Deanna Smith again led the way for Perry Lakes off the bench with 19 points, eight rebounds and seven assists shooting an efficient 5-of-9 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Sarah Donovan added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks and Lauren Jeffers 12 points, six assists, five rebounds and five steals despite the 13 turnovers.

Kate Anthony also contributed 11 points and six boards, Emily Burton nine points and seven rebounds, and Annika Renkema five points, six boards and two assists. Brieana Nolan was another solid contributor with six points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Ajay Jones ended up top-scoring for the Redbacks with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists with Rebecca Benson contributing 18 points and five assists, and Ashley Gilmore 12 points and six rebounds.

The Lightning's three-game winning streak also ended at the hands of the two-time defending champion Flames coming away with an 18-point win at Lakeside Recreation Centre. The win improves Rockingham to a 13-3 record while the Lightning slip to 8-7.

The Flames got off to a fast start with 20 points to nine in the first quarter, and then blew the game open further in the third with 26 points to 12 before winning by 18.

Rockingham shot 43 per cent from the field while Lakeside managed to go just 27 per cent at 20-of-74 including 6-of-32 at 18 per cent from three-point territory.

Sami Whitcomb led the way for the Flames with 21 points and seven rebounds but it was the sight of Ifunanya Ibekwe making her first appearance with the team that was most exciting for Rockingham. The WNBL star had 13 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and six steals in over 22 minutes.

Ashlee Sidebottom moved to the bench and still contributed 17 points and four rebounds with Ella Kennedy contributing 11 points, six boards and four assists.

Devanny King top-scored for the Lightning with 12 points and 10 rebounds while Courtney Byrnes added 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Alison Schwagmeyer 10 points.

In the Men's action, the game of the night took place at Willetton Basketball Stadium with the Tigers hosting the Wolves.

Willetton continued its tremendous form of late coming from behind to beat the defending champion and league-leaders. The win improves the Tigers to a 12-5 record while the Wolves slip to 13-3 opening up a chance for the Cociburn Cougars to snap up top position.

The defending champion Wolfpack appeared in control of the contest at half-time leading 62-47 on the back of a 34-point second quarter.

But nobody told the Tigers that and they got back into the contest in the third period and then dominated the fourth with 34 points to 18 to overrun the Wolves and win by six points.

Jay Bowie led the way for the Tigers in the big win with 26 points, three rebounds and two steals shooting 8-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line.

Damien Scott contributed 21 points for Willetton despite hitting just 1-of-12 three-point attempts while Josh Johnson finished with 15 points and nine rebounds, Nic Cody 14 points and 10 boards, and Kyle Armour nine points, 13 assists and seven boards.

Greg Hire had a big night for the Wolves ending the evening with 34 points, 11 rebounds and five assists shooting 9-of-19 from the floor, 4-of-7 from long range and 12-of-18 from the stripe.

Rob Huntington added 24 points, five rebounds and four assists for the Wolfpack, Seb Salinas 21 points, three boards, two assists and two steals, and Bobby Evans four points and nine rebounds.

The Redbacks won their eighth game in their last nine attempts despite losing captain Joel Wagner to an ankle injury during the third quarter. The 20-point win over the Hawks improved the Redbacks to 10-7 well in a playoff position while the Hawks slipped to 8-11 clinging to eighth.

The Hawks actually started encouragingly with Bryton Hobbs starting on the bench and it was his arrival that sparked the Redbacks into action.

They ended up piling on 37 points in the opening quarter and while the Hawks never stopped trying to fight back, they were never able to get the deficit under double-figures.

There wasn’t much between the shooting of the two teams on the night but the Hawks did miss 14 of their 30 free-throw attempts. The Redbacks dominated the glass with 64 rebounds to 45 while also forcing the Hawks into 16 turnovers to just 10 themselves.

Jourdan DeMuynck ended up top-scoring for Perth with 23 points, three rebounds and three assists in a strong all-round performance hitting 4-of-7 of his three-point attempts.

Reed McConnell finished with 20 points, five rebounds and two assists for the Redbacks as well hitting 6-of-11 of his threes.

Michael Vigor contributed 20 points and 13 rebounds for Perth, Ben Smith 13 points, Lewis Thomas 12 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, and Joel Wagner 11 points and eight assists before injuring an ankle midway through the third quarter.

Brian Carlwell top-scored for the Hawks with 18 points and 12 rebounds with Ben Dixon contributing 16 points, Ben Purser 16 (10 rebounds), Josh Garlepp 11 (four boards) and Ryan O'Sullivan 10 (three boards, two assists).

The returning Hobbs finished with 15 points, four assists, three assists and two blocked shots shooting 6-of-16 in over 28 minutes in his first game back.

Lakeside's horror run continued at the hands of Rockingham with the Flames winning their first game in three attempts by 30 points to steady in the top eight at 11-8. The Lightning have lost 10 straight to be 4-13.

The Flames put the game on ice early against the Lightning with 28 points to 18 in the first quarter and then a dominant 37 points to 22 in the second to lead 65-40 at half-time. From there Rockingham went on to win by 30 points.

The Flames shot 49 per cent from the field making 43-of-87 while the Lightning shot just 31 per cent hitting 31 of their 100 attempts including 9-of-37 from three.

Cooper Land led the way for the Flames with 27 points and 10 rebounds on the back of shooting 10-of-19 from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point territory.

Ryan Godfrey contributed 17 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds for Rockingham, Chudier Pal 16 points and 12 boards, Taylor Land 14 points, four steals, four assists and three rebounds, and Jarryd Griffin 11 points and eight boards.

Matthew Vinci top-scored for the Lightning with 18 points, four assists and three rebounds while TJ Hallice had 10 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals. Daniel Grida added nine points and four rebounds while Daniel Alexander had just four points, five rebounds and two assists.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 63 defeated Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 60
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 65 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 75
Lakeside Lightning 58 lost to Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 76

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 104 defeated Merriwa Tavern & Bistro City of Joondalup Wolves 98
Texture WA Perth Redbacks 113 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 93
Lakeside Lightning 79 lost to Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 109

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by June Halliday