THE Perry Lakes Hawks came to Cockburn and spoiled the Cougars championship celebrations on Friday night under the helm of Matt Parsons with the Lakeside Lightning also keeping the Kalamunda Eastern Suns winless in 2017.

The two Friday night Men's SBL matches for Week 3 saw the Lakeside Lightning defeat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 92-87 at Lakeside Recreation Centre and the Perry Lakes Hawks storm home to beat the Cockburn Cougars 97-90 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

All eyes were on Wally Hagan Stadium as the Cougars celebrated last year's championship victory by raising the banner.

Up the other end of the floor was the man who coached them to that triumph Matt Parsons who is now coaching the Hawks along with Cougars championship winners Travis Hayto and Luke Wilson who have joined him at Perry Lakes.

That set the scene for what was always going to be an eventful night and the game certainly didn’t disappoint.

Even with Parsons coaching the Cougars last season, the two teams played out a hotly contested and heated quarter-final battle last year. Cockburn prevailed on the way to the championship but there was definitely plenty of feelings left over.

That was exacerbated with Parsons now coaching the Hawks and the Cougars were fired up putting up 35 points in the first quarter.

Cockburn remained in control leading by 16 points with six minutes remaining in the third quarter. They were still up by 10 as well with eight minutes left in the fourth.

But Perry Lakes wasn’t lying down with Ryan Smith and Ben Purser instrumental in them getting back in the game. A Brian Carlwell dunk and free-throw then had them within one with 3:27 left.

A minute later and they were in front by two after a Ryan O'Sullivan triple and even though the Cougars did respond quickly, Perry Lakes had the momentum and went on to win by seven.

Purser had a big night all-round for the Hawks with 25 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals on 11-of-18 shooting.

Carlwell added 24 points and 15 rebounds making 11 of his 14 shots too.

Robert Waters finished with 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds with Smith contributing 14 points, six boards and five assists, and O'Sullivan 10 points.

Lochlan Cummings had a tremendous night for the Cougars with 25 points, four rebounds and four assists while reigning Player of the Week Jalen Billups having another 23 points and eight boards.

Seva Chan finished with 11 points and four assists for Cockburn, Gavin Field 13 points and eight boards and Dan Thomas eight points.

The Suns began their double-header this weekend hunting a first win of 2017 by taking on the Lightning at Lakeside on Friday.

The Eastern Suns did well to put up 31 second quarter points to be level at half-time and then up by four by three quarter-time, but the Lightning just did enough in the final period to end up winning on their home floor by five points.

James Padgett again did a bit of everything to lead the way for the Lightning with 24 points, 10 rebounds, four steals and three assists on shooting 10-of-16 from the floor.

Fellow import Devon Atkinson added 18 points and 10 assists with Daniel Grida contributing 14 points and eight rebounds, and Darrell Morgan 14 points all made up of 4-of-10 from downtown.

The Eastern Suns did welcome back one import Courtney Belger even though they are still waiting on Rob Brandenberg. Belger had 17 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds in his first game of 2017.

Tim Squire was a big improver for Kalamunda in 2016 and had a good night on Friday with 23 points and six rebounds while nailing 6-of-11 of his three-point attempts.

Kerrod Horn added 15 points, three steals and three rebounds for the Suns and Theron Pinker nine points.

Saturday night's action will see the Geraldton Buccaneers host the Willetton Tigers and the Goldfields Giants take on the Mandurah Magic.

The South West Slammers also take on the East Perth Eagles, the Joondalup Wolves play the Rockingham Flames, the Stirling Senators battle the Cockburn Cougars and the Kalamunda Eastern play host to the Perth Redbacks.

FRIDAY NIGHT ROUND 3 MEN'S SBL RESULTS
Lakeside Lightning 92 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 87
Cockburn Cougars 90 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 97

SATURDAY NIGHT ROUND 3 MEN'S SBL FIXTURES
Geraldton Buccaneers v Willetton Tigers – Active West Stadium 7.30pm
Goldfields Giants v Mandurah Magic – Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium 7.30pm
South West Slammers v East Perth Eagles – Eaton Recreation Centre 8pm
Joondalup Wolves v Rockingham Flames – Joondalup Basketball Stadium 8pm
Stirling Senators v Cockburn Cougars – Warwick Stadium 8pm
Kalamunda Eastern Suns v Perth Redbacks – Ray Owen Sports Centre 8.30pm

Photo by Vikki Hile