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THE top eight teams in the Women’s SBL for 2019 was decided on Friday night with the Cockburn Cougars beating the Perth Redbacks meaning the Kalamunda Eastern Suns finished eight with the stage set now for four fascinating quarter-final match ups.

The final round of the 2019 Women’s SBL season began on Friday night with the Perth Redbacks needing to beat the Cockburn Cougars at Belmont Oasis.

But a spirit Cougars outfit combined with the absence of Lauren Mansfield and Rosie Deegan for the Redbacks saw Cockburn produce the 73-66 win which in turn advanced Kalamunda into the playoffs.

The other Friday night match saw the Rockingham Flames beat the Lakeside Lightning 76-66 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The regular season then concluded on Saturday with the Perry Lakes Hawks making it six straight wins beating the Willetton Tigers 80-51 on the last ever women’s clash on the Willetton Basketball Stadium court.

The Cockburn Cougars then backed up their Friday win defeating the East Perth Eagles 107-56 at Wally Hagan Stadium while the Mandurah Magic made it nine straight beating the Warwick Senators 96-87 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

Then at HBF Arena, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns no longer needed to win secure a playoff spot but they still managed to defeat the Joondalup Wolves 89-84 in overtime.

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That all means that at the end of the regular season, the defending champion Lakeside Lightning (16-6) claim the regular season championship just ahead of the Mandurah Magic (15-7) with the Warwick Senators (14-8) and Joondalup Wolves (14-8) round out the top four.

The Perry Lakes Hawks (13-9) then finish fifth in front of the Willetton Tigers (13-9), Rockingham Flames (13-9) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (11-11).

The Perth Redbacks (9-13) just missed out on returning the playoffs finishing in front of the South West Slammers (8-14), Cockburn Cougars (5-17) and East Perth Eagles (1-21).

That means in the quarter finals starting this weekend, the Lakeside Lightning play the Kalamunda Eastern Suns, the Mandurah Magic face the Rockingham Flames, the Warwick Senators take on the Willetton Tigers, and the Joondalup Wolves battle the Perry Lakes Hawks.

ROUND 20 WOMEN’S SBL

FRIDAY

TEXTURE WA PERTH REDBACKS 66 lost to ROUND 1 FITNESS COCKBURN COUGARS 73

The Cockburn Cougars have battled valiantly in the Women’s SBL all season long despite being terribly shorthanded so it was only fitting they were on the positive end of that on Friday night as they took advantage to beat the Perth Redbacks and end their playoff hopes.

The equation was simple for the Redbacks as they hosted the Cougars on Friday night at Belmont Oasis, they just needed to win the game and then hope that the Kalamunda Eastern Suns lost to the Joondalup Wolves on Saturday night at HBF Arena.

Should both those events happen, the Redbacks would finish the regular season in eighth position and book in a quarter-final clash with the Lakeside Lightning.

But that wasn’t to be with the Redbacks never really able to get going in the absence of Lauren Mansfield and Rosie Deegan with their season on the line. Then when Nes’eya Williams got injured in the first half, things got out of hand for the Redbacks and they never recovered.

However, Perth did start the game strongly to lead 19-9 by quarter-time. But the Cougars pulled it back to only trail by six at half-time.

Cockburn then took control to deliver one of their most impressive halves of the season to put a dagger through the dreams of the Redbacks to reach the finals.

The Cougars delivered 26 points to 17 in the third quarter, and another 23 points to 19 in the fourth to withstood any runs that the Redbacks tried to make to hold on and win the game by seven points.

It was a first win for Cockburn since beating Willetton back on June 8 and it snapped a seven-game losing streak as they improve to 4-17 on the season now with one game remaining on Saturday night at Wally Hagan Stadium against the East Perth Eagles.

It was a devastating blow for the Redbacks who fall out of playoff contention and hand eighth place to the Eastern Suns before they even have to play in Round 20. The Redbacks finish the season now with a 9-13 record.

Matilda Muir had a big night for the Cougars in the win finishing with 20 points, six rebounds and three steals.

Import Alina Hartmann continued her strong form with another 18 points, 14 rebounds and three assists with Haylee De Sousa contributing eight points and three rebounds, Vanessa Michael four points, eight boards, four assists and three steals, and Jodee Sontay three points, five rebounds and three assists.

Guard Nicole Roberts stood out too with the 291-game veteran producing 16 points, eight assists, three rebounds and two steals on shooting 4/8 from the field and 7/10 from the foul line.

Morgan Pullins top-scored for the Redbacks with 20 points, 11 rebounds and four steals with Jess Jakens adding 18 points, seven boards, four steals and three assists.

Denielle Lipscombe added eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals for Perth, and Taylor Roberts five points, six rebounds and two steals as she tried to stand up in the absence of Mansfield, Deegan and Williams.

CLASS 1 ORTHODONTICS ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 76 defeated LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 66

Rockingham and Lakeside geared up for the upcoming finals campaign with a clash on Friday night at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the Flames getting over the Lightning by 10 points.

Rockingham came into the game on the back of a strong road win over the Warwick Senators while Lakeside had top spot secure but were coming off a heavy loss at the expense of the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Building on that momentum from the win over the Senators and despite the absence of Darcee Garbin, the Flames got off to a flying start on their home floor with 21 points to 10 in the opening period.

Lakeside fired back in the second term, though, putting up 25 points to 15 from Rockingham and that saw the Flames only hold a 36-35 edge at half-time.

The rollercoaster ride then continued in the third quarter with Rockingham pulling away once more with 24 points to 10 and then they withstood the expected Lakeside fightback to end up winning 76-66.

The win sees Rockingham finish the season with four consecutive wins and a 13-9 record while Lakeside enters the finals from top spot as minor premiers with a 16-6 record but having lost their past two matches.

Despite the absence of Darcee Garbin due to the Australian Opals camp, the Flames still dominated the boards with 43 rebounds to 35 from Rockingham while they also forced the Lightning into an uncharacteristic 19 turnovers from which they scored 19 points.

Rockingham also scored 46 points in the paint to 22 on the way to the 10-point win.

Christina Boag came up big for the Flames with 22 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two assists on 10/18 from the field with Maddie Allen delivering 13 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

Alex Ciabattoni added 22 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals while Tayah Burrows produced 13 points and six boards, and Janelle Adams four points, four rebounds and two steals.

GeAnna Lualu-Summers did what she could to try and lift Lakeside to the win with 23 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals on shooting 7/12 from the field and 5/9 from three-point range.

Hannah Stewart added 13 points and six rebounds for the Lightning, Ash Grant 12 points and six boards, and Courtney Mansfield six points, six assists and four rebounds.

SATURDAY

WILLETTON TIGERS 51 lost to SCARBORO TOYOTA PERRY LAKES HAWKS 80

Willetton and Perry Lakes went to battle over fifth position on Saturday night at Willetton Basketball Stadium and it was the Hawks who kept their hot form going with the 29-point victory.

The game was always to be the last ever women’s clash on the Willetton court ahead of the building of the new showcourt which will be used from 2020 and beyond, but the Tigers weren’t able to go out on a winning note against the Hawks.

Perry Lakes came into the game in hot form since the arrival of Megan McKay and they continued that on Saturday night to deliver another emphatic performance heading towards the finals.

The Hawks got off to a flying start with 22 points to 11 in the first quarter and never looked back. They were able to hold the Tigers to just nine points in the second quarter for 20 first half points as they took a 17-point advantage into the main break.

It was more of the same in the second half as Perry Lakes cruised to the 80-51 victory having at one stage led by as much as 32 points.

Perry Lakes raked in a monstrous 69 rebounds to just 27 from Willetton to make up for the fact that they did turn the ball over 26 times and only make 4/16 from three-point range.

Jamie Cherry produced a strong showing as point guard for the Lady Hawks with 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists with support in the backcourt from Morgan Ballantyne who had nine points, two rebounds and two steals.

Nat Burton delivered 16 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots with Megan McKay adding 13 points, 14 rebounds and four assists, and Gabby O’Sullivan seven points and two boards.

It turned out to be a tough night to close the regular season for Willetton with Emma Gandini top-scoring with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Desiree Kelley added seven points, five rebounds, three steals and two blocks while Taryn Priestly contributed seven points and five assists.

ROUND 1 FITNESS COCKBURN COUGARS 107 defeated SCHWEIGEN EAST PERTH EAGLES 56

The Cockburn Cougars backed up their win on Friday night with another strong showing on Saturday to beat the East Perth Eagles by 51 points to finish their 2019 season on a winning note.

Cockburn had lost seven consecutive matches coming into the final round but they put in a spirited showing to beat the Perth Redbacks on Friday night, and then backed it up against the Eagles at Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday.

The Cougars continued their momentum from the night before with a dominant first quarter putting up 30 points to just 11 from the Eagles. They continued that on with 29 more points to 13 in the third term to head into half-time leading 59-24.

Cockburn went on an 18-0 run at one point in the contest to end up leading by as much as 55 points before ending up winning the contest 107-56 to close the season with multiple victories.

The Cougars ended the contest with 66 rebounds to 40 along with scoring 42 points in the paint to 18 while also scoring 28 points from East Perth’s 31 turnovers.

Alina Hartmann finished her first season with the Cougars in fine style finishing with 29 points, 12 rebounds and three assists while shooting 11/19 from the field, 3/8 from deep and 4/4 from the foul line.

Captain Vanessa Michael also put in a strong performance with 26 points, 11 rebounds, six steals, three assists and three blocked shots on shooting 12/15 from the field.

Matilda Muir produced 13 points, five rebounds and four assists with Kahlia Morgan delivering 12 points and three assists, Sally Graham seven points and six rebounds, and Jodee Sontay six points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

Rose Aryang battled bravely for East Perth in 34 minutes of court time with 13 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

Kalypso McCallum-Smith added nine points and four assists, Ella Dimanlig eight points and three rebounds, Bree Fisher eight points and six boards, and Sarah Lakay seven points, four rebounds and two blocked shots.

CACHET HOMES MANDURAH MAGIC 96 defeated BETHANIE WARWICK SENATORS 87

Two teams preparing to tackle the 2019 playoffs from top four positions locked horns at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre with the Magic ending up prevailing over the Senators to the tune of nine points.

Mandurah came into the game the hottest team in the Women’s SBL on an eight-game winning streak to all but lock up a top four finish already coming into the final round while Warwick’s recent form has been up and down, but their best is still as good as anyone’s.

That set the stage for an early Friday preview on Saturday in Mandurah and with the added motivation of celebrating the 200th SBL appearance of Emma Klasztorny, the Magic started strongly with 29 points to 19 in the first quarter and never really looked back.

The Senators never went away and did keep on fighting, but could never close the gap to the point of being a genuine chance of snatching the win with the Magic ending up leading by as much as 18 points before ending up winning 96-87.

The win leaves Mandurah entering the playoffs on a nine-game winning streak in second position with a 15-7 record while the Senators are just behind in third spot at 14-8 having lost three of their past four matches.

Taylor Brown showed once again just what a valuable late season addition she has been for the Magic with the dynamic point guard producing 31 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals while hitting 10/18 from the floor, 5/7 from deep and 6/7 from the line.

Emma Klasztorny celebrated her 200th SBL game with 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals while older sister Bree Klasztorny contributed 13 points and five boards.

Casey Mihovilovich produced 14 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals with Delany Junkermeir delivering 13 points, and Kasey Miegel four points, five assists and two rebounds.

Stacey Barr did all she could to try and lift the Senators to the win with 31 points and seven rebounds with Sam Roscoe contributing 19 points and seven boards, Samaria Howard 15 points and three rebounds, and Rebekah Throns nine points and three boards.

CHAMBERS FRANKLYN JOONDALUP CITY WOLVES 84 lost to KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 89

They no longer needed to win to book a finals spot but the Kalamunda Eastern Suns still delivered an impressive showing to beat the Joondalup Wolves at HBF Arena in overtime on Saturday night as both teams now prepare for the post-season.

While Kalamunda no longer needed the victory over Joondalup like they thought they likely would coming into the round, it didn’t mean the Eastern Suns didn’t want to take momentum into the playoffs.

But the Lady Wolfpack’s form had been building too having won their past three matches with Andee Ritter settling into the line-up along with Jasmine Martin since the loss of Kayla Steindl and captain Amy Kidner.

So it set the stage for a terrific contest between two teams preparing for the finals and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

The Suns started impressively and led by as much as 10 points in the first quarter before stilling being up 22-13 at quarter-time on the back of a Lauren Jeffers on the buzzer.

Jewel Williams then put the Eastern Suns back up 11 with two free-throws to start the second quarter and again they were up 11 when she made a layup with 3:45 left in the half.

But the Wolves then caught fire to close the second half including Mikayla Pirini and Jasmine Martin hitting threes as they managed to tie scores up by half-time.

The Wolfpack threatened to pull away several times during the third quarter by they only led by two heading into the fourth period.

Their lead did grow to seven early in the last term thanks to Pirini but the Eastern Suns weren’t going away and Rebecca Motroni hitting eight points in a minute saw scores back level with five minutes remaining.

Andee Ritter would put Joondalup up two with under two minutes remaining but Williams responded with a layup for Kalamunda. The Wolves had one last possession to break the deadlock but couldn’t get a shot off and then the Suns’ had a chance at the death to score multiple times but none would fall.

That set up an overtime period with Kalamunda scoring first thanks to Hannah King. Williams then put them four points up and despite Ritter hitting from deep for the Wolves, the Suns remained on top thanks to free-throws to Georgia Adams.

Rintala then stretched the lead and they prevailed 89-84 to head into the finals with some winning momentum.

Jennie Rintala put in a power of work for the Suns playing almost 40 minutes and delivering 22 points, 21 rebounds and two assists.

Jewel Williams stepped up too for 21 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists while Katie Yohn played scarcely after half-time but still had 17 points and four boards.

Lauren Jeffers produced 10 points, five rebounds and five assists, Georgia Adams nine points and 13 boards, Rebecca Motroni eight points, four boards, three assists and three steals.

Despite the loss, the Lady Wolfpack still ended up finishing the regular season in third position ahead of a quarter-final match up with the on-fire Perry Lakes Hawks.

Chelsea Belcher again top-scored for the Wolves with 17 points, four rebounds, four assists and four steals while hitting 4/7 from downtown.

Amber Land added 13 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and two blocks too for Joondalup while Jasmine Martin produced 13 points and five boards, Isabelle Miotti 11 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Mikayla Pirini 10 points and five assists.