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THE Joondalup Wolves answered the challenge impressively of both the Kalamunda Eastern Suns and Warwick Senators in Round 3 of the West Coast Classic while the East Perth Eagles also opened their account.

Round 3 in the West Coast Classic got underway on Friday night with three matches which saw the Perry Lakes Hawks start their weekend impressively defeating the Willetton Tigers 61-43 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Perth Redbacks then won big 81-48 against the East Perth Eagles at Belmont Oasis while the Joondalup Wolves prevailed in the battle of unbeaten teams, defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 87-55 at HBF Arena.

That set the stage for a fascinating Saturday evening beginning with the East Perth Eagles bouncing back for their first win of the season, beating the South West Slammers 90-51 with Bree Fisher putting up 30 points on 7/14 shooting from three-point land.

It was another clash of undefeated sides at Warwick Stadium and again the Joondalup Wolves triumphed, beating the Warwick Senators 72-50 while the Lakeside Lightning stayed unbeaten too downing the Cockburn Cougars 76-48.

The round concluded at Bendat Basketball Centre with the Perry Lakes Hawks beating the Mandurah Magic 58-53.

The Round 3 results leave the Joondalup Wolves out on top of the standings in the Women’s West Coast Classic with the Rockingham Flames (2-0) and Lakeside Lightning (3-0) also yet to taste defeat. The Warwick Senators (2-1) round out the top four.

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns (2-1) are just outside a finals position ahead of the Perth Redbacks (3-2), Perry Lakes Hawks (3-2), Mandurah Magic (2-3), Willetton Tigers (1-3), East Perth Eagles (1-3), Cockburn Cougars (0-4) and South West Slammers (0-4).

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WEST COAST CLASSIC 2020 – WOMEN’S ROUND 3

FRIDAY
WILLETTON TIGERS 43 lost to PERRY LAKES HAWKS 61

The Perry Lakes Hawks opened their double-header weekend with an impressive performance from start to finish to beat the Willetton Tigers by 18 points at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Friday night.

Perry Lakes opened the game by scoring the first seven points with Nikita Martin hitting the first four and then captain Annika Renkema nailing a layup to top off the 7-0 run.

Desiree Kelley got Willetton on the board when she knocked down a triple and the Tigers even hit the front briefly thanks to rising big Imogen Ayliffe. But by quarter-time, the Lady Hawks had taken control again with a 12-2 run to lead 20-11.

The Tigers kept it close in the second quarter, though, with the Hawks only heading into half-time with a 33-27 advantage.

But Perry Lakes took over the contest in the third quarter at one stage going on an 11-0 run to put up 19 points to eight for the period and be leading 52-35 by three quarter-time.

The two teams only managed to combine for 17 points the entire fourth quarter but that was enough for Perry Lakes to run out 61-43 winners.

Both teams did have 26 turnovers for the game but the Hawks got on top by dominating the glass with 57 rebounds to 36 and scoring 36 points in the paint to just 16 from Willetton. Perry Lakes also finished with 19 second chance points to four on 20 offensive boards to eight.

Nikita Martin came up big for the Lady Hawks with 15 points, five rebounds, three steals and two assists with Sarah Donovan contributing 13 points, six boards and three steals.

Nat Burton also had 11 points and 12 rebounds, Millie McCarthy 11 points, three boards and three steals, and Kate Williams three points, four assists and three rebounds.

Point guard Hayley Winter top-scored for the Tigers with 11 points, four rebounds and three steals with Taryn Priestly contributing 10 points and four boards, Imogen Ayliffe eight points, eight rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists.

PERTH REDBACKS 81 defeated EAST PERTH EAGLES 48

The Perth Redbacks opened up with 20 of the game’s first 23 points at Belmont Oasis on Friday night to end up beating the East Perth Eagles 81-48 but coach Craig Allen wants his team to start finding more consistency.

The Redbacks have had a remarkably up and down start to the 2020 West Coast Classic suffering 36 and 20-point losses to the Joondalup Wolves and Perry Lakes Hawks while now having recorded wins by 33, 17 and 33 points over Mandurah, Cockburn and East Perth.

They hold a 3-2 record now with their first three rounds of the West Coast Classic done and dusted to see them staying touch for a finals position.

East Perth was looking to be more competitive on Friday night after putting up just 31 points in a 52-point loss to Mandurah last Saturday night, but helping those hopes was the return of Bree and Eryn Fisher for the Eagles.

It didn’t make an immediate difference, though, even though East Perth scored the first two points of the game thanks to Eryn Fisher. Jade Gowland did land a free-throw soon after but from there the Redbacks took control.

The home team scored the last 13 points straight in the first quarter to lead 20-3 by quarter-time before Fiona Madden stopped the run by scoring for East Perth to start the second period.

From there the Eagles did put up a good fight the rest of the way and the Redbacks were only gradually able to extend their lead throughout the evening.

The Redbacks’ lead was as much as 35 points before setting at 33 by the final buzzer and to their credit the Eagles would have been able to take something from the last three quarters of the game.

As for the Redbacks, it was recently turned 17-year-old teen sensation Brooke Malone who had a night out. She produced a stunning performance showing how bright her future is finishing with 23 points and six rebounds on 7/11 shooting from the floor and 4/7 from three-point territory.

Reigning Wandering Distillery SBL Shootaround Player of the Week Jess Jakens had another 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Redbacks too.

Sarah Allen added nine points too for Perth, Denielle Lipscombe eight points, nine rebounds and three assists, Briana Bailey seven points and three boards, Shenae Hartree seven points and three assists, and Maddie Allen four points to go with 11 rebounds and four assists.

Eryn Fisher ended the night with 14 points, five rebounds, three steals, three blocked shots and two assists for East Perth with Fiona Madden adding eight points, Jaide Gowland five points and 10 rebounds, and Hannah-Rose Gillis five points.

JOONDALUP WOLVES 87 defeated KALAMUNDA EASTERN SUNS 55

The Joondalup Wolves and Kalamunda Eastern Suns put their undefeated records on the line on Friday night at HBF Arena with the Lady Wolfpack proving too strong winning by 32 points.

The Wolves had opened their season with wins against the Redbacks and Cougars while the Eastern Suns had beaten both the Eagles and Tigers back in Round 1 setting up Friday night’s encounter.

The Lady Wolfpack were on top from start to finish, though, and by quarter-time the home team ended up leading the Eastern Suns 26-15.

The Wolves continued on with the momentum in the second period putting up another 21 points to 13 from the Eastern Suns to head into the half-time interval leading 47-28.

Joondalup scored another 21 points and Kalamunda 18 in the third quarter with the Wolves’ lead extending to 68-46 by three quarter-time.

There would be no let up from the Wolfpack the rest of the way and they would end up leading by as much as 33 points before going on to win 87-55 and remain undefeated so far in the West Coast Classic.

The great depth of the Wolves was fully on show as they had 12 players all play at least seven minutes on the night and each of them made an impressive contribution.

Kayla Steindl ended up top-scoring with 13 points and five rebounds while Alix Hayward added 10 points and five boards, and Amber Land 10 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Isabelle Miotti also contributed nine points, three rebounds and two assists, Chelsea Belcher eight points, three boards and three steals, Georgia Denehey eight points, six rebounds and three assists, Mikayla Pirini eight points and three assists, and Eleanor Hartill seven points.

Rebecca Motroni top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 12 points and four rebounds with Jessie Edwards adding 10 points and six boards, Georgia Adams eight points and four rebounds, and Jewel Williams eight points, four rebounds and four assists.

SATURDAY
EAST PERTH EAGLES 90 defeated SOUTH WEST SLAMMERS 51

Two teams desperate for a win locked horns at Herb Graham Recreation Centre on Saturday night and it was the East Perth Eagles who opened their account beating the South West Slammers by 39 points.

The Eagles and Slammers were both winless coming into Friday night’s game and some of the losses had been heavy including East Perth losing to Mandurah by 52 points the previous Saturday night and then to the Perth Redbacks by 33 on Friday night.

The Slammers were also coming off last Saturday night’s 68-point defeat at the hands of the Warwick Senators so both of them appeared evenly matched and desperate to get their opening West Coast Classic wins on Saturday evening.

East Perth started the game strongly and by quarter-time had worked their way on top to lead the Slammers 24 points to 14.

South West was able to stick with East Perth for the second quarter, though, with the Eagles heading into half-time only leading 43-32 with the game still up for grabs.

The Lady Eagles were able to blow the game open after half-time though. That saw the home team put up 24 points and concede just 10 in the third period, and then outscore the Slammers 23 to nine in the fourth.

East Perth would go on a 14-0 run and end up leading by as much as 39 points which just happened to be the final margin as they opened their West Coast Classic account with the 90-51 victory.

While the Slammers did battle hard, the reality is without the presence of Courtney Bayliss and Kate Fielding, who have put their hands up to play this competition but were going to bow out in the SBL, this is a remarkably young and inexperienced team.

There are no imports like planned for the SBL season nor the couple of recruits coach Nathan Grover had added including veteran big Vanessa Michael.

The great positive, though, is the experience gained by these remarkably young players provided they can keep their chins up and not let the scoreboard influence them too much.

Bree Fisher was brilliant on the night for the Eagles and as a result was named on SBL Shootaround as the Wandering Distillery Player of the Week. She delivered 30 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists including hitting 7/14 from three-point territory.

Cameron Flynn added 15 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists for East Perth with Meg Ferraz contributing eight points, four boards and three assists, Gemma Dix eight points and two steals, Hannah-Rose Gillis six points and Jade Gowland six points and three rebounds.

Rose Aryang also pulled in 11 rebounds as she continues to juggle netball and basketball while Eryn Fisher had four points, six rebounds and three assists, and Fiona Madden four points, five boards and three steals.

It was a tough night for the Slammers who had 32 turnovers and shot just 31 per cent from the field and went 1/14 from beyond the arc.

Shannon Verhagen top-scored with nine points while Catherine Waycott finished with seven points and seven rebounds, and Bianca Donovan seven points, three boards, two assists and two steals.

WARWICK SENATORS 50 lost to JOONDALUP WOLVES 72

For the second time this weekend the Joondalup Wolves put their unbeaten West Coast Classic record on the line against a fellow undefeated side, and prevailed this time beating the Warwick Senators by 22 points at Warwick Stadium.

Coming off playing in last year’s SBL Grand Final, the Senators have started the West Coast Classic impressively with wins against the Perry Lakes Hawks and South West Slammers while the Wolves remained undefeated too with wins against the Redbacks, Cougars and Eastern Suns.

That set the stage for a tantalising match up in the Battle of Joondalup at Warwick Stadium on Saturday night, but it didn’t quite pan out that way.

The Lady Wolfpack raced out to a 14-2 lead with Amber Land and Georgia Denehey knocking down three-pointers to open proceedings before Nes’eya Williams, Kayla Steindl and Chelsea Belcher also got in on the early scoring fun.

Despite that hot start and Joondalup still leading 18-12 by quarter-time, and then again by as much as 14 in the second period when Mikayla Pirini hit a three, the Senators worked back into the contest and were only down seven at half-time.

But the Wolves put their foot down further after half-time to hold Warwick to just nine points in the third period as they scored 18. The Wolfpack would lead by as much as 22 during the second half and that would be the final margin as they won 72-50.

It was once again the stunning depth of Joondalup that proved the difference as no matter which 12 players they rotate through, they lose precious little when any of them hit the floor.

Kayla Steindl again finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals with Isabelle Miotti contributing 11 points, three boards, three assists and two steals, Amber Land 11 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, and Alix Hayward 10 points and nine boards.

Mikayla Pirini also had eight points, four rebounds and three assists, Chelsea Belcher six points and two steals, and Nes’eya Williams six points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

Reigning MVP Stacey Barr had a tough shooting night for the Senators going 4/19 from the field and 2/12 from deep but still had 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Nicole Jorre De St Jorre battled hard for 15 points, six steals, five rebounds and four assists with Chloe Forster producing seven points and six boards, Tayla Hepburn seven points, three rebounds, three assists and three blocks, and Mackenzie Clinch-Hoycard seven points and 10 boards.

COCKBURN COUGARS 48 lost to LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 76

The Lakeside Lightning maintained their strong and undefeated start to the West Coast Classic with Saturday night’s emphatic 28-point victory against the Cockburn Cougars.

The Cougars were still on the hunt for their first win of the West Coast Classic with the Lightning attempting to remain undefeated when they met on Saturday night at Wally Hagan Stadium.

By the latter part of the first quarter the Lightning were able to begin to pull away and then head into the quarter-time break leading 17-10.

Lakeside continued to extend its advantage during the second quarter with 19 points to 13 to head into half-time up 36-23.

There would be no let up from the unbeaten Lightning as the went on to outscore Cockburn 40 points to 25 as well in the second half to end up with the 76-48 victory.

Ultimately the Lightning were able to win the possession game on the back of pulling in 59 rebounds to 41 while also scoring 11 second chance points to five.

They also shot better with the Cougars ultimately undone by going 26 per cent from the field and hitting 3/28 from three-point land while the Lightning did get to the foul line 27 times even if they only hit 16 of them.

Ash Isenbarger continued her outstanding form to open the West Coast Classic with 17 points, eight rebounds and two assists for Lakeside with Mia Jacobs putting up 15 points and four rebounds with just 13 minutes.

Kyrah Daniels added 14 points and 10 rebounds, Jae Flynn nine points, Courtney Green six points, four rebounds and three blocked shots, and Lauren Schulz six points.

Jodee Sontay again worked tirelessly for Cockburn for 10 points and 12 rebounds with Sally Graham contributing seven points, Kahlia Morgan seven and Nicole Roberts six.

PERRY LAKES HAWKS 58 defeated MANDURAH MAGIC 53

They are perennially championship contenders in the Women’s SBL and are accustomed to big battles with one another, and it was no different for the Perry Lakes Hawks and Mandurah Magic in the West Coast Classic on Saturday night.

While there is a big change in personnel, with Perry Lakes having a young group built around their experienced frontcourt of Nat Burton and Sarah Donovan means they will always be tough to beat.

And any time a Magic team still has experienced warriors like Kelly Bailey and Rachel Halleen, they’ll always be tough to overcome even if there’s no Casey Mihovilovich nor the Klasztorny sisters.

That set the stage for Saturday’s game at Bendat Basketball Centre with Perry Lakes fresh off an 18-point win at Willetton the night before while the Magic were playing their only game of Round 3 in the West Coast Classic after thumping East Perth 83-31 last Saturday night.

The Hawks were on top for most of the contest on their home floor, but as has become their trademark whether under Randy Miegel or now Craig Watts as coach in recent years, the Magic just refuse to lie down and continued to make a game of it.

With Nat Burton on fire inside against the incredibly small Magic who were hoping to play this SBL season in 2020 with an import big, Carly Boag and Emma Klasztorny, the Hawks raced to a 10-2 before Mandurah steadied with a triple from Sydney Meares.

Kelly Bailey then also hit a triple for Mandurah as did Rachel Halleen to make it a one-point ball game before Millie McCarthy answered for Perry Lakes, and that helped the Hawks head to quarter-time leading 17-13.

Captain Annika Renkema and Burton gave Perry Lakes an 11-4 run to open the second quarter as their lead grew to 11 heading towards half-time, but Mandurah closed the half with their own 8-2 run and that meant the Hawks lead was back to 30-27 by the break.

Another three-point bomb from Halleen gave the Magic a brief lead early in the third quarter, but by three quarter-time the Hawks had pulled away again to lead by seven.

When Bella Green connected from downtown the Perry Lakes were in control by 12 with five minutes to go in the game, but nobody told Mandurah that even after McCarthy hit a free-throw to extend the lead to 13.

Kasey Miegel answered with a three-point play before she was forced to leave the game after taking a nasty fall to floor that made quite the thud.

When Halleen once again connected from downtown, suddenly the margin was back to seven and still more than a minute to play as the Magic sent a scare into the Hawks.

It wasn’t to be a remarkable comeback, though, with Halleen hitting free-throws with five seconds left, but Perry Lakes coach Deanna Black took a timeout and then on the subsequent possession her team dribbled the ball out for the 58-53 win.

The victory improves the Hawks to a 3-2 record after three rounds of the West Coast Classic and it was the recently signed Sydney Uni Flames WNBL centre Nat Burton who proved the difference for Perry Lakes.

She finished the night with 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists on shooting 9/12 from the floor.

Kate Williams added 11 points and two assists too for Perry Lakes with Annika Renkema delivering 10 points, 10 rebounds and three steals, Morgan Ballantyne six points, seven boards and six assists, and Millie McCarthy four points and two assists.

It was a brave fight put up by the Magic with Rachel Halleen coming up big for 18 points, three assists and two rebounds including going 4/7 from three-point territory.

Kelly Bailey also had 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists with Rachel Pettit contributing eight points, four boards and four assists, and Georgia Haines four points.