Week One MSBL Wrap
Perth scraped into the finals last season and finished seven games behind Cockburn, which led most to believe the Cougars would claim a win on the road.
However, the form of Perth Wildcats development players Joel Wagner and Jarrad Prior got the Redbacks over the line. Prior had 21 points from only 27 minutes on the court, while Wagner had an outstanding all-round game, with 18 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four steals.
Perth led by 16 at quarter time and extended that to 22 by the final break to ensure a comfortable victory, due in large part to Cockburn’s woeful effort of controlling the ball, turning the ball over 30 times for the match.
Bryce Burch provided the best resistance for the Cougars with 25 points and 11 rebounds, while Luke Callier scored 18.
In another upset of sorts, centre Tom Jervis led East Perth Eagles to an 84-78 win over Willetton Tigers.
Jervis was close to a triple-double, with a contribution of 28 points, 15 rebounds and 7 assists, while making 11 of 16 from the field. Former Wildcats forward Ben Thompson added 12 points, six boards and six assists.
The score had been tied at 63 at three-quarter-time, but the Eagles outshot the Tigers and took advantage of its dominance of the rebounds in the final quarter to claim victory.
With Melbourne Tigers centre Daniel Johnson unable to play, forward Mark Jones provided Willetton’s best resistance, 23 points and 14 rebounds, despite missing seven of his 11 free throw attempts and 19 of his 27 shots from the field.
Skilled Goldfields Giants only lost five games during the regular season last year, but fell to AND1 Kalamunda Eastern Suns 79-87.
The Giants led by 17 points in the second quarter, but Kalamunda came back to take the lead for the first time in the third period and for good with four minutes remaining to get revenge on the side which knocked it out of the finals last season.
Veteran forward Adrian Majstrovich impressive for the Suns, with 28 points and seven rebounds, while Austin Bruton made four three-point shots on his way to 18 points.
Earlier in its road trip, Goldfields thrashed Stirling Senators 105-73.
All of Ryan Hulme’s field goal attempts in that match were three-pointers, and he made six of 11 to give him 18 points, while Russell Hurst added 16 from 20 minutes for the Giants.
Joe-Alan Tupaea was the best performer for the Senators with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers had an excellent road trip, defeating Carpet Court Southwest Slammers 120-89 and following it up the next day with a 95-86 win over the Magic.
Against the Slammers, Ryan Zamroz and Daniel Thomas were outstanding, with 42 and 33 points respectively in the thrashing, which saw Geraldton led by 27 at the main break. Import forward Jessan Gray was the Slammers’ best player with 29 points and 16 rebounds.
The Buccaneers were given a tougher test on Sunday, with the score level at 66 at the final break.
However, Geraldton took advantage of seven missed free throws from the Magic in the final period to win the tough encounter, which was featured on SBLtv, a feature making its debut in this match.
Zamroz and Thomas were once again the best for the victors with 29 and 23 points, while Aaron Ralph added 22. Casey Crevelone was the top scorer for Mandurah with 34.
It was a tough weekend for Mandurah, with Perry Lakes Hawks defeating it 128-98 the previous night.
The Hawks scored an incredible 41 points in the first quarter to lead by 17 at quarter-time and never looked back. Robert Kempf and Jesse Dixon had 30 points each for the victors while Crevelone was in good touch for Mandurah once more with 27, making nine of 12 field goals in the process.
As was expected, Lakeside Lightning started its campaign for consecutive titles with a comprehensive 101-81 win over Stirling.
Lakeside led by nine at the half but extended that to the final margin of 20 by the end of the third quarter on the back of a strong shooting performance.
Benjamin Beran top scored for the Lightning with 27, while former Hunter Pirates big man Geordie Cullen was Stirling’s best with 22 points and 8 boards.
Rockingham Flames beat its fellow strugglers from last season, Southwest Slammers, 111-104.
The two sides combined for only 14 wins last season but Rockingham gave its fans hope that a push for the finals could be possible this season with a hard-fought victory.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Mick Cronin
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