Wolves bring the magic against Mandurah (WSBL Quarter-Finals Wrap)
Glasscraft Wanneroo Wolves advanced to the women's State Basketball League semi-finals after a thrilling series victory against Mandurah Magic.
After losing game one of their best-of-three quarter-finals match-up last week, the Magic won game two 68-42 on Friday to force a deciding third game, where the Wolves held on for a 78-70 victory.
Wanneroo looked set to cruise to victory in game three when it led by 10 points late in the third quarter, only for Mandurah to bring the margin back to one with four minutes left in the game, but the Wolves held on.
Rebecca Mercer led Wanneroo to victory in the deciding match with 27 points, while Casey Mihovilovich had 18 points for the Magic.
The Wolves will face Southlands Boulevarde Willetton Tigers in the final four after the minor premiers recovered from a game one loss to eliminate Lakeside Lightning.
The Tigers dominated early in game two and held on to win 74-58 and wrapped up the series with a 66-61 victory in game three.
Willetton led by just three points with less than a minute left of the deciding match, but held on to keep alive their hopes of becoming just the second team to win three-straight championships.
Total Connections Perry Lakes Hawks and Australian Central East Perth Eagles will meet in the other semi-final series after they eliminated Metropolis Fremantle Cockburn Cougars and Kalamunda Eastern Suns respectively.
The Eagles lost game one to Kalamunda last week but recovered to take the series after a thrilling 61-58 victory in the second match and a 75-60 win in the decider.
Kate Fielding played a huge role for East Perth in both wins, with 22 points in game two and 20 in game three.
Perry Lakes was the only team to wrap up its series in two games after it beat Cockburn 78-66 in the second match.
Christine Boyd backed up her impressive performance in game one to finish with 23 points and 14 rebounds in the clincher for the Hawks, who dominated the first quarter and held on from there.
Emma Pass had 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Cougars but lacked support.
Article by Jacob Kagi
Photo by Wayne Wright (Wayne Wright Photography)
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