THE 2013 SBL regular season has come to a close after an exciting final Saturday night of action highlighted by a massive triple-double by Ty Harrelson as the playoffs now commence with Lakeside the men's minor premiers and Willetton finishing on top of the women's standings.

The Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers ended up finishing in third place in the men's standings thanks to a 0-2 head-to-head record with the Perry Lakes Hawks. The Buccaneers ended their regular season with a solid 103-87 win over the Rockingham Flames at Active West Stadium.

Daniel Thomas finished with 21 points and nine assists for the Buccaneers with Rob Kampman adding 16 points, 10 boards and four assists. Aaron Ralph also had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Matt Wundenberg 12 points and Shamus Ballantyne 11.

Rockingham's season ended with Cooper Land finishing with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Trent Gerovich also had 19 points, Travis Moore 12 (and 13 rebounds) and Brendan Della Maddalena 10.

The Stirling Senators ended their season on a winning note with an 81-79 win over the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

Jordan Wild finished with 17 points and 18 rebounds for the Senators with Nikolas Iliadis scoring 14 points, Sean Gilmore 11 and Cory Cooperwood 10 to go with 14 boards.

Russell Hurst top-scored for the Giants with 20 points while Dwayne Radcliffe added 19 and Kyle Keirnan 18.

The Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers secured fifth position heading into the finals with a 107-96 win over a Willetton Tigers team who finished the season so disappointingly to miss playoff action.

Ty Harrelson was unstoppable for the Slammers with a massive triple-double consisting of 37 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Clive Weeden added 21 points and 12 rebounds with Wade Hitchcock also scoring 18 points.

Quinn McDowell did all he could for the Tigers finishing with 33 points and 12 rebounds. Nick Cody also had 24 points and Brandon Adams 10.

The Lakeside Lightning finished the regular season with seven straight wins to amass a 23-3 record to be five games clear on top of the standings. They finished with a 98-95 win over the sixth-placed Australian Belt Scrapers Wanneroo Wolves at Joondalup Basketball Stadium on Saturday.

Ben Beran was again terrific for the Lightning with 35 points and nine rebounds. Justin Cecil added 16 points, Darrel Morgan 12 and Chris Sofoulis 10 with Jarrad Prue pulling in 19 rebounds.

Trian Iliadis had 34 points for the Wolves with Seb Salinas adding 19 points to go with 11 rebounds and five assists. Rob Huntington had 14 points, 10 boards and five assists with Damian Matacz finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Perry Lakes Hawks consolidated second position and end the season of the defending champion Cockburn Cougars by recording a 111-107 win at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Ben Purser capped off his terrific weekend with another 32 points and five assists for the Hawks with Adrian Majstrovich adding 27 points and 15 rebounds. Michael Lay also had 22 points and Corey Easley 16.

Alex Prince had 24 points for Cockburn, David Reichel 23, Brian Carlwell 22 and Damien Scott 12.

The Mandurah Magic finish seventh in the standings with a 107-99 win over the bottom-placed Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Rhett Della Maddalena was terrific for Mandurah with 30 points with Taylor Land adding 28, Taylor Mullenax 20 and Andrew Bowman 13.

Luke Nevill finished his season with the Suns with another 34 points and 16 rebounds with Ben Smith scoring 16 points, Joel Questel 13, Kerrod Horn 13 and Louis Timms 10.

The Willetton Tigers sewed up top spot in the women's SBL with a comfortable 62-46 win over the defending champion Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers on Saturday at Eaton Recreation Centre.

The Tigers finish the regular season having won seven straight matches to end on a 17-5 record while the Slammers finish on 11-11 and in eighth spot after going just 1-3 against Stirling and Cockburn who also ended up on 11-11.

Lisa Wallbutton was terrific for the Tigers against the Slammers with 18 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Antonia Edmondson also scored 17 points and Melissa Marsh 13.

Kimberly Sitzmann had 14 points and 11 boards for the Slammers with Lauren Jeffers adding 12 points.

The Lakeside Lightning then sewed up fourth position in the standings with an upset 76-67 win over the third-placed Wanneroo Wolves at Joondalup Basketball Stadium.

Jessica Beran finished with 17 points for the Lightning with Krystal Stoneking scoring 13 points and Jess Van Schie 12.

Nikita-Lee Martin led the way for the Wolves with 29 points and seven rebounds with Shani Amos also scoring 10 points to go with eight assists.

The Cockburn Cougars ended the Perry Lakes Hawks season and consolidated seventh position heading into the playoffs with a 64-60 win at Wally Hagan Stadium.

Emma Pass had 17 points and 14 rebounds for Cockburn in the win with Stephanie Jones adding 12 points and eight boards.

Kate Anthony finished with 21 points for the Hawks with Chelsea Boyanich adding 11 and Rosie Tobin 10.

The Kalamunda Eastern Suns secured fifth position with a 70-54 win over the second-last placed Mandurah Magic at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Melissa Moyle top-scored for the Suns with 14 points with Chelsea Armstrong adding 13 and Jessie Edwards 10.

Ashlee Sidebottom led the way for the Magic with 18 points with Casey Mihovilovich scoring 12 points and Emma Klasztorny 10.

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Ashley Pearce