THE Goldfields Giants and Rockingham Flames men's teams were the only sides in the opening weekend of the SBL playoffs to win a Game 1 of their quarter-final series as the lower-ranked team on their home floor.

The other six of the other quarter-final men's and women's series saw the higher-ranked away team score Game 1 victories over the weekend, but on Saturday night the Giants were able to score a three-point win over the Buccaneers and the Flames were able to beat the Cougars by nine points.

The lone women's quarter-final Game 1 on Saturday night saw the Mandurah Magic beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 64-53 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

Then in the three men's matches, the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants beat the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 104-101 at Neils Hansen Basketball Centre and the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames defeated the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 91-82 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers also beat the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 90-83 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

In the women's contest, the Magic had to come from behind to beat the Eastern Suns, but delivered a dominant last quarter to claim a one-nil lead in the series.

The battle between fourth and fifth was always going to be a tight one, and it was the Suns who started well to take a 36-28 lead into half-time on the back 25 points in the second quarter.

The Suns still led by two going into the fourth period, but the Magic held them to just five last quarter points scoring 19 themselves to win by nine.

Emma Klasztorny led the way for Mandurah with 22 points, 10 rebounds and six steals while nailing 3-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Ashlee Sidebottom added 16 points and six boards for the Magic with Casey Mihovilovich contributing seven points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Abbey Duinker top-scored for the Suns with 14 points and nine rebounds with Natalia Soli'ai contributing 11 points and six boards, Melissa Moyle 10 points and six rebounds, and Jessie Edwards seven points, 14 boards and three assists.

Then in the men's action, the game of the night was undoubtedly played in Kalgoorlie between the Giants and Buccaneers.

The Buccs got off to a good start with 35 points to 21 in the second quarter to appear to have a match-winning 55-42 lead at half-time.

However, the Giants were terrific in the second half firstly holding the Buccs to 14 third quarter points while scoring 26 themselves, and outscoring them in a shootout of a last period 36-32 to end up winning by three points with the series now heading to Geraldton next weekend.

Again it was the Giants' three stars who led the way to the victory with Jacob Holmen top-scoring with 29 points and six rebounds while shooting 12-of-22 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point territory.

Jay Bowie contributed 26 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Giants as well while Mathiang Muo finished with 21 points and six boards.

Russell Hurst added a crucial 15 points, three rebounds and three assists as well for Goldfields.

Carter Cook ended up top-scoring for the Buccaneers with 26 points, six rebounds and four assists with Bennie Lewis contributing 22 points, eight boards and seven assists.

Aaron Ralph scored 17 points to go with six rebounds and four assists for the Buccs with Cory Cooperwood contributing 14 points and three boards and Luke Wrensted 12 points and three assists.

Little separated the Flames and Cougars in the battle between fourth and fifth at Rockingham on Saturday night, but it was the home team who finished with 25 points to 16 in the fourth quarter to come away with the nine-point win.

Cooper Land ended up leading the way for the Flames with 29 points, 16 rebounds and four assists while Ryan Godfrey contributed 22 points, Taylor Land 18 points, eight assists and five boards, and Tom Remmerswaal 12 points to go with six rebounds.

Eric Milam top-scored for the Cougars with 22 points and 17 rebounds with Najee Lane adding 19 points and 10 boards, Gavin Field 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Julian Pesava 15 points and nine boards.

The Tigers might have finished the regular season with some momentum despite finishing in sixth position, but the Slammers scored an important Game 1 victory at Willetton on Saturday night before the series heads to Eaton next weekend.

Tre Nichols top-scored for the Slammers with 27 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals with Jordan Hickert adding 17 points and six boards, and Wade Hitchcock 14 points, three blocked shots and two rebounds.

The return of playing-coach Ty Harrelson was a welcome one for South West and he contributed 10 points, four rebounds and four assists while Trent Worthington also had 10 points and eight boards, and Brian Voelkel seven points, 12 rebounds, nine assists and four steals.

Damien Scott top-scored for the Tigers with 18 points and six rebounds while Kyle Armour contributed 16 points, six boards and four assists.

Ephrem Davis added 15 points, 19 rebounds and three blocks for Willetton while Nic Cody finished with 13 points and six boards, and Corey Easley 11 points, five rebounds, three blocks and two assists.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 53 lost to Mandurah Magic 64

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 104 defeated S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 101
Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 91 defeated Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 82
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 83 lost to Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 90

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin