THE Cockburn Cougars scored a double over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns while the Mandurah Magic and Goldfields Giants lost again and the Rockingham Flames and Stirling Senators split their Women's and Men's matches as part of Week 13 of the SBL on Saturday night.

There were two Women's matches on Saturday night with the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 88-82 and the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames downing the Bethanie Stirling Senators 78-58.

In the corresponding Men's contests the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 130-94 and the Bethanie Stirling Senators defeated the Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 97-91.

The S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers also scored a 111-86 win over the Mandurah Magic and the Texture WA Perth Redbacks beat the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 114-93.

Starting with the Women's match ups, the Cougars backed up their big win over the Eagles on Friday night beating the Eastern Suns by six points.

The win improved Cockburn to a 7-7 record on the season to consolidate their spot in the top eight while the Suns slipped to 6-7.

The Eastern Suns started on fire with 31 points to 19 in the first quarter but the Cougars hit back in the second period to cut their deficit to just two points.

Cockburn then held Kalamunda to nine points in the third quarter and 19 in the fourth while scoring 36 points themselves to come away with the six-point victory.

The Cougars did well shooting 45 per cent from the field with 30-of-66 while the Suns shot 27-of-81 at 33 per cent.

Candace Williams top-scored for the Cougars with 34 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots with Cherridy Thornton contributing 17 points, 10 boards, five assists and two steals.

Chelsea Evans also had eight points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals for Cockburn.

Carley Mijovic top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 31 points, 17 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots with Stacey Barr adding 18 points and five boards, Sabrina Jeridore 11 points and eight rebounds, and Natalia Soli'ai 11 points, nine rebounds and two assists.

The Flames bounced back from a loss to the Redbacks last Friday to beat the Senators by 20 points with Rockingham improving to 12 and Stirling remaining on the outside of the top eight at 5-10.

Rockingham got on top of the contest from the start and led 26 points to 19 after the first period and ended up winning by 20 points.

The Flames pulled in 50 rebounds to just 38 from the Senators while shooting 37 per cent from the field but just 29 per cent from three attempting 47 and making just 14. The Senators only shot 32 per cent from the floor and 26 per cent from long range.

Sami Whitcomb top-scored for the Flames with 32 points and nine rebounds shooting 12-of-21 from the field and 7-of-13 from downtown.

Jacinta Bourne came off the bench for 14 points, 11 rebounds and three steals for Rockingham while Amanda Pether added 11 points and Lizel Buckley seven to go with 10 rebounds and three assists.

Amber Land once again led the way for the Senators with 24 points and 10 rebounds with Taylor Bestry adding 11 points and Lyndal Gardiner eight to go with four assists.

Then in the Men's matches, the Buccaneers scored a second straight home win since losing a road double to the Wolves and Eastern Suns by beating the Magic by 25 points at Active West Stadium on Saturday night.

The win improves the Buccs to a 12-6 record while the Magic have now lost six matches in-a-row to remain in 13th position at 4-13.

The Buccs stamped their authority on the contest early and were never headed leading by 12 points at quarter-time, 20 at half-time and 29 heading into the fourth before winning by 25.

Matthew Adekponya was back for the Buccaneers and starred with 28 points and 10 rebounds shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 3-of-6 from long range.

Jackson Hussey also made his first appearance of the season after signing on late in the week. He played over 23 minutes for 16 points, six rebounds and four assists shooting 7-of-13 from the field, and 2-of-3 from three-point range.

Aaron Ralph added 20 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench as well for the Buccaneers nailing six three-pointers.

Carter Cook finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two assists and Maurice Barrow 12 points and five boards.

Trevor Setty did all he could for the Magic finishing with 36 points and nine rebounds with Ben Smith contributing 22 points and 15 rebounds, and Jarrad Jackson 17 points, four assists and three boards.

The Redbacks continued their tremendous form hitting the road and coming away with 21-point win over the Giants at Niels Hansen Basketball Stadium.

The Redbacks have now won seven of their last eight matches to improve to a 9-7 record and to be solid inside the top eight while the Giants have lost seven in succession to fall to 6-11 on the outside of a playoff position.

Perth started fast with 30 points to 20 in the first period and the Giants never seriously threatened a comeback with the Redbacks cruising to the 21-point win.

The Redbacks shot well going 41-of-81 from the field at 50 per cent while hitting 10-of-26 from three-point range and 22-of-25 at the foul line. The Giants shot 30-of-77 at 8 per cent and did well getting to the line making 26-of-30.

The Redbacks dominated the boards with 49 rebound to 37 and also inside scored 40 points to 28.

Jourdan DeMuynck was the star of the night for the Redbacks with 41 points, 12 rebounds and six assists shooting 17-of-27 from the floor and 5-of-7 from three-point territory.

Joel Wagner added 15 points and eight assists for Perth, Lewis Thomas 15 points and 10 boards, and Michael Vigor 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots.

Jacob Holmen top-scored for the Giants with 25 points, five rebounds and three assists with Kenny Manigault contributing 13 points, nine boards, six assists and three steals, Daniel Goodluck 13 points, seven assists and five rebounds, and Russell Hurst 11 points and six boards.

It was another high-scoring affair at Ray Owen Recreation Centre with the second placed Cougars having too much firepower for the undermanned Eastern Suns, going on to win by 36 points.

The win is a second for Cockburn this weekend after also beating the East Perth Eagles on Friday night with the Cougars improving to 14-3 in second position.

The Suns started brightly even leading at quarter-time but the Cougars took over in the second quarter 40 points to 15. Another 29 points to 13 in the third period set up the win, but to the Eastern Suns' credit they fought the game out to win the fourth quarter scoring 35 points.

The Cougars had an outstanding shooting night going 51-of-96 from the field at 53 per cent. The Suns shot 30-of-97 at 30 per cent. Cockburn had 63 rebounds to 45, forced the Suns into 23 turnovers and dominated in the paint with 60 points to 38.

Marcus Goode again top-scored for the Cougars with 23 points, 19 rebounds and two blocked shots while Najee Lane came off the bench and had 19 points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds shooting an efficient 8-of-12.

Gavin Field contributed 15 points and five rebounds for Cockburn, Rhett Della 14 points and 11 boards, Daniel Thomas 13 points and six assists, Julian Pesava 11 points, four steals and three rebounds, and Sheldon McIntyre 10 points and 11 boards.

Kerrod Horn top-scored for the Suns with 16 points and four rebounds with Geordie Murray contributing 13 points, Courtney Belger 12 (five assists) and Ryan Blanchett 10 (nine rebounds).

The Eastern Suns sorely missed Tim Squire, Brandon McGill and Jarrad Prior.

The Senators scored an important and hard fought six-point win over the Flames at Mike Barnett Sports Complex. As a result, Stirling improves to 12-6 with Rockingham falling to 10-8.

The Senators pulled away in the second quarter with 34 points to 21 and that was enough to set up the eventual six-point win.

Rockingham dominated the rebound count despite the loss pulling in 55 boards to 39 and the Flames made more shots going 38-of-93 compared to 36-of-85, but Stirling was more efficient and made 16-of-20 at the foul line opposed to 6-of-15 from the Flames.

Kyle Lindbergh had another double-double for the Senators finishing with 22 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals shooting 10-of-13 from the field.

Cody Ellis contributed 21 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals with Corban Wroe adding 13 points, four boards, four assists and two steals, and AJ Majstrovich 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Ashley Litterick also had 15 points off the bench for the Senators nailing 6-of-8 from the floor.

Cooper Land did all he could for the Flames ending up with 34 points, 15 rebounds and four assists hitting 14-of-24 from the floor and 4-of-10 from long range.

Chudier Pal contributed 15 points, 15 rebounds and two blocked shots for Rockingham, Ryan Godfrey 15 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists, and Taylor Land 10 points, 10 boards and eight assists.

SATURDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 82 lost to Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 88
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 78 defeated Bethanie Stirling Senators 58

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
S&K Electrical Contracting Geraldton Buccaneers 111 defeated Mandurah Magic 86
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 93 lost to Texture WA Perth Redbacks 114
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 94 lost to Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 130
Nags Head Tavern Rockingham Flames 91 lost to Bethanie Stirling Senators 97

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin