WHILE it might not end in a playoff appearance, Tre Nichols finished his second SBL season in remarkable fashion with 60 points for the South West Slammers in the final round of 2016 while Perry Lakes nudged out East Perth for last playoff position.

Nichols put in a remarkable performance in Saturday night's win by the Slammers on the road to the Goldfields Giants, but ultimately it was the battle over first and eighth that were the highlights of the Week 20 action.

Cockburn and Joondalup went to battle over top spot and delivered a tremendous contest with the Cougars holding on to win by three points to claim the minor premiership. Meanwhile, the Hawks beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns to claim eighth position at the expense of the Eagles.

There were two matches on Friday night with the Perry Lakes Hawks defeating the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 102-96 and the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars beating the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 123-120.

Then on Saturday night, the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers defeated the Lakeside Lightning 104-95 and the Print Sync South West Slammers downed the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 129-123.

The Bethanie Stirling Senators also beat the Mandurah Magic 117-93, the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers defeated the Texture WA Perth Redbacks and the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames downed the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 113-79.

The final round of the regular season sees the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars (22-4) finish in top spot ahead of the defending champion Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves (21-5).

The Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers (18-8) secured third position ahead of the S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers (18-8), Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames (17-9), Bethanie Stirling Senators (17-9), Texture WA Perth Redbacks (15-11) and Perry Lakes Hawks (11-15).

Those final standings set up the quarter-final match ups between the Cougars and Hawks, Wolves and Redbacks, Tigers and Senators, and Buccaneers and Flames.

The Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (10-16) finished in ninth position ahead of the Print Sync South West Slammers (8-18), Lakeside Lightning (7-19), Kalamunda Eastern Suns (6-20) and Mandurah Magic (5-21).

Week 20 Saturday night SBL wrap 
Cougars prevail over Wolves as top spot battle delivers 
Week 20 Friday night SBL wrap 

The final round featured plenty of standout individual performances starting on Friday night with the Hawks holding on to beat the Suns by six points.

Bryton Hobbs led the way for Perry Lakes with 29 points, six assists, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks while Brian Carlwell finished with 26 points, 20 boards and five blocked shots.

Ben Purser added 24 points, 21 rebounds and five assists for the Hawks and Ben Dixon 10 points and five assists.

Courtney Belger top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 26 points, nine rebounds and three steals with Brandon McGill contributing 23 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals, and Ryan Blanchett 14 points and seven boards.

The Cougars and Wolves then fought out a tremendous contest on Friday with Cockburn winning by three points to claim top spot with Gavin Field top-scoring with 33 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Najee Lane contributed 27 points and six rebounds for the Cougars, Rhett Della 24 points, Marcus Goode 23 and Sheldon McIntyre four to go with six assists, three steals and two rebounds in his 200th SBL appearance.

Trian Iliadis top-scored for the Wolfpack with 28 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals with Seb Salinas adding 23 points, Kevin Davis 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Greg Hire 19 points, six boards and three assists.

Then on Saturday night, the Flames beat the now out of contention Eagles by 34 points with Cooper Land leading the way with 31 points and nine rebounds.

Chudier Pal contributed 18 points and 10 rebounds for Rockingham, Ryan Jeffrey 10 points and six boards, Jarryd Griffin 10 points and four rebounds, and Taylor Land 10 points, seven assists, four steals and four boards.

Thomas Korf top-scored for the Eagles with 26 points, five rebounds and four steals with Nikola Donlagic contributing 14 points and Amen Osayande 13 to go with 11 rebounds.

The Tigers beat the Redbacks by 11 points at Willetton Basketball Stadium with Jay Bowie top-scoring with 34 points and 13 rebounds while Nic Cody added 20 points and six boards, Kyle Armour 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, and Damien Scott 16 points and four assists.

Jourdan DeMuynck did all he could for Perth with 37 points, 11 rebounds and six assists while Ben Smith added 21 points and Lewis Thomas 19 to go with 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Joel Wagner added nine points, seven assists and four boards.

The Senators then geared up for the playoffs with a 24-point win over the Magic with Cody Ellis top-scoring for Stirling with 28 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

AJ Majstrovich added 24 points and 12 rebounds on hitting 5-of-7 of his threes for the Senators with Kyle Lindbergh contributing 18 points and 13 boards, and Jayden Coburn 12 points.

Ben Smith finished with 27 points, 18 rebounds, six blocks, four assists and three steals for the Magic with Trevor Setty adding 15 points and eight boards, Daniel Florance 12 points, six rebounds and three assists, and Ryan Curtis 10 points.

The Slammers finished their season on a high with a six-point road win in Kalgoorlie on the back of Tre Nichols delivering 60 points, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals shooting 20-of-33 from the field, 11-of-18 from beyond the arc and 9-of-9 from the foul line.

Corey Easley also contributed 20 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks for the Slammers, Teny Puot 15 points, four boards and four assists, Josh England 13 points and five rebounds, and Wade Hitchcock 11 points.

Jacob Holmen finished his second season with the Giants on a good note with 46 points and 19 rebounds while Kenny Manigault contributed 24 points, 11 boards, nine assists and five steals, and Russell Hurst 17 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two blocks.

The Buccs made sure of a top four finish with a hard fought nine-point win at home over the Lightning with Matthew Adekponya outstanding with 37 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Maurice Barrow added 23 points and 14 rebounds for Geraldton, Aaron Ralph 15 points and 11 boards, Carter Cook 15 points and Jackson Hussey 14 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Daniel Alexander top-scored for the Lightning with 29 points and 14 rebounds with Tom Parkinson adding 18 points and 11 boards, TJ Hallice 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and Nick Palleschi 10 points.

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perry Lakes Hawks 102 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 96
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 123 defeated Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 120

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
S&K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers 104 defeated Lakeside Lightning 95
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 123 lost to Print Sync South West Slammers 129
Mandurah Magic 93 lost to Bethanie Stirling Senators 117
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 113 defeated Texture WA Perth Redbacks 102
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 79 lost to Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 113

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by June Halliday