Eagles Preview – Round 16

It's the penultimate round of the NBL1 West season and it's a double-header for the East Perth Eagles starting at home on Friday to the Willetton Tigers and then away to the Rockingham Flames.

The weekend's action for the Eagles gets underway on Friday night at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre hosting the Willetton Tigers with the women's contest beginning at 6.30pm followed by the men's match up at 8.30pm.

East Perth will then back up on Saturday evening against the Rockingham Flames at Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the women's match up at 6pm followed by the men's at 8pm.

WOMEN

After a tough couple of weeks the East Perth Eagles women have the chance to make a late season statement against two playoff bound teams this weekend.

It's a significant challenge in the space of 24 hours for the Eagles up against a Rockingham team currently clear in top spot on the NBL1 West table after hosting a Willetton team who has played in the previous three women's Grand Finals including winning a championship in 2021.

First up on Friday night and the Eagles will be hosting the Willetton Tigers with the match up taking place on Peter Campbell Basketball Arena at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

The Eagles will be attempting to beat the Tigers for the first time since June 12, 2021. That just happened to be the same year the two teams would end up meeting in a qualifying final and Willetton would go on to win the championship.

Since then, the two teams have only played one another once in the previous two years and then met back on April 27 of this season with the Tigers winning the last three encounters.

That clash earlier this season saw Willetton score the 77-68 win on their home floor despite 15 points, 20 rebounds and three assists from Laci Hawthorne.

Mary Baskerville also had 16 points and six rebounds in that encounter, Mary Goulding 13 points, seven boards and five assists, Taylor Roberts nine points and two rebounds, and Bri Bailey seven points and two boards.

East Perth comes into the weekend having now lost its previous three matches to sit on a 5-12 record as they take on a Willetton having locked away another playoff appearance at 10-8 having won five of the past six matches.

Following the Friday night encounter at home, the Eagles will then head south to take on the league-leading Rockingham Flames on Saturday at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The Flames enter the weekend currently sitting clear on top of the NBL1 West standings with a 16-3 record having now won three straight and having welcomed back two-time league MVP Alex Sharp into the line-up.

It will be the lone meeting of the season between the two teams with East Perth also not having beaten Rockingham since 2021, and attempting to change that on Saturday by knocking off the league leaders in what would be quite the late season statement on the road.

MEN

The East Perth Eagles men have the chance to lock away a top four position this weekend with two significant match ups against fellow playoff bound teams, the Willetton Tigers and Rockingham Flames.

The Eagles have already secured a first playoffs appearance in the NBL1 West men's competition since the championship year of 2014, but now a top four finish is the goal and this weekend's double-header is going to have a big say in determining that.

East Perth comes into the penultimate round of the season sitting in fourth position in the standings with a 12-7 record on the back of last week's 106-93 win against the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Now this is a fascinating double-header where in the space of 24 hours the Eagles take on a Willetton team currently in third position and a Rockingham outfit in eighth but looming large with a potent line-up.

First up for the Eagles will be hosting the Tigers at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Friday night with the game a significant one for the top four prospects of both teams.

With East Perth fourth at 12-7 and Willetton third at 14-6, the result is going to have a big say in the final finishing position of both teams with the Eagles looking to back up that win last week over the Hawks.

The Tigers arrive at Peter Campbell Basketball Arena having lost four matches in-a-row having been sitting at 14-2 prior to that so they have quickly gone from fighting for top spot to clinging to a top four position.

Willetton was without key pair Michael Vigor and Michael Dupree last week for a pair of losses to the Warwick Senators and Joondalup Wolves, but with or without that pair against East Perth, they will be desperate for a bounce back performance.

Then once East Perth gets through that game at home on Friday night, it's a trip south to take on a Rockingham Flames team who might be eighth, but who won the NBL1 West and National Championships in 2022, made the Grand Final in 2021, and finished top last season along with reaching the decider at the National Finals.

It's been an up and down season for the Flames who won five straight to open the season but then the absence of two-time MVP Devondrick Walker stung and they would go on to lose six of the next eight games.

That left their playoff appearance in doubt, but they have now won four of the past seven games including joining East Perth as one of just two teams to beat the Geraldton Buccaneers last Saturday night with Walker back in the line-up and delivering 30 points and five assists.

It's already been a year of breaking droughts for the Eagles men including to reach the playoffs altogether for the first time in 10 years, and winning in Geraldton for the first time since that championship year of 2014.

Now the task on Saturday is to beat Rockingham for the first time since the 2014 playoffs as well when the Eagles eliminated the Flames on the way to winning the championship.

East Perth has now lost 15 matches in-a-row against Rockingham by an average of 16.3 points which they will be hoping to change away from home on Saturday.