West Recap | Round 15 Friday

Image credit: Tyson Lumbaca | @ty.visuales

It was a rough night on a number of fronts at home for both Perth Redbacks and East Perth Eagles with both Mandurah Magic teams strengthening their finals spots, and Lakeside Lightning delivering two dominant performances.

WARDEN RETURNS HAVING ALREADY LIVED DREAM

THOMPSON RIGHTFULLY PROUD TO REACH 150

WEST RECAP | ROUND 15 THURSDAY

WOMEN

Perth Redbacks (95) lost to Mandurah Magic (102)

The Mandurah Magic improved to fourth position in what proved a horror night for the Perth Redbacks as they not only were beaten 102-95 but also appear to have lost captain Raya Thompson in what was her 150-game milestone.

The Redbacks were back home at Belmont Oasis fresh off making it three straight wins with a victory in Albany over the Perry Lakes Hawks last Saturday night which had them three games clear in third place and within striking distance of second spot.

Perth deserved to be feeling good about things ahead of the home clash with inspirational captain Thompson also celebrating her 150th game with her career marred by four serious knee injuries already since her debut while at the South West Slammers in 2013.

The Magic arrived at Belmont Oasis also banging on the door of the Willetton Tigers in fourth place having won their past couple of games setting the stage for a fascinating Friday night contest.

Mandurah got off to a remarkable start with a 14-0 scoring run on the way to opening up a 17-point lead before the Redbacks hit back with their own 10-0 streak to cut the Magic lead to 30-25 by the end of one.

By half-time it was Mandurah clinging to the 52-48 lead after a high quality opening half where the Magic were shooting 20/35 from the field and 8/12 at the foul line while the Redbacks were going at 15/43 but 16/19 at the charity stripe.

Mandurah managed to open up another 12-point lead in the third quarter but then the last term got off to the worst possible start for the Redbacks when Thompson went down injured with what appears another knee injury in what was meant to be a celebration night of her 150th game.

Perth did keep on fighting from there and got it back to three points when Georgia Denehey scored with 2:30 to play, but they couldn’t get closer with the Magic having the answers for the eventual seven-point victory.

The win sees Mandurah improve to a 10-7 record with three straight victories to now replace Willetton in fourth place with the Magic having just three games in their season left against the Rockingham Flames, again against the Redbacks, and then against the Eastern Suns.

Claire Jacobs continued her superb first season with the Magic with another 28 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals with Tina Stephens delivering 22 points, nine boards, two assists and two steals.

Grace Berg added 18 points, nine rebounds and six assists, and the remarkable games record holder Casey Mihovilovich 15 points, five rebounds and four assists in appearance No. 590.

The Redbacks do remain in third position with a 13-5 record with just two matches in their season to go with another clash with the Magic and one with the Goldfield Giants.

Anneli Maley finished with 32 points, 18 rebounds and eight assists for the Redbacks while getting up a heap of shots and going 11/28 from the field and just 1/7 from behind the three-point line.

Natalie Chou was decidedly more efficient for 32 points on 12/19 shooting with 4/7 from three-point range and a perfect 4/4 at the foul line.

Georgia Denehey added 19 points, four rebounds and three assists, and two-time champion Sophie Doran seven points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists.

PERTH REDBACKS 95 (Maley 32, Chou 32, Denehey 19)

MANDURAH MAGIC 102 (Jacobs 28, Stephens 22, Berg 18)

East Perth Eagles (79) lost to Lakeside Lightning (87)

Their hopes might still be slim but the Lakeside Lightning breathed some life back into their season with the 87-79 road win on Friday night against and East Perth Eagles team who are inside the top eight.

The Eagles were back home at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre after a double overtime loss in Kalgoorlie last week to the Goldfields Giants but still clinging to sixth position and still a chance to break into the top for with a win.

Meanwhile, Lakeside were in ninth place and having lost their past five matches to only be the slimmest of chances of reaching the finals, but they could enhance their hopes with a road win on Friday night.

The two teams had met just two weeks ago with East Perth winning by 16 points at Lakeside Recreation Centre, but the Eagles were without Emma Clarke and with Madi Torresin playing but still battling an on-going back complaint.

Lakeside were already leading 22-18 by the end of the first quarter thanks to knocking down 6/11 from three-point territory with import back court pair Kennedi Williams and Oceane Kounkou striking form after struggling for much of the season up to this point.

The Lightning would lead the rest of the way including by seven points at half-time and then 14 by three quarter-time.

That lead for Lakeside got out to as much as 16 points in the fourth term too and even with East Perth scoring eight points in-a-row, the Eagles could never get back closer than five points.

Lakeside did enough to secure the eventual eight-point victory which keeps their season alive improving to a 6-10 record with the Perry Lakes Hawks only just above them at 7-8 in eighth spot.

Sarah Allen spent the past two seasons with East Perth and returned to her old home floor and knocked down 5/8 from behind the three-point arc for 15 points and four assists.

Kennedi Williams top-scored for Lakeside with 20 points and eight assists with Oceane Kounkou contributing 19 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and Sam Lubcke nine points, nine rebounds and three assists against the team she played with last year.

Reigning MVP Teige Morrell also had 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists having signed on in the WNBL with the UC Capitals this week.

East Perth do still look safe enough for a playoff spot but slip to a 9-8 record having now lost six of the last eight matches with just three games left against the Eastern Suns, Perry Lakes Hawks and Joondalup Wolves.

Awatea Leach scored a season-best 22 points to go with three rebounds for East Perth on shooting 4/7 from three-point territory.

Sasha Goodlett provided another 21 points, eight rebounds, three steals and two assists, Taylor Roberts 15 points, four boards, three assists and two steals on 5/7 shooting from downtown, and Abby Cubillo 15 points and eight assists.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 79 (Leach 22, Goodlett 21, Roberts 15, Cubillo 15)

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 87 (Williams 20, Kounkou 19, Morrell 19)

MEN

Perth Redbacks (96) lost to Mandurah Magic (103)

The Mandurah Magic lost another key player to injury but the defending champions dug deep to further consolidate their playoff spot beating the Perth Redbacks 103-96 with Lachlan Bertram delivering 41 points.

The Magic arrived at Belmont Oasis still sitting in eighth position on the back of winning their past two games even after losing championship star Julian Pesava to a devastating knee injury just when he was having a career-best season.

Mandurah just needed to keep winning to stay in a finals position but the Redbacks were fresh off beating the Perry Lakes Hawks in Albany and continued to get players back with Callan McDonald playing his first game in more than two months.

The Redbacks were then able to start well too to be leading 22-15 by the end of the first quarter before Lachlan Bertram fired the Magic up to help them to 31 points to 26 in the second frame to cut the lead of Perth to just two points by half-time.

It was another 32 points in the third quarter from the Magic to see them take a one-point lead into three quarter-time and Bertram dropped another couple of three balls to start the fourth quarter to keep Mandurah in front.

Then all the things appeared pointing towards the Redbacks with the home team working back in front and then Mandurah import Jahcoree Ealy having to be helped from the court halfway through the fourth quarter with a nasty looking leg injury.

However, the Magic dug deep and they forced a turnover with Hamish Warden setting up Nick Woodall to finish on the break to return them to the lead.

Sammie Freeman did the same shortly after following an offensive rebound before Warden scored to push the advantage to three.

Warden scored again on a put back shortly after to push the lead to three and from there the Magic were able to close the deal at the foul line for the seven-point victory.

The win is a big one for Mandurah especially losing Jahcoree Ealy and already being without Julian Pesava as they improve to 10-8 on the season having won three straight ahead of hosting the Geraldton Buccaneers on Saturday night.

Lachlan Bertram continued his career-best season for the Magic with another 41 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals with 7/17 three-point shooting and going 10/13 from the foul line.

Jahcoree Ealy had 19 points, 12 assists and five rebounds before getting hurt with Sammie Freeman contributing 17 points, 10 boards and two steals, and Hamish Warden nine points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The Redbacks are now 5-14 on the season and will see it as a missed opportunity given the strong team they had available for a rare occasion this season.

Lochlan Cummings produced 26 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists for the Redbacks with Joe Cook-Green adding 18 points, nine boards and seven assists, Jonah Underwood 13 points and nine rebounds, and Emmanuel Kanwei 13 points, four boards and two blocks.

Callan McDonald marked his return with nine points, six rebounds and six assists.

PERTH REDBACKS 96 (Cummings 26, Cook-Green 18, Kanwei 13, Underwood 13)

MANDURAH MAGIC 103 (Bertram 41, Ealy 19, Freeman 17)

East Perth Eagles (80) lost to Lakeside Lightning (108)

It was the East Perth Eagles who had everything to play for but it was the Lakeside Lightning who clicked into gear nicely with the back court of Rowan Mackenzie and Isiaah Lewis combining for 49 points and 10 threes in the 108-80 road win.

The Eagles were back home at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre where they had won their past four matches and looking to rebound from a disappointing 36-point loss in Kalgoorlie to the Goldfields Giants last week.

Meanwhile, Lakeside arrived having come back from losing by 20 points in Geraldton to the Buccaneers last Saturday night so both teams were coming off road trips last weekend.

The Lightning had welcomed back Rowan Mackenzie last week after he tore his hamstring back on the opening night of the season and he ended up making the world of difference to Lakeside as the night unfolded.

Both teams struggled with their shooting in the first quarter with the Lightning going 5/20 and the Eagles 7/20, but Lakeside were leading 19-15 by quarter-time with the 8/9 free-throw shooting to 1/1.

Lakeside then lit it up in the second quarter with 32 points to 22 on the back of knocking down 6/11 from three-point range and on the back of that the visitors were in control leading 51-37 at the half-time break.

It was more of the same in the third term from the Lightning with another 31 points to 18 on the way to building a 29-point advantage while making another 5/9 from three-point range opposed to the 1/5 from East Perth.

The Lakeside lead got out to as much as 34 points and even a Matthew Lang and Max Rice flurry for East Perth midway through the fourth quarter couldn’t make much of a dent with the Lightning cruising to the 28-point victory.

Lakeside finished the night shooting 55 per cent from the field while going 16/31 from behind the three-point line up against an East Perth team who struggled with 38 per cent field goal shooting and just 9/29 from beyond the arc.

The win improves the Lightning to a 6-12 record and shows what might have been possible had Rowan Mackenzie not got hurt in that first game of 2025.

Mackenzie was playing just his second game back and produced 25 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals with 4/8 shooting from three-point range.

Isaiah Lewis also hit 6/7 from deep for 24 points and five assists with Josh Davey contributing 11 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, AJ Wilson 10 points, seven boards and five assists, and Michael Garbellini nine points and five rebounds.

The loss could be a fatal blow the diminishing finals hopes of the Eagles who are now 7-11 and having lost their past three matches.

Matthew Lang top-scored for East Perth with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists with 4/5 three-point shooting while fellow import Max Rice had 19 points, three boards, three assists and three steals with 3/8 shooting from downtown.

Ioannis Dimakopoulos added 14 points and four rebounds, captain Lee Roberts 12 points, four boards and four assists.

EAST PERTH EAGLES 80 (Lang 20, Rice 19, Dimakopoulos 14)

LAKESIDE LIGHTNING 108 (Mackenzie 25, Lewis 24, Davey 11)