Week 2 of the State Basketball League quarter-finals takes place this weekend with the losers from last week trying to keep their seasons alive.
Women's - Wolves step up for finals
Rockingham Flames’ battle with Glasscraft Wanneroo Wolves shapes up as the closest of the women’s State Basketball League quarter-finals series heading into the second weekend.
Wanneroo were the only lower seeded side to win last weekend and now Rockingham, which finished the regular season in second spot, must win twice at home this week to advance.
The Flames were 9-2 at home this year so will be confident, but Wanneroo showed it has what it takes to advance to the semis with its 79-74 victory in game one of the best-of-three series.
The Wolves outscored Rockingham 40-27 after quarter-time in that game and the Flames will be desperate to avoid another fadeout.
Southside Mitsubishi Perth Redbacks took the upper hand in its series with Australian Central East Perth Eagles with a 54-47 victory in game one and has two chances to close out the series at home.
Perth will be heavily favoured given it went 8-3 at home for the regular season and has won five of its last six, but East Perth led the league for much of the season and could cause an upset.
Both teams struggled with free-throw shooting and turnovers in game one, but it was East Perth’s failure to hit a three-point shot that proved the difference, an area it must improve to have a chance in the deciding two games.
Southlands Willetton Tigers will secure a semi-final battle with the winner of Perth’s series with the Eagles if it closes out its series with eighth seed Lakeside Lightning.
The top side beat Lakeside in a 64-62 thriller last week and has two chances to win at home, where it is 10-1 for the year.
Lakeside showed it can match it with Willetton in its encouraging effort last week and can’t totally be discounted.
Total Connections Perry Lakes Hawks upset Mandurah Magic on the road last week and should advance to meet Rockingham or Wanneroo in the semis.
The third seeded Hawks were expected to lose game one at Mandurah, with the Magic 10-1 at home in the regular season, but its surprise 78-68 victory put it in a dominant position.
The Magic have won on the road just three times this year and are unlikely to win twice at Perry Lakes to advance.
Men's - Season on the line for Wolves
Southside Mitsubishi Perth Redbacks should ensure its passage to the men’s State Basketball League semi-finals by wrapping up its series with Titan Interactive Wanneroo Wolves.
Perth pulled out a stunning comeback to win 118-109 at Wanneroo last week, meaning it has two chances at home to get the clinching second win in the best-of-three series this weekend.
The Redbacks outscored the Wolves 47-25 in the last quarter of game one to get the vital victory, on the back of dominant efforts from Jon Meriweather (39 points) and Joel Wagner (34 points, 11 assists).
Wanneroo will have to avoid any fadeouts and do a better job supporting Zachary Coverstone, Seb Salinas and Greg Hire, who combined for 78 of its points, to have any chance.
Lakeside Lightning thumped Australian Central East Perth Eagles 98-76 in game one and will be expected to sweep the series.
The Lightning were always in control, thanks to great efforts from Luke Payne, Ben Beran and Jarrad Prue, as Andy Stewart’s side looked a class above.
East Perth will need more from the likes of Tom Jervis and Jarrod Balcombe to challenge Lakeside, while Stephen Weigh was restricted to 27 points in game one, his lowest total in six weeks, and will need to get closer to his best.
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers edged Total Connections Perry Lakes Hawks in the second half of game one to take control of the series and should wrap it up at home.
The Buccaneers are 10-3 at home this year and should have few problems wrapping up the series in the second game.
Perry Lakes is flying to Geraldton to help ease travel issues but will be massive underdogs after it struggled to support NBL star Peter Crawford and import Robert Kempf last week.
Southlands Willetton Tigers annihilated seventh seed SKILLED Goldfields Giants in the first game and should advance with a sweep of the series.
Willetton looked too good in the first game, beating the Giants in every major statistical category, and it will take a massive turnaround for Goldfields to have any chance.
Goldfields shot just 31.7 per cent from the field, with import John Vaudreuil (three-for-17) the worst offender, and improving that will be a priority for rookie coach Wayne Creek.
Previews by Jacob Kagi
