Fast-finishing Slammers keep title defence alive

The women’s South West Slammers came from nine points down at half-time to beat Willetton and advance to the semi-finals of the State Basketball League at Willetton Basketball Stadium on Friday night.

The Slammers travelled to Perth with a one-game advantage in the best of three quarterfinal series and claimed a 68-62 victory in Game Two to send the minor premiers packing in straight sets.

In a reversal of a recent trend the women finished the first half trailing their opponents but used the deficit as motivation and came out firing after the long break.

The women held Willetton to just 21 second-half points while piling on 36 of their own to book a spot in the last four.

“We played pretty well in the third quarter, which is a period we’ve struggled in recent weeks, and the girls did well to address that,” coach Darren Austin said.

“I thought it was a really good team effort, especially on defence, and down the stretch all of our big names stepped up when they needed to.”

Kim Sitzmann once again led the charge for the Slammers, scoring 22 points and grabbing seven boards to go with five assists.

Gracely Smith contributed 13 points from the paint and Zoe Harper made some crucial rebounds and free throws in the final quarter.

Reigning West Coast Waves MVP Melissa Marsh was limited to 16 points on seven from 18 shooting and the Slammers also did well to hold Lisa Wallbutton and Antonia Edmondson in check for much of the night.

“Wallbutton had 16 rebounds for the game but only five of those came on offence, which was an area she had really hurt us in previous matches,” Austin said.

The Slammers advance to the semi-finals where they will meet the Kalamunda Eastern Suns for a spot in the grand final and a chance to defend their championship.

Like the quarter-finals, the semis are a best of three series, with Game One this Saturday at the Eaton Recreation Centre.

Slammers men bow out

Meanwhile, the South West Slammers’ men’s championship dream is over following a 33-point loss to the East Perth Eagles in Game Two of the quarter-final series at the Morley Sport and Recreation Centre on Friday night.

Captain Jay Warren played through a nagging ankle injury, but his presence was not enough to lift the Slammers across the line and the Eagles were able to secure their spot in the semi-finals with a 134-101 victory.

The Slammers struggled to match East Perth’s offensive intensity on the night, with six Eagles recording double digits in the points column compared to just three for the visitors.

Warren top scored for the Slammers with 34, including seven three-pointers, and also contributed 13 rebounds and five assists in the absence of fellow star import Clive Weeden, who flew back to the US last week to attend to a family emergency.

Trent Worthington was powerful in the paint and finished with 16 points, while Ty Harrelson, who was also hampered by injury, had 19 points to go with seven assists and seven rebounds.

Towering Tom Jervis was the pick of the Eagles with 26 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, but they were also well served by Drew Williamson (29 points), Michael Jones (21 points, six assists) and Joe-Alan Tupaea (19 points, nine rebounds, six assists).