Our Zambrero Willetton Tigers had another double header last weekend, with a Friday night home court clash against the Senators, and their second game on the road against the Eagles.
On Friday night, the Tiger women entered into the clash between 2nd and 3rd on the ladder against the Senators.
The battle lived up to the hype, with the first quarter delivering an exciting fast paced style of play, and seeing the Tigers finishing the quarter with a 4 point advantage.
In the second quarter, the Tigers made use of their strength inside with Alex Sharp and Sam Lubcke combining to keep the Tigers within reach.
Senators finished the half 2 points up, and it was clear this would be an arm wrestle until the very end.
Tayla Hepburn worked her magic in the paint getting an early 3 point play in the 3rd quarter. Desiree followed up with a big 3 point shot, and Hayley Winter scored 5 points in a row.
Despite this effort, the Tigers were down 5 at 3 quarter time.
Alex Sharp had a strong final quarter, and Kelley contributed another signature long range 3, however the Senators ran away with the 67 -76 win.
It will be exciting to potentially see these teams meet for a rematch in the finals!
Desiree Kelley was the top scorer with 20 points, along with 8 rebounds, and 2 assists. Alex Sharp had 16 points, a massive 13 rebounds, and 5 assists. Sam Lubcke contributed 11 points, and 6 rebounds.
The Tiger men were faced with a big challenge against the 4th ranked Senators, and rise to the challenge they did!
They came out firing with 5 different Tigers players scoring in the first 3 minutes of the game! They continued their strong performance for the remainder of the quarter, giving them a 5 point quarter time lead.
Despite a slower start to the 2nd quarter, the Tigers managed to protect their lead with a few great defensive sets, along with a 5 point contribution from each of Damien Scott and Andrew Black for the quarter.
The Tigers went into half time with a 6 point lead.
The second half was a tough slog for the Tigers, as the Senators went on an 11-0 run to put themselves in front.
Vigor broke the run with a much needed 3 pointer with 3 minutes left of the quarter. A put back by Gerovich just before the 3 quarter time left the Tigers down by 2 with 1 quarter to go.
The final quarter was heart attack material with 8 lead changes throughout.
It was blow for blow until the dying seconds of the game, where Mike Vigor drew a foul with 5 seconds remaining on the clock. This sent him to the free throw line for 2 shots, with the Tigers down by 1 point.
Unfortunately neither were made, and the Tigers went down by 1 in a heartbreaking finish.
Mike Vigor was joint top scorer with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. Travis Fee also had 18 points, along with 4 rebounds and 4 assists. Damien Scott put up 16 points, 8 rebounds and an impressive 7 assists.
The following day, both teams geared up to do it all again at East Perth.
The Tiger women put on a stunning display against the Eagles. Leading by 8 at quarter time, it didn’t take long for the Tigers long to put their foot down and jump out to a 47 – 34 lead at half time.
With a range of offensive scorers, the Tigers made themselves very difficult to defend. As a result, they were up by 32 at 3 quarter time, and finished the game with a winning margin of 41 points.
It was great to see some up and coming Zambrero NBL1 Tigers players getting to hit the court and get some minutes under their belt, with Kiara Waite playing just over 14 minutes, Talicia Hansen and Eva Cooke playing close to 6 minutes each, and Kayla Wardle getting 3 minutes on the court.
This spread of court time meant there was also a fantastic scoring spread, with 10 of 11 players hitting the score sheet, and 5 players getting double figures!
Alex Sharp was a standout with 24 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. Tayla Hepburn has a great game with 16 points and 4 rebounds. Emma Gandini had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals. Sam Lubcke had a solid double double stat line with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Kiara Waite gave 7 points and 8 rebounds from the bench.
The Tiger Men were next to face the Eagles, and it was a fairly even tussle in the opening quarter, with the Tigers finishing the quarter with a narrow 1 point winning margin. The second quarter saw the Tigers find some real offensive rhythm and defensive intensity.
Connor Mincherton had a great second quarter with 7 points in a 2 minute patch, and Lachie Evans finished out the quarter scoring the last 5 points, as the Tigers went into the half time break with a 17 point buffer.
The third quarter saw the scoring dry up for the Tigers, with only 9 points for the quarter against the Eagles dominant 23 point term.
The Tigers clung to a 3 point lead at 3 quarter time thanks to a big 3 point shot by Captain Andrew Black in the final 2 minutes of the quarter.
A fade away 2 points from Lee Roberts 4 minutes into the final term put the Eagles in front by 1 point, and the Tigers were unable to wrestle the lead back from there.
Justin King had 5 points in the final minute of the game to seal the victory for the Eagles by 8 points.
Both Tiger teams hit the big open road up to Kalgoorlie this weekend to take on the Giants.
Don’t forget to live stream the game through the NBL1 West website, or app, so that you can cheer your Tiger teams on from the comfort of your couch!
Gallery of Game Day Photos
Thanks to June for the great shots on the night, check out the full gallery for both games below;
