Slammers finals chances almost over

Finals appear to be out of reach for the Printsync South West Slammers after they suffered a disappointing 22-loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks today.

The 111-89 loss was the Slammers’ 14th loss from 20 games, leaving them three wins outside of the top eight and a chance at the play-offs.

Trent Worthington had an exceptional game for the Slammers coming off the bench to record 20 rebounds and 12 points.

Import Tre Nichols was also handy with 28 points and Corey Easley scored 15 points, but the Slammers were out-muscled in the rebound count 53-46, which had a big bearing on the result.

The Slammers started slowly, trailing 31-11 at quarter time, but fought back in the second term to reduce the margin to seven points at the half-time break.

But in the third term the Slammers once again took their foot off the pedal and by the start of the fourth quarter the lead had blown out to 20 points.

Hawks captain Ben Purser was a standout for the game, scoring 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to lead his side to victory.

Perry Lakes’ 211cm Brian Carlwell also had a solid game with 22 points and he contributed largely to the 50 points the Hawks scored in the paint.

The Slammers failed to protect the ball, turning it over 23 times to the Hawks, with Easley and Worthington both recording five turnovers each.

The visitors also missed import Royal Crouch, who missed his third match in a row.

Shooting percentage was also down for the Slammers, with the South West side shooting at just 39 per cent from the field compared to 49 per cent from the Hawks.

The Slammers also failed to make the Hawks pay at the stripe, shooting at just 44 per cent from the free-throw line, while Perry Lakes were accurate with 75 per cent of their shots going down.

The Slammers will look to try and turn their fortunes around this weekend when they take on the Lakeside Lightning on Friday night, before hosting the Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Saturday night.

The Printsync South West Slammers women’s side could not continue their winning ways, losing by 37 points to the Perry Lakes Hawks on Sunday.

Dominating from start to finish, the Hawks’ experience overwhelmed the young Slammers side who lost 91-54.

Antonia Edmondson was dominant for the Hawks, scoring a game-high 21 points while also recording seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

She was joined by teammates Deanna Smith (19 points) and Sarah Donovan (15 rebounds) in leading the Hawks to another vital victory as they look towards play-offs.

The Slammers were on the back foot early and trailled by 11 points at half-time, but scored just eight points in a disappointing third term, as the Hawks began to take any chance of a comeback of the table.

Courtney Bayliss scored 18 points and had nine rebounds, while Dena English was also solid with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists.

But English turned the ball over seven times and Bayliss did the same on six occasions, as the Slammers recorded a poor 28 turnovers for the game.

The Hawks scored 25 points from the Slammers’ turnovers, while the inside defence from the visitors was not up to scratch, with Perry Lakes recording 50 points on the paint.

Senior players Brittany Gliddon and Rebecca Preston also had poor games, with the pair recoding just two points between them.

The Slammers take on the Lakeside Lightning on Friday night before hosting Kalamunda Eastern Suns on Saturday.