Eagles Rd 17 Preview | Away v Hawks

Image credit: Mark Filpo (@codexdesignstudio)

The second last round of the NBL1 West season sees the East Perth Eagles take on the Perry Lakes Hawks at Bendat Basketball Centre with the women trying to move further up in the top eight and the men looking to stay alive.

The East Perth women have locked away a playoff spot but still have the position to finish higher up and potentially lock away a home final while the Eagles men just need to keep winning if they want to remain a chance to play finals.

The evening's action against Perry Lakes begins with the women's contest tipping off at 5pm with the men's game to follow at 7pm.

WATSON'S SOLE FOCUS ON HELPING EAGLES WIN

JAYMIE EXCITED FOR EAGLES TO LOCK IN FINALS

EAGLES RECAP | ROUND 16 WOMEN/MEN

WOMEN

The Eagles produced an emphatic performance last week to guarantee their finals place and will look to keep the momentum going this Saturday evening against the Perry Lakes Hawks.

Having lost four of the last five, and six of the last eight, games, East Perth returned to some impressive form last Saturday night at home to the Kalamunda Eastern Suns with the 114-83 victory.

It was the last home game at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre for the Eagles women, but it doesn’t have to be the last one for 2025 with the prospect still there of earning a home final with two more wins in the last two rounds of the regular season.

The Eagles currently sit in seventh position on the standings with a 10-8 record but that only has them percentage behind the also 10-8 Mandurah Magic and just one game behind the Willetton Tigers.

So there does remain a genuine chance of a fifth or sixth placed finish for East Perth which would earn them a home final to open their return to playoff action in two weeks' time.

East Perth now takes on a Perry Lakes team who are in eighth position and come into Saturday's game at Bendat Basketball Centre after losing to the undefeated Cockburn Cougars by 21 points on Friday night.

That leaves the Hawks sitting on a 9-9 so what a win for the Eagles would also do on Saturday even is move them further clear of that eighth position by moving two games clear.

The two teams did only meet a month ago at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and on that occasion it was a big 104-58 win for Perry Lakes over East Perth.

On that night, Amy Jacobs put up 24 points and six rebounds for the Hawks, Alex Fowler 23 points, 12 boards and six assists, Jayda Clark 14 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, Megan McKay 14 points and seven boards, and Maddy Dennis seven points and seven rebounds.

It was a tough night for the Eagles despite Sasha Goodlett producing 25 points, 12 rebounds and two assists with Abby Cubillo adding 12 points and five boards, Awatea Leach 10 points and four assists, and Madi Torresin nine points and three assists.

It could be a decidedly different story this time around, though, with Perry Lakes facing Cockburn on Friday night without WNBL experienced pair Clark and McKay, and there's every chance neither will be there again to take on East Perth on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Eagles are coming off the 31-point win last Saturday against the Eastern Suns where Leach had a season best 33 points with six three-pointers while Cubillo just missed a triple-double with 13 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.

Torresin also had 20 points, four rebounds and three assists, Goodlett 18 points, nine boards and five assists, and Tessa Morrison 11 points and six assists.

Now the chance presents for the Eagles to continue to build momentum heading into the finals and to keep the hopes alive for a home final to open up the post-season.

MEN

The Eagles men kept their finals hopes alive with the win last Saturday night and now could even be back in the top eight by Saturday night with a win against the Perry Lakes Hawks.

It still looks like the last positions in the top eight will go right down to the final day of the regular season next Saturday with East Perth hosting Geraldton, and Perry Lakes taking on Goldfields, but this Saturday night's clash could have a big say in what happens too.

Now coming into Saturday's contest at Bendat Basketball Centre and East Perth will look to keep the momentum going from last week's 101-99 win at home to the Eastern Suns.

Even though it was a two-point margin in the finish with Marshall Nelson and Randy Bell shooting Kalamunda back into the contest, it was a more emphatic performance than that by the Eagles to keep their season alive.

There was a lot to like in the performance from the Eagles with Max Rice finishing with 28 points and seven assists, Chier Maker 22 points and seven boards, Lee Roberts 20 points and 10 rebounds, Matthew Lang 10 points, seven assists and five boards, and Jonah Antonio nine points, six rebounds and three assists.

As a result, East Perth now sit on an 8-11 record on the season to be in ninth position and just behind the Eastern Suns who are 9-11.

Even the Goldfields Giants and Mandurah Magic aren’t too far ahead with 10-10 records so there are three positions there that the Eagles could potentially nab to secure a finals spot.

The first task for the Eagles, though, is to take care of business on Saturday night against Perry Lakes at Bendat Basketball Centre.

East Perth were impressive the last time the teams met with the 101-77 victory back on June 27 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre.

If the Eagles are to replicate a similarly impressive performance then there is a chance they will sit in a top eight position by the end of Saturday night depending on how the Eastern Suns perform in Kalgoorlie against the Giants.

Meanwhile, Perry Lakes comes into Saturday night's game having lost their past nine matches to be all but out of the finals race themselves including a 14-point loss to the Cockburn Cougars at Wally Hagan Stadium.

The Hawks are currently without key trio Luke Phillips, Nick Floyd and Keegan Phillips, but the Eagles still can't afford to take anything for granted against them with any hopes of playing finals potentially going on the line for them on Saturday night.