The Cockburn Cougars are back home at Wally Hagan Stadium on Saturday evening to host the Perth Redbacks with both teams looking to bounce back in Round 8 of the 2022 NBL1 West season.
It shapes up as a tremendous evening of basketball on Saturday at Wally Hagan Stadium with both teams representing the Cougars and Redbacks determined to come away victorious, and capable of delivering some impressive and exciting action on the court.
It all gets underway at 5.30pm with the tip-off for the Women’s clash between the Cougars and Redbacks. The Men’s match following on Saturday night at 7.30pm.
Starting with the Women’s clash, the Cougars are coming off a loss last Saturday in Rockingham to the Flames while the Redbacks have lost their past three matches so they will both be highly motivated to bounce back with a win on Saturday.
The two teams also did battle only two weeks ago at Belmont Oasis when the Cougars prevailed 118-51 over the Redbacks.
But on that night Perth was missing Makailah Dyer, Kayonna Lee and Jess Jakens – three of their starters – who will all be there at Wally Hagan Stadium for this return encounter.
However, there was a lot to like in that win for the Cougars no matter who was or wasn’t there for the Redbacks.
Kat Tudor caught fire to put up 29 points while Jessie Edwards had 20 points and 11 rebounds, Ella Summers 18 points and seven boards, and Alina Hartmann 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds to be among the standout contributors.
Then last Saturday night even though Cockburn suffered just their second loss of the season at the hands of Rockingham, Hartmann scored another 19 points with Edwards delivering 17 points and 11 rebounds, Tudor 17 points and seven boards, and Jewel Williams 12 points and seven assists.
Meanwhile had some bodies back last week and put in a more competitive performance in an eight-point loss to the Perry Lakes Hawks setting the stage for what should be a terrific contest with the Cougars on Saturday at Wally Hagan Stadium.
Then in the Men’s clash, both Cockburn and Perth come into the game with 4-4 records and are looking to get a win on the board to begin to build some momentum from.
The two teams met just two weeks ago at Belmont Oasis and on that occasion it was an 87-75 victory for the Redbacks over the Cougars on their home floor.
In that win for the Redbacks, Jerami Grace delivered 29 points and six rebounds while Zac Gattorna added 22 points and five boards, and Tevin Jackson 18 points, six rebounds and six assists while the league’s assists record holder Joel Wagner dished out another 11 dimes.
While it was a loss on the night for the Cougars, Gavin Field top-scored with 18 points for the game with Paschal Chukwu adding 11 points and seven rebounds, and fellow import Carter Skaggs nine points and six boards.
Since then, Cockburn lost to the Rockingham Flames by 19 points on the road last Friday night while the Redbacks also went down away to the Perry Lakes Hawks by 28 points.
The Cougars Men started the season with four straight wins against East Perth, Willetton, South West and Goldfields, but now have lost four in-a-row to Geraldton, Mandurah, Perth and Rockingham, but Saturday presents a chance to bounce back at home to the Redbacks.
