Eagles Preview – Round 17

The regular season of the NBL1 West season for 2024 ends on Saturday with the East Perth Eagles at home to the Goldfields Giants with the women looking for a big finish and the men gearing up for the playoffs.

It's the final round of the 2024 regular season with East Perth to play the Giants on Saturday at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre with the women's match up tipping off at 11am followed by the men's contest at 1pm.

WOMEN

The East Perth Eagles women have the chance to finish the season on a high note at home to the Goldfields Giants on Saturday on Peter Campbell Basketball Arena.

Both teams come into the contest to close the season just looking to end their campaigns on a high note with the Eagles coming into the clash on a five-game losing run while the Giants have lost seven straight as well.

That sees East Perth looking to improve on its current 5-14 record to close the season on a winning note while Goldfields comes into the last game of the season at 3-16.

The two teams already played one another earlier in the season in Kalgoorlie back on Saturday June 2 and on that occasion it was the Eagles prevailing 78-66.

In that contest, Laci Hawthorne finished with 16 points and six rebounds in the win for East Perth with Bri Bailey adding 15 points, six boards and three assists, and Mary Goulding had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Tessa Morrison also had 11 points, four rebounds and two assists with Sarah Allen adding nine points, eight assists and seven boards, and Taylor Roberts three points, three rebounds and two assists.

That means that since the Giants returned officially to the women's competition back ahead of the 2022 NBL1 West season that the Eagles have won all four encounters by an average of 18 points.

East Perth will be looking to continue that run on Saturday at home to close the season on a high note after it has had some encouraging signs, but the last five consecutive losses to Lakeside, Kalamunda, Perry Lakes, Willetton and Rockingham have been disappointing.

Prior to the five-match losing run and the Eagles had themselves in playoff contention after three consecutive wins, but Saturday presents a chance to end the campaign on a positive note.

MEN

A lot is going to have to go right for the East Perth Eagles to grab fourth spot by the end of Saturday's last game of the regular season, but a big win over the Goldfields Giants could still make it possible.

The results across the league on Friday night to open the final round of the regular season will play its part in what the possibility is like for the Eagles to return to fourth spot, but all they can do is try to take care of business against the Giants.

East Perth will be playing host to Goldfields on Saturday afternoon at Peter Campbell Basketball Arena to close the regular season with both teams already locked into being part of the playoffs.

Coming into the last round and the Eagles now sit in seventh position in the standings with a 12-9 record and having lost both matches last weekend against the Willetton Tigers and Rockingham Flames.

The Giants arrive to finish the season on the road currently occupying fourth position with a 13-8 record on the back of winning the previous three matches.

The equation is simple for Goldfields coming into Saturday's match up and a win over East Perth will see them confirm fourth position and that spot heading into the finals.

Things aren’t quite as simple for East Perth to try and break back into the top four, but there does remain an outside hope if the Eagles firstly take care of business not only beating the Giants, but by doing so by a significant margin.

The results on Friday night featuring the Mandurah Magic and Rockingham Flames will also have an impact on if the Eagles are able to still move into fourth position.

But either way, whether or not fourth spot is the reward or not, East Perth will want to head into a first playoffs appearance in 10 years on a winning note with a strong performance against a Giants team who also will be part of the finals series.

The Eagles are already locked into a first playoffs appearance since the championship year of 2014 but going into the post-season in winning form will now be the focus heading into Saturday's clash with the Giants.

The last time the two teams played was in Kalgoorlie back on Saturday June 2 with the Giants prevailing 109-88.

On that night, Sunday Dech led the way with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Eagles but he is now gearing up for a historic first Olympics appearance in Paris with South Sudan.

Also in that last game against the Giants, Taylor Young finished with 18 points, four rebounds and three assists with Sebit Reath adding 17 points and five boards, Lee Roberts 11 points and 15 rebounds, and Sharif Watson seven points and three boards.

East Perth guard Elijah Pawson is looking forward to the chance on Saturday to get one back on the Giants and to head into the finals in winning form after a tough couple of weeks.

"We owe the Giants one as we weren’t able to get them when we played out there earlier in the season so we expect to be more prepared this time around," Pawson said.

"Willetton and Rockingham have been solid teams all season so we knew that the double header would be tough. Saying that, we just didn’t play the way needed to and the way we know we can.

"The last few weeks have all been vital games to determine where we finish on the ladder so as a team we’ve been trying to treat each game just as important as a playoff game."