Eagles Recap | Women/Men Round 8

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The East Perth Eagles might have lost both NBL1 West games to the Cockburn Cougars on Friday night but there were still encouraging signs in both contests where each team was in a winning position along the way.

The Eagles were in action in Round 8 of the NBL1 West season on Friday night at Wally Hagan Stadium with the women first up and the Cougars ended up winning 91-81 before the home men's team also prevailed 107-94.

However, both East Perth teams were leading at three quarter-time before being outscored by a combined 56 points to 29 in the two last quarters.

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WOMEN

The East Perth Eagles put in a tremendous three-quarter performance to be on track to snap the Cockburn Cougars winning streak but the defending champions had a big final quarter to win 91-81.

The Eagles arrived at Wally Hagan Stadium on Friday night as the latest team to challenge the Cougars who had won 29 straight NBL1 West games and hadn’t lost in the competition since the 2024 Grand Final.

With Sarah Mortensen also playing her first game against the team she won two championships with and back on her old home floor, she was on fire early and helped the Eagles to the hot start to be leading 31-20 by quarter-time.

East Perth were still leading by two points at both half-time and three quarter-time but the Cougars then had 25 points to 13 in the last term on the way to their 30th straight win by 10 points.

Mortensen finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots for East Perth with 9/16 field goal shooting.

Sydney Wright also ended up with 18 points and two assists, Brooke Malone 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists, Stacey Barr 15 points, 10 assists and two boards, and Jade Williams seven points and seven rebounds.

Zaya Black also was back on her former Cockburn home floor and had four points and five rebounds with the Eagles +9 in her 23 minutes while Jo Odude contributed two points and three rebounds.

It always shaped as the biggest threat the Cougars had faced to their winning streak so far and that was even more the case by quarter-time when the Eagles opened up a 31-20 lead with two-time Cockburn championship winner Sarah Mortensen scoring nine of those points.

It was a hot start from East Perth with 5/7 three-point shooting to 3/12 from Cockburn along with pulling down 17 rebounds to nine for the 11-point edge.

East Perth's lead was back out to 13 points in the second quarter and still by half-time the Eagles were shooting at 50 per cent from the field and from beyond the arc, but Cockburn had got themselves back in the contest.

The Cougars put up 29 points to 20 in the second quarter and by half-time Jaya Scafidi, Darcee Garbin and Jewel Williams all had 11 points to their home to cut the Eagles lead to 51-49 with Mortensen still leading the way with 15 points.

It was 17 points apiece in a tense and tight third quarter with East Perth still clinging to a two-point advantage to three quarter-time with Cockburn needing to dig deep to keep their winning run intact.

It was then all the Cougars in the fourth quarter with the depth they possess fully on show the longer the game went as they overpowered the Eagles with 25 points to 13 on the way to the 10-point victory.

MEN

It was a rollercoaster contest with the East Perth Eagles in front at three quarter-time but then giving up 31 points in the last quarter with the Cockburn Cougars going on to score the 107-94 Friday night win.

The Eagles arrived at Wally Hagan Stadium on Friday night looking to bounce back from Sunday's loss to the Geraldton Buccaneers on Sunday and get back to the form that saw them beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns back on Saturday night.

Cockburn led for much of the first half, but East Perth picked up some momentum late in the second quarter and carried that over into a 30-point fourth quarter to take a two-point lead into three quarter-time.

The Cougars responded with 31 points in the last term to end up winning by 13 with the Eagles now having lost consecutive games for the first time in 2026 to be 5-4.

David Okwera finished with another 29 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks for the Eagles on the night with 10/16 shooting from the field and 8/9 at the foul line.

Jonah Antonio also had 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and two steals with 4/8 three-point shooting while captain Lee Roberts delivered 19 points, three boards and two assists in 20 minutes.

Nick Filpo contributed eight points, five assists and four rebounds, Lat Mayen eight points, five boards, three assists and three steals, Max Rice six points, John Aryang two points, Steve Weingarten two points and a rebound, and Ioannis Dimakopoulos two points and a rebound.

With the star power on each side, it always shaped as a fascinating contest and it was a high octane start with the Cougars getting out to an early 9-2 advantage in the first 3:15.

East Perth hit back from there and were efficient shooting at 53 per cent through the first quarter, but their seven turnovers proved costly with Johny Narkle having four steals already to quarter-time to go with nine points.

That helped Cockburn to the 30-22 advantage by quarter-time before the Eagles worked right back into the contest leading into half-time and went on an 8-0 run to cut the Cougars lead to 54-48 at the break.

David Okwera was already up to 15 points for East Perth with captain Lee Roberts adding 10 with them still shooting 50 per cent from the field but the 13 turnovers were significant in the Cougars leading by six as were their 15 free-throw attempts.

East Perth then worked on top in the third quarter with another 30 points including seven more to Okwera while Jonah Antonio caught fire and was up to 15 himself by three quarter-time with the Eagles leading 78-76 by the end of the period.

The Cougars turned the tide again in the last quarter and outscored the Eagles 31 points to 16 on the way to the eventual 13-point victory.