West Spotlight | Cougars blow Magic away in second half

Featured image: @tomreesmedia

The Cockburn Cougars once again had to come from behind but dominated the second half with Daniel Raber and Cierra Walker combining for 57 points, 17 rebounds, 11 assists, six steals and nine triples in the 103-66 NBL1 West win over the Mandurah Magic.

Wally Hagan Stadium played host to what shaped as a mouth-watering contest with the Cougars sitting on top but needing to keep winning to stay there while the Magic arrived on a five-game winning run and trying to break into the top four.

Mandurah then got out to a seven-point lead in the second quarter but Cockburn had assumed the momentum by half-time and then took complete control in the second half.

The Cougars outscored the Magic 57 points to 23 after half-time highlighted by a fourth quarter with 26 points on 12/17 shooting with Mandurah managing only the 11 points on 4/11 shooting with five turnovers.

The win keeps Cockburn in top spot at 14-2 having now won six straight and doing so minus Darcee Garbin and Jewel Williams with the Magic remaining outside the top four at 10-6.

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It was an impressive performance from Cockburn given the players they were missing and the hole they found themselves in early to end up shooting 51 per cent from the field to the 35 from Mandurah.

The Cougars also went 11/29 from downtown to 7/25 while pulling down 13 offensive rebounds to nine, and forcing the Magic into 23 turnovers that saw them get up an extra 11 shot attempts.

Daniel Raber delivered her best performance of the season getting more opportunities without Darcee Garbin in the front court to finish with 31 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals with 4/5 three-point shooting.

Cierra Walker also delivered 26 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals with 5/12 long-range shooting while Hannah Summers contributed 12 points and five steals, Ayla Pizzuto nine points, three rebounds and two steals, and the returning Jaya Scafidi eight points, three boards and two steals.

The Magic missed the chance to break into the top four with what would have been a sixth straight win with Claire Jacobs top scoring once more with 18 points, three assists, three steals and two rebounds.

Sister Mia also had 11 points and eight rebounds with 3/6 shooting from deep with Mikayla Pivec contributing nine points, six boards and two assists, and Jade Gowland nine points and six rebounds.

It loomed as a fascinating contest with Cockburn needing to win stay clear on top and Mandurah trying to break into the top four, and the Magic shook off an early eight-point deficit to go on a 9-0 scoring run.

That saw the Magic leading 23-18 by the end of the first period and then they were leading by seven early in the second frame before the Cougars worked back into the contest.

Cockburn scored 10 straight points and as a result ended up leading 46-43 by half-time and then it was all the Cougars in the third period with 31 points to 12 on the back of scoring 17 of the first 19 points.

That saw the defending champions out to a 77-55 lead by three quarter-time with Daniel Raber up to 26 points and Cierra Walker 24 with a combined 9/17 three-point shooting between them.

The pressure from Cockburn was paying dividends too with Mandurah up to 17 turnovers before the Cougars went on with the job from there with another 26 points to 11 in the final term.

That saw Cockburn shooting another 12/17 from the field to Mandurah's 4/11 with another six turnovers and the Cougars romped to the 37-point win despite the absence of Darcee Garbin and Jewel Wiliams.

Cockburn now have the last three games of their regular season on the road starting to the South West Slammers next Friday night while Mandurah are next in action that same evening playing host to the Willetton Tigers.

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COCKBURN COUGARS 103 (Raber 31, Walker 26, Summers 12)

MANDURAH MAGIC 66 (C Jacobs 18, M Jacobs 11, Gowland 9)