PERRY Lakes Hawks won its first State Basketball League men’s grand final since 2004 in front of a sell-out crowd at Bendat Basketball Centre on Saturday night.
The Hawks beat the Joondalup Wolves 94-87.
Grand final MVP and Hawks co-captain Ben Purser said it was an amazing feeling to win a championship with this group.
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READ NOW“Not too many people thought we would make it to the grand final let alone gave us a chance at winning,” Purser said.
“The boys showed a lot of resilience and I look forward to the celebrations to come.
“It was a big night for the club and we were extremely grateful for all the support.”
The Hawks, who finished the season in fourth, led the whole game holding their biggest lead of 13 points with two minutes to go in the first half.
The Wolves pegged it back to twice draw even in the third quarter and trailed by just four points heading into a riveting final term after some fancy footwork from Joondalup import Brian Sullivan (13 points) got him clear for a roof-raising three-point swish on the buzzer.
Joondalup got within one point of the Hawks four minutes into the last quarter but Perry Lakes had an answer for everything that was thrown at them.
Perry Lakes took 48 per cent from the field including 9-24 at the three-point line while Joondalup managed 37.7 per cent.
Perry Lakes’ Ryan Smith led all scorers with 24 points, while dangerous Wolves import Sullivan was well held by the Hawks’ Mitchell Clarke.