Cockburn Cougars

Cockburn Cougars
Leagues State Basketball League
Founded 1989
History Cockburn Cougars
1989–present
Arena Wally Hagan Stadium
Location Hamilton Hill, Western Australia
Team colors Sky blue, white, yellow
Main sponsor Lapa Brazilian Restaurant
President Scott Harris
Head coach M: Adam Nener
W: John Triscari
Team captain M: Gavin Field
W: Chelsea Evans
Championships 3 (1992, 2012, 2016) (M)
0 (W)
Website CockburnCougars.com

Cockburn Cougars is a State Basketball League (SBL) club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club fields a team in both the Men's SBL (MSBL) and Women's SBL (WSBL). The club is a division of Cockburn Basketball Association (CBA), the major administrative basketball organisation in the City of Cockburn and its surrounding areas. The Cougars play their home games at Wally Hagan Stadium. For sponsorship reasons, the two teams are known as the Lapa Brazilian Restaurant Cockburn Cougars.

Club history

Background

Cockburn Basketball Association was established in 1972. By 1982, the association's men's side finished runners-up in Perth's local District competition. Two years later, the team won their first championship.[1] In addition, the women's side were runners-up every year between 1983 and 1986. During that four-year run, Sue Arthur was named League MVP every year, while Russ McCall won MVP for the men's competition in 1985.[2]

Formation of the SBL

1989 saw the formation of the State Basketball League (SBL) with both a men's and women's competition. Cockburn, trading as the Cougars, entered a team into both the MSBL and WSBL. Both teams failed to make the finals in their first year, with the men finishing second last with a 4–18 record while the women finished fifth with a 12–9 record.[3] Despite not being able to lead her team to the finals, Sue Arthur was named the inaugural WSBL Most Valuable Player.[2]

1990s

In 1992, the Cougars men won their first SBL championship with a 107–91 grand final win over the Bunbury Slammers. As a result, Greg Gurr won the MSBL Coach of the Year award. Just one year earlier, women's coach Kim Poore earned WSBL Coach of the Year honours.[2]

Two more grand final appearances for the Cougars men in 1993 and 1998 saw runner-up finishes, while individually, future NBL stalwart James Harvey won MSBL Rookie of the Year honours in 1997, and Natalie Kastropil won WSBL Rookie of the Year honours in 1996. Also in 1998, Scott Marsden (men) and Llyod Klaman (women) both won Coach of the Year honours, while Alan Erickson won MSBL MVP honours—a first for the Cougars men.[2]

2000s

With the turn of the century, the Cougars continued to see success with a men's runner-up finish in 2003 and another MVP winner with Justin Lyons in 2001. Furthermore, women's coach Brad Spicer won Coach of the Year in 2001, while men's coach Shayne Hampel was a three-time Coach of the Year recipient between 2003 and 2005.[2] Season 2004 saw both teams record club-best seasons: a second-place finish for the women with a 17–3 record, and a first-place finish for the men with a 21–3 record.

Recent years

The club's second championship came in 2012 with a men's grand final win over the East Perth Eagles. That year, the Cougars were led by imports Jeremiah Wilson (Grand Final MVP) and Brian Carlwell, and local up-and-comers Damien Scott and Gavin Field.[4][5][6]

In 2016, the Cougars men finished the regular season with a 22–4 record to claim their fourth first-seed finish in their 28-year history.[7][8] They went on to defeat the Joondalup Wolves in the grand final to claim their third SBL title.[9] They were led by imports Najee Lane and Marcus Goode, and Grand Final MVP Rhett Della.[10] In the wake of winning their third championship, coach Matt Parsons was named MSBL Coach of the Year for the second straight season.[11]

Current roster

Cockburn Cougars men's roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht.
G 4 Australia Chan, Seva 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
G 5 Australia Van Lit, Steven 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
G 6 Australia Mandic, Matej 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)
G 8 Australia Cummings, Lochlan 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
F 9 Australia Della Maddalena, Rhett 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
F 10 Australia Arrowsmith, Guy 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
G/F 11 Australia Field, Gavin (C) 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in)
F 12 Australia Knight, Jakob 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)
F 13 Australia Citrigno, Carmelo 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
G/F 14 Australia Harris, Jake 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
F/C 15 Australia Holmes, Jaarod 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
G 20 Australia Angus, Chad 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
F/C 21 United States Billups, Jalen (I) 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
G 33 Australia Thomas, Daniel 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Head coach
  • Australia Adam Nener
Assistant coach(es)
  • Australia Grant Davey
  • Australia Scott Hood
Team manager
  • Australia Peter Stanley
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Development player
  • (I) Import player
  • Injured

Updated: 24 April 2017
Cockburn Cougars women's roster
Players Coaches
Pos. # Nat. Name Ht.
G 4 Australia Evans, Chelsea (C) 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
G 5 Australia Pitcher, Nicole 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
G 6 Australia Bourne, Talisia 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
F 7 Australia Pitcher, Kirsty 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
G 8 Australia Priestly, Taryn 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
G 9 Australia Roberts, Nicole 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
G 10 Australia Moyes, Brianna 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
G 11 Australia Roberts, Alyce 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
F 12 Australia Gandini, Lauren 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
F/C 13 Australia Michael, Vanessa 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
F/C 14 United States Mitchell, Kersten (I) 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
F 15 Australia Miotti, Isabelle 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
F/C 22 United States Doucette, Lindsey (I) 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
G Australia Benn, Ruby 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
G Australia Mioti, Tessa 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
G Australia House, Tanieka 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
G Australia Barker, Danielle 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
G Australia Graham, Sally 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • Australia Megan Thompson
  • Australia David Moreschi
Team manager
  • Australia Bethwyn House
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Development player
  • (I) Import player
  • Injured

Updated: 24 April 2017

References

  1. ↑ "1984 Championship - Cockburn Cougars V Perth Redbacks". YouTube.com. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "COUGAR ARCHIVES - STATE BASKETBALL LEAGUE". CockburnCougars.com. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "SBL Standings 1989". CockburnCougars.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
  4. ↑ Ferguson, Frizz (2 September 2012). "Cougars claim SBL championship". Yahoo.com. The West Australian. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  5. ↑ Ferguson, Frizz (9 September 2012). "Cougars Win SBL Championship". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  6. ↑ McGlaughlin-Williams, Bryce (14 September 2012). "Twenty Years in the making - Cougars 2012". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Pike, Chris (30 July 2016). "Cougars prevail over Wolves as top spot battle delivers". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  8. ↑ Pike, Chris (5 August 2016). "Parsons beaming over Cougars' toughness, depth heading into finals". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  9. ↑ "Relive the Cockburn Cougars - Cockburn Basketball Association 2016 SBL...". Facebook.com. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
  10. ↑ Pike, Chris (3 September 2016). "Cougars cap memorable SBL season with third championship". SportsTG.com. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "Coach of the Year Parsons looks to build on coaching journey". SportsTG.com. 19 February 2017. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
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