The Rockingham Flames Men and Women had another tough double header weekend firstly against powerhouse Perry Lakes at home on Friday before making the short journey down the highway on Saturday for the local derby against Mandurah in round eleven of the State Basketball League.

The Lady Flames were looking for revenge after the Hawks broke their faultless seven game winning streak to open the season late in April and came out strong with Kaye Tucker influential at both ends of the floor to take a 31-21 lead into quarter time.

In the second term both teams traded baskets as the Hawks closed the gap to just two points at half time but a pumped up Lady Flames line-up came out ready to the play in the second half.

Opening with Tucker, Haggar and Miller all scoring, within the first 6 minutes of the quarter the Lady Flames had extended their lead to 15 points and while the Hawks made some slight inroads in the last couple of minutes the home side took a 70-60 lead into the last.

The Lady Flames remained on the offensive and with 4.25 remaining on the clock they held a 12 point buffer, but in a frantic finish the visitors stormed back with some timely three point baskets to close within three points but just ran out of time as the Flames held on for a 91-86 win.

Kaye Tucker showed why she is in the competitions elite pouring in 31pts, 9rebs and 5 assists while great support was given by Casey Haggar 16pts & 12rebs, Ashlea Mackin Brown 12pts and Sherelle Johnson 8pts, 12rebs & 8 assists.

Backing up against Mandurah the following night as 2nd took on 9th was seen as a mismatch to most but the Magic came out with a point to prove and held a two point advantage at the first break.

In the second and third quarters the Magic looked the fresher of the two teams and remained poised at the offensive end to push their lead to 23 at the last change with the Lady Flames managing just 25% shooting from the field.

In the last both teams could only manage 9 points apiece but the damage had been done with the home side taking a 76-53 win which will set-up for an interesting return clash at the Hot House in July with the Coast FM Cup up for grabs.

Casey Haggar was the lone Lady Flame to crack double figure points with 14 while Sherelle Johnson had 9 and Elyse ODea 8.
 
Now to the Men, who in the preceding game against Perry Lakes three weeks earlier went down by just two points and with Ryan Godfrey back in the line-up playing some great basketball the Flames went in quietly confident of causing an upset.

The Flames came out running with Brendan Della and Ryan Godfrey knocking down shots to build a 9-2 lead and with support from all players the home team went in with a 28-22 lead at quarter time.

In the second the Flames got great mileage from their bench and built a sizeable 16 point lead heading into the locker rooms.

During the third term the Hawks chipped away at the lead and for the home crowd many were wondering whether another second half fadeout was about to transpire with only seven points separating the teams at the last change (87-80).

The last quarter had a little bit of everything, momentum changes, big shots and some costly misses and with just three minutes remaining the Flames held a slender one point lead before Godfrey and Rhett Della hit perimeter shots to push the lead to six. 

In the final 90 seconds of play Della once again answered the call making crucial foul shots while the visitors couldn’t manage to sink a three point basket from four attempts as the Flames came away with a big 119-111 victory.
 
The Flames were led by the hot shooting of Ryan Godfrey who finished with 35pts, Joey Harrell 23pts & 8rebs and Rhett Della who has come back from injury to provide major impact ended with 22pts & 18rebs.
 
With the monkey finally off the teams back the Flames went in against the Magic with a great deal of confidence and came out blazing with a 35-23 quarter time lead.

Early in the second the Flames extended their lead to 20 but some defensive lapses let the Magic back into the game as just five points separated the teams at the major break (62-57).

In the third the Flames were struggling to find the bottom of the net with any regularity while the home side shot at a healthy 55% from the field to set up for an interesting last term as the Magic took the lead 81-80 into the last.

With bragging rights at stake the Flames weren’t going to fade and came out with a ruthless defensive approach which was the catalyst of some transition baskets where they stormed home to take a 113-92 win and double their number of wins for the season over the weekend.

The Flames were led by Joey Harrell who had his best performance for the club with 36pts and 9rebs while weekly MVP candidate Ryan Godfrey backed up with 28pts & 5rebs and big man Rhett Della had another efficient double-double of 17pts & 14rebs.

This weekend will see both teams travel to Kalamunda on Friday night with 6:30pm and 8.30pm tip-offs before they both return home against Perth on Saturday. The women’s game will commence at 6:00pm and the men at 8:00pm.

Article by Ryan Rogers (Rockingham Basketball & Recreation Association)