Eagles men and women's playoff hopes take hit with losses to Flames (Week 17 Sunday SBL wrap)

IT PROVED a pivotal Sunday afternoon of SBL action to close Week 17 with both East Perth Eagles teams losing to the Rockingham Flames to all but end their playoff hopes while the Stirling Senators and South West Slammers came away with men's and women's victories.

Both East Perth teams likely couldn’t afford to drop another game between now and the end of the regular season if they wanted to make the playoffs, but now their job is made all that harder and possibly impossible after losing at Rockingham to the Flames on Sunday.

The Lady Eagles had no chance up against an absolutely on-fire Sami Whitcomb as she delivered a performance that stamps her authority again on the SBL as the reigning MVP.

Meanwhile, the Senators men's and women's teams scored wins at Kalamunda over the Eastern Suns while the two Slammers teams also proved too good for the Lighting at Lakeside.

The three women's matches on Sunday afternoon saw the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beat the Schweigen East Perth Eagles 91-58 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, the Stirling Senators downed the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 66-60 at Ray Owen Sports Centre and the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers defeated the Lakeside Lightning 77-55 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The three men's matches on Sunday saw the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames down the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 87-76 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, the Bethanie Stirling Senators beat the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 100-99 at Ray Owen Sports Centre and the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers defeat the Lakeside Lightning 120-92 at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

Starting with the women's matches, the Flames maintained their spot atop the table winning an 11th straight match beating the Eagles by 33 points.

The win sees Rockingham improve to 18-1 to remain ahead of the 17-2 Willetton Tigers while the Eagles' playoff hopes took a big hit with them falling to 6-13 with the loss behind the 7-11 Perry Lakes Hawks in eighth position.

Sami Whitcomb delivered a simply phenomenal performance for the Flames finishing with 49 points on the back of shooting 15-of-27 from the field, 13-of-21 from three-point territory and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Jacinta Bourne added 15 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists as well for Rockingham while Talisia Bourne finished with seven points, four boards and three assists, and Vanessa Michael six points and six rebounds.

Kelsey Maffin tried hard for the Eagles with 16 points and six rebounds while Denielle Lipscombe contributed 12 points and Nicole Jorre St Jorre 12 points.

The Senators then scored an upset six-point win over the Eastern Suns that is their fourth win only of the season, but hurts the chances of the Suns breaking into the top four. As a result of the loss, Kalamunda slips to 12-7 behind the fourth placed Mandurah Magic who are 13-5.

Lyndal Gardner led the way in the win for the Senators with 19 points while hitting 5-of-13 from three-point territory.

Cassie Bates also contributed 17 points, six boards and three steals in the win with Hannah Throns contributing 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists, and Amber Land eight points, 12 boards and five assists.

Jessie Edwards top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 25 points and a massive 20 rebounds to go with three blocked shots and two assists while shooting 9-of-19 from the field.

Abbey Duinker added a double-double as well for Kalamunda with 16 points and 11 rebounds but they didn’t receive enough help to get over the Senators.

The Slammers beat the Lightning by 22 points at Lakeside and the win means that South West take a significant step closer towards securing a playoff spot improving to 8-10 record while the loss for Lakeside was the Lightning's 11th on the trot.

Patricia Bright top-scored for the Slammers with 25 points and 12 assists on the back of shooting 9-of-17 from the field while Deonica McCormick contributed 15 points, six boards, six assists and two steals.

Bianca Donovan also added 14 points, four assists and three rebounds for South West, and Kate Fielding nine points, nine boards and three assists.

Courtney Byrnes top-scored for the Lightning with 17 points, six rebounds and three steals with Ashleigh Grant adding 11 points, six boards and three blocked shots.

And then in the men's contests, the Flames went a long way to securing their playoff position and ending the hopes of the defending champion Eagles with an 11-point victory at home.

As a result of the win, Rockingham improves to a 13-9 record having now won three straight matches while East Perth's three-game winning run was ended with the Eagles slipping to 7-15.

All five starters for the Flames ended up scoring in double-figures led by Jarryd Griffin finishing with 26 points and seven rebounds shooting 9-of-13 from the floor, and 4-of-7 from downtown.

Taylor Land added 13 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds for Rockingham, Tom Remmerswaal 12 points and four boards, Ryan Godfrey 11 points, five rebounds and five assists, Justin Beard 11 points and nine boards, and Travis Moore 11 points and three rebounds.

Rhys Vague top-scored for the Eagles with 22 points, 11 rebounds and four assists while hitting 7-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three-point range.

Jamie Barnett also had 18 points and 11 rebounds for East Perth with Brendan Dinardo contributing 11 points, five assists, four boards and two steals off the bench.

The Senators bounced back from a heartbreaking two-point loss to the Rockingham Flames on Saturday night to be on the winning end of a thriller on Sunday beating the Eastern Suns by one solitary point.

Neither team can make the playoffs still in 2015 but they put on a terrific show with the Senators improving to 8-14 with the win, and the Suns falling to 2-21 with the loss.

Captain Cody Ellis led the way for the Senators with 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals while Austin Bruton contributed 22 points and four assists off the bench having a superb shooting game going 8-of-12 from the field, and 6-of-9 from three-point territory.

Josh Throns added 15 points, five rebounds and three steals for Stirling as well with Kyle Lindbergh finishing with 14 points and eight boards, and Ashley Litterick eight points, 10 rebounds and three assists.

Kevin Anthony ended up top-scoring for the Suns with 27 points, 11 rebounds and three steals while Lien Phillip contributed 21 points and 21 boards, Jaarod Holmes 16 points and six rebounds, and Seva Chan 16 points, 11 assists, seven boards and three steals.

The Slammers then remained in third position on the standings thanks to a 28-point win over the Lightning.

As a result of the win, South West improves to a 15-7 record just ahead of the 15-8 Cockburn Cougars but the Lightning continue to struggle having lost four straight to be 9-14 and remaining outside the top eight. Those four losses have come at an average of over 30 points.

Playing-coach Ty Harrelson had a strong game for the Slammers compiling a triple-double made up of 32 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals to go with shooting 12-of-25 from the floor, and 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Tre Nichols also contributed 28 points and five assists for the Slammers while Brian Voelkel contributed 11 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, Wade Hitchcock 10 points, Clive Weeden nine, Jordan Sears nine and Patrick Phillips eight to go with four assists and three rebounds.

Luke Thomas did all he could coming off the bench for the Lightning finishing with 26 points and five rebounds while shooting 10-of-16 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range.

Hayden Bell also finished with 19 points, five rebounds and five assists for Lakeside with Jordan Swing contributing 13 points, eight boards and three steals, Jesse Dixon nine points and four rebounds, and Jarrad Prue four points and 16 rebounds.

SUNDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 91 defeated Schweigen East Perth Eagles 58
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 60 lost to Stirling Senators 66
Lakeside Lightning 55 lost to Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 77

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 87 defeated Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 76
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 99 lost to Bethanie Stirling Senators 100
Lakeside Lightning 92 lost to Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 120

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography




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