THE Rockingham Flames, Kalamunda Eastern Suns, Perry Lakes Hawks and Lakeside Lightning all scored Women's and Men's SBL victories on Friday night with many of the results crucial to playoff hopes to open Week 18 action.

Rockingham's wins over Stirling keep the Lady Flames in the hunt for top spot and the Men in the race for the top four while the Senators fall further out of the Men's top four and the Women's top eight.

Kalamunda's Women further locked in a playoff spot beating the Magic who now won't be able to make the top four while the Lady Hawks locked in fourth spot and sent the Cougars further from eighth spot. The win for the Hawks Men could help them make playoffs and might cost Cockburn top spot.

The Lightning Women also won a third straight to further lock in their finals position while the Men won a third straight following a 13-game losing run.

The four Women's matches saw the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beating the Bethanie Stirling Senators 93-55, the P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns defeating the Mandurah Magic 75-63, the Perry Lakes Hawks downing the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 69-55 and the Lakeside Lightning beating the Print Sync South West Slammers 103-82.

In the corresponding Men's action, the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames beat the Bethanie Stirling Senators 115-102, the Kalamunda Eastern Suns beat the Mandurah Magic 159-123, the Perry Lakes Hawks defeated the Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 103-91 and the Lakeside Lightning downed the Print Sync South West Slammers 96-87.

Flames score double over Senators ahead of crucial night v Tigers

Starting with the Women's action, the defending champion Flames geared up for their grand final rematch with the Willetton Tigers with a comfortable 38-point win over the Senators at Warwick Stadium.

Rockingham spread around the minutes and didn’t rely on anyone dominating with a crucial clash with Willetton 24 hours later, but the two-time defending champions still pulled away from the Senators all night to all but end Stirling's playoff hopes.

The Flames led by 11 points at quarter-time and stretched that lead the rest of the night to 14 at half-time, 21 at three quarter-time and 38 by the final buzzer.

Ifunanya Ibekwe was the standout player on the floor with her ability to rebound, run the floor and get to the basket. She finished with 21 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals shooting 9-of-15 from the floor.

Darcee Garbin added 17 points for Rockingham and Tarsha Fletcher 12 points and four rebounds hitting four of her six three-point attempts. Sami Whitcomb played just 13 minutes for nine points.

Amber Land top-scored for the Senators with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists with Emma Berryman adding 11 points.

The Eastern Suns ended the Magic's hot form with a 12-point win at Ray Owen Recreation Centre with Kalamunda improving to 9-10 as a result to be safe in the top eight and Mandurah falling to 10-9 to be out of running for the top four.

The Suns made a flying start with 26 points to 11 in the first quarter and another 23 points to 13 in the third period set up the import win where they forced the Magic into 24 turnovers and scored 26 points off those.

Carley Mijovic again starred for Kalamunda with 25 points and 11 rebounds including nailing 5-of-9 from downtown. Stacey Barr added 15 points, six rebounds and three assists for the Eastern Suns and Melissa Moyle 10 points.

Adijat Adams top-scored for Mandurah with 26 points and 12 rebounds with Casey Mihovilovich adding 18 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists, and Annette Davis eight points, 15 boards, four assists and three steals.

The Hawks locked away fourth position with a 14-point win over the Cougars at Wally Hagan Stadium in a result that will make it tough for Cockburn to break back into the top eight.

Deanna Smith made her first return to Cockburn since being playing-coach in 2015 and she led the way for Perry Lakes with 18 points and 14 rebounds.

Antonia Edmondson added 14 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks, Lauren Jeffers 10 points and six assists and Kate Anthony nine points.

Candace Williams top-scored for the Cougars with 20 points and 17 rebounds despite shooting 5-of-19 from the floor. Cherridy Thornton added 12 points and eight rebounds and Chelsea Evans 11 points.

The Lightning made it three successive wins to improve to an 11-9 record to be safe in the top eight beating the youthful Slammers by 21 points at Lakeside Recreation Centre.

The Lightning broke through the 100-pont barrier on the back of shooting 32-of-75 from the field but also a massive 33-of-40 at the foul line.

Alison Schwagmeyer was a dominant force again finishing with 33 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists with Ashleigh Grant adding 16 points, 16 boards, four assists and three blocked shots.

Devanny King contributed 14 points, 13 rebounds and three assists for Lakeside and Courtney Beavis 10 points.

Courtney Bayliss top-scored for the Slammers with 22 points and four assists with Dena English adding 20 points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds, and Brittany Gliddon 14 points and five boards.

In the Men's action, the Flames pulled off a remarkable comeback victory over the Senators at Warwick Stadium by 13 points.

Stirling dominated the first 10 minutes completely to open up a 22-point advantage with the Flames struggling to get the ball up the floor, to stop the Senators at all and with Cooper Land, Taylor Land and Chudier Pal having seven fouls between them.

However, the final two minutes of the first quarter and the rest of the match completely turned in the favour of the Flames in remarkable fashion.

The Senators grew more and more frustrated right up until the final buzzer, and beyond, and the Flames did a great job of pushing their buttons and taking full advantage.

The tenacious approach worked a treat and not only did they score the stunning win, but it was a crucial one to keep them in top four race at 14-9 while the Senators lost their third straight at 15-9.

Cooper Land finished with a massive night for the Flames with 45 points, 14 rebounds and three assists on 18-of-30 shooting from the floor, 4-of-9 from deep and 5-of-5 from the line. Taylor Land was equally important with his leadership and having 11 points and eight assists.

Ryan Godfrey also finished with 16 points and four assists for Rockingham, Andrew Bowman 13 points and seven rebounds, and Chudier Pal 10 points and 10 boards.

Cody Ellis grew more and more frustrated throughout the second half, but finished with 23 points despite foul trouble limiting him to 28 minutes and eventually ending his night.

Kyle Lindbergh was also limited by foul trouble after a hot start and finished with 22 points with AJ Majstrovich contributing 20 points and 12 rebounds, Jayden Coburn 14 points and Ashley Litterick 11 to go with nine boards.

There might have been a premium on defence but everyone who attended Ray Owen Recreation Centre would have enjoyed the offensive explosion between the Eastern Suns and Magic with them combining for 282 points, with Kalamunda winning by 36 points.

The win is a sixth of the season for the Suns with the Magic now anchored to the bottom of the standings a game behind on five wins.

The Magic got off to a hot start with 41 points to 36 in the first quarter and 39 to 37 in the second to lead 80-73 at half-time, but the Eastern Suns took over in the second half with 86 points to 43 to win by 36.

The Suns shot 52-of-107 at 48 per cent from the floor and 29-of-64 at 45 per cent from three while the Magic went 46-of-83 at 55 per cent from the field and 10-of-25 at 40 per cent from downtown.

Jarrad Prior delivered 33 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals for the Eastern Suns in one of the final games of his career with the also retiring Travis McIlroy delivering 15 points on 5-of-7 from three-point range.

Courtney Belger added 25 points and six rebounds for Kalamunda, Brandon McGill 22 points, 14 assists, seven boards and three steals, Tim Squire 21 points, Madison Stoveld 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Ryan Blanchett 10 points.

Trevor Setty did all he could for the Magic with a triple-double made up of 45 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists with Ben Smith adding 35 points and 15 boards, James Paringatai 14 points and Daniel Munday 11 points and four assists.

The Cougars' 10-game winning run came to an end at home also on Saturday opening the door for the Wolves to snatch top spot as the Hawks kept themselves right in the hunt for a playoff berth with a 12-point win.

The Hawks pulled away in the second quarter with 32 points to 16 and then were able to maintain the edge during the second half for the crucial victory.

Bryton Hobbs played his best game for Perry Lakes since returning from his wrist injury with 28 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals shooting 9-of-21 from the floor, 3-of-8 from three-point range and 7-of-8 at the free-throw line.

Ben Dixon added 23 points for the Hawks, Brian Carlwell 18 points and 11 rebounds, Ryan Smith 15 points and Ben Purser 11 points, 13 boards, five assists and two steals.

The Cougars were still without Gavin Field, Daniel Thomas and Sheldon McIntyre with Najee Lane top-scoring with 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists and Marcus Goode 20 points, 12 boards and five blocked shots.

Rhett Della added 18 points, five rebounds and four assists for Cockburn, Julian Pesava 11 points and six boards, and Steven Van Lit 10 points, four assists and four rebounds.

The Lightning also won a third straight match beating the Slammers by nine points with Lakeside improving to a 7-16 record while South West slips to 6-17 having lost four in-a-row.

Daniel Alexander continued his dominant form for the Lightning with another 38 points, 19 rebounds, nine assists, four blocked shots and three steals while shooting 11-of-23 from the floor, 4-of-10 from beyond the arc and 12-of-17 at the charity stripe.

Daniel Grida also delivered 23 points and six rebounds for Lakeside, Hayden Bell 10 points and TJ Hallice nine points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Tre Nichols returned for the Slammers with 25 points, 11 assists and eight steals with Corey Easley contributing 20 points, eight boards and three assists, Clive Weeden 13 points, 12 boards, five assists, three blocks and two steals, and Travis Durnin 11 points and seven rebounds.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Bethanie Stirling Senators 55 lost to Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 93
P&J Financial Solutions Kalamunda Eastern Suns 75 defeated Mandurah Magic 63
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 55 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 69
Lakeside Lightning 103 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 82

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Bethanie Stirling Senators 102 lost to Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 115
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 159 defeated Mandurah Magic 123
Lapa Brazilian BBQ Restaurant Cockburn Cougars 91 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 103
Lakeside Lightning 96 defeated Print Sync South West Slammers 87

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin