THE Rockingham Flames, South West Slammers and the Joondalup Wolves all recorded important men's and women's SBL victories on Friday night to open Week 16 of the 2015 season.

There were three women's matches to start the round on Friday night with the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beating the Lakeside Lightning 107-56 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers downing the Perry Lakes Hawks 72-56 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves defeating the Mandurah Magic 79-71 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

There were also three men's contests on Friday night with the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames beating the Lakeside Lightning 107-77 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex, the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers downing the Perry Lakes Hawks 109-93 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves defeating the Mandurah Magic 113-99 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

Starting with the women's action on Friday night, the Flames had no trouble taking care of the Lightning in a grand final rematch from last year winning at home by 51 points to remain on top of the standings at 16-1 having won nine straight matches.

Lakeside has now lost nine consecutive games to be 1-18 and two games clear on the bottom of the standings.

Samantha Whitcomb turned on a massive performance for the Flames with 40 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals on the back of shooting 13-of-18 from the field, a remarkable 9-of-13 from three-point territory and 5-of-5 from the foul line.

Jacinta Bourne also added 19 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for Rockingham while Talisia Bourne contributed 13 points, Darcee Garbin 11 (eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks), Ariana Hetherington nine and Vanessa Michael eight (eight boards).

Courtney Byrnes tried hard for the Lightning with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists with Ashleigh Grant adding 11 points and Tia Ucich 10.

The Slammers and Hawks met in a crucial clash at Eaton with both needing to win to secure a top eight spot, and it was the home team who prevailed by 16 points to improve to a 7-9 record while Perry Lakes slipped to 7-10 with the loss.

Patricia Bright had a big game for the Slammers with 22 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots on the back of shooting 7-of-10 from the field, and 8-of-11 from the free-throw line.

Kate Fielding also added 17 points, 12 boards, eight assists and two steals for South West with Deonica McCormick contributing 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, Rebecca Preston nine points and six boards, and Bianca Donovan nine points.

Sarah Donovan top-scored for the Hawks with 15 points and nine rebounds with Georgia Clarke contributing 11 points and four boards, Kassi Conditt 10 points and six rebounds, and Mia Satie seven points, nine boards, five assists and three steals.

The Magic then hosted the Wolves in the battle of the third and fourth placed teams, and it was the Lady Wolfpack who came away with the eight-point victory to move back into third position at 15-4, while Mandurah dropped to fourth at 12-4 with its four-game winning run coming to an end.

Rebecca Mercer led the way for the Wolves with 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots with Shani Amos contributing 17 points, three boards and two assists, while Nikita-Lee Martin also had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Antonia Edmondson also had 20 points with Chelsea Burns contributing seven points, six rebounds and three assists, and Ellyce Ironmonger pulling in nine boards.

Casey Mihovilovich led the way for the Magic with 19 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals with Peyton Davis finishing with 12 points and 13 boards, Shelly Boston 13 points and Ashlee Sidebottom nine points.

Then in the Friday night men's action, The Flames scored a thumping and crucial 30-point victory at home to the Lightning to consolidate their position in the top eight with them improving to an 11-9 record.

The Lightning's spot in the top eight is now in serious jeopardy with them slipping to 9-12 and having lost their last two matches by a combined 83 points firstly to the Perry Lakes Hawks and then the Flames.

Ryan Godfrey ended up top-scoring for the Flames in the big win with 21 points while Tom Remmerswaal contributed 19 points, Cooper Land 17 (nine rebounds), Chad Simpson 13 and Luke Roberts 12.

Tom Parkinson top-scored for the Lightning with 17 points and 11 rebounds with Jesse Dixon finishing with 15 points, Jordan Swing 14 and Brad Jackson 11.

The Slammers and Hawks were meeting in another important contest with playoff ramifications at Eaton, and it was South West who came away with the 16-point victory to consolidate third position in the table and break a three-game losing run to steady to a 14-6 record.

Meanwhile, Perry Lakes missed a chance to close in on a spot in the top eight with the loss slipping to a 7-13 record.

Ty Harrelson top-scored for the Slammers as playing-coach with 28 points, nine rebounds and four assists while shooting 10-of-14 from the field.

Tre Nichols contributed 22 points, six boards and three assists as well for South West with Brian Voelkel 16 points, 16 rebounds and five assists, Wade Hitchcock 15 points and Clive Weeden 14 points, five rebounds and three steals.

Bryton Hobbs did all he could for the Hawks finishing with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while Ben Purser added 12 points and 12 boards, Josh Garlepp 12 points and five rebounds, Ben Dixon 10 points, nine points and eight boards.

The league-leading Wolves maintained their position on top of the men's SBL with a 14-point road victory over the Magic with the Wolfpack improving to 19-3 as a result while Mandurah slipped to 11-9.

Trian Iliadis had an outstanding night for the Wolves finishing with 38 points, seven assists and five rebounds while hitting 8-of-16 from beyond the arc.

Kevin Davis added 22 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocked shots while Damian Matacz scored 10 points, Seb Salinas nine (seven rebounds), Rob Huntington nine (eight boards), Joel Questel eight (seven assists) and Louis Timms eight (five boards, four assists).

Ben Smith did all he could for the Magic finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Paul Hafford 22 points, six boards and four assists.

Brendan Della also finished with 14 points for Mandurah, Taylor Mullenax 13, Rhett Della 12 and Beau Samuelson nine.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 107 defeated Lakeside Lightning 56
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 72 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 56
Mandurah Magic 71 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 79

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 107 defeated Lakeside Lightning 77
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 109 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 93
Mandurah Magic 99 lost to Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves 113

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Serene-Elise Photography