Gallant Flames go down to hungry Tigers
The Rockingham Flames men’s team have started the season with a 24 point loss at the hand of the Willetton Tigers.
Willetton were victorious 121-97, with the clamp being put on the Flames at the beginning of the second half. A total of 218 points was scored between the two clubs in a game that will be remembered more for the amount of buckets made, opposed to the amount of defence played.
There was three new imports on show, with the Tigers Quinn McDowell (29pts, 8reb) and Brandon Adams (29pts, 11reb) dominating a half each, whilst Cooper Land (33pts, 10reb) providing a lone hand to the Flames.
The game started with a bang with both teams shooting their way to a 32-35 quarter time score in favour of the Flames. Both Cooper Land and Quinn McDowell lit it up in the first quarter, both having an 18 point share of their teams score at the first break.
The rest of the first half played out very similar to the first, until the Tigers turned it up a notch with three minutes remaining in the half to push out to an eight point lead at the main break. The main break was always going to be a challenge for the Flames, with the third quarter being a let down in recent years. Coach Utley explained it is something he is looking to rectify.
“Teams know that Rockingham will battle it out for a half, but we need to let them know it can be done over four quarters. We didn’t quite do that tonight, but it is game one of a new season with new structure. It will come.”
Leading the second half charge for the Willetton Tigers was Kyle Armour (20pts, 7ast, 5reb), with the Wildcats development player breaking apart the Flames defence on a number of occasions to lead the Tigers to victory.
Importantly for the Flames, they were able to get minutes into young rookies Matt Honey, Brock Lumbers and Daniel Forlano. All fought hard in their first minutes for the Flames, and coach Utley knows that time will be an important factor in the young squad.
“It was great to get time into the young guys tonight. Obviously it was disappointing to not open the account with a win, but these guys as well as the senior players will be better for tonight’s game. We’ll reflect on tonight, work out where we can get better and move on”
On the women’s front, the Rockingham Flames went down to a dominant Tigers outfit, 42-80. West Coast Waves star Antonia Edmonson led the way for the Tigers contributing 16 points in her first SBL game. For the Flames, Kaye Tucker had 10 points in an otherwise miserable night for the women.
Next week the women have the bye while the men take on the Goldfield Giants at 7:30pm on Saturday the 23rd of March.
Article by Rockingham Flames
Photo by Darren Speedie (Vision Inspired Media)
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