THE Rockingham Flames women's SBL team showed that they are genuine championship threats again in 2014 handing out a 34-point thrashing to the Willetton Tigers on Friday night to open Week 2 action.

The night began with two women's matches with the Perry Lakes Hawks beating the Perth Redbacks 71-53 at Belmont Oasis and the Rockingham Flames thrashing the Willetton Tigers 94-60 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

Then in the two men's games, the Perth Redbacks downed the Perry Lakes Hawks 108-90 and the Rockingham Flames defeated the Willetton Tigers 101-97.

The Redbacks' men beat the Hawks at home by 18 points with Dennis Tawhiti the star finishing with 27 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 11-of-16 from the field.

Jarrad Prior also finished with 21 points and eight rebounds for Perth with Jarrad Jackson contributing 19 points, six boards and three assists, Stan Okoye 14 points and eight rebounds, and Joel Wagner 11 points and 10 assists.

Ben Purser top-scored for Perry Lakes with 26 points and 10 assists with Corey Easley contributing 18 points and seven rebounds, and Rob Cassir 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

The night's thriller saw Rockingham end up four-point winners over Willetton despite the Tigers outscoring the Flames 48-36 in the second half.

Cooper Land led the way for the Flames with 26 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots while Tom Remmerswaal added 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Luke Roberts also contributed 10 points, seven assists and three rebounds for Rockingham.

John Dickson again did all he could for Willetton and ended the night with 28 points and 16 rebounds while shooting 9-of-15 from the floor and 3-of-5 from three-point range.

Mitchell Clarke also scored 20 points for the Tigers with Nick Cody adding 15, Hayden Noordhoek 14 and Jake Burston 10.

Then in women's action, the Hawks managed to beat the Redbacks by 18 points largely thanks to a 24 to 10 second quarter, and 18-point to nine fourth period.

Kate Anthony led the way for Perry Lakes finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists while hitting 2-of-3 from three-point range.

Anna Kovats also added 14 points and six assists with Sarah Donovan contributing 13 points.

Jessica Jakens, Ariel Marusak and Latoya Wallace all scored 10 points apiece for Perth.

The Flames might not have caused a surprise by beating the Tigers on Friday night at home, but the 34-point margin certainly wasn’t what was expected Rockingham made a real statement against last year's women's SBL minor premiers.

Samantha Whitcomb top-scored for the Flames with 18 points and four rebounds while Jacinta Bourne added 15 points, Talisia Bourne 14 (six assists, four rebounds), Kaye Tucker 12 (eight rebounds, four assists), Holly Coomey 11 and Darcee Garbin 10 (eight boards, three assists).

Ebony Antonio did all she could for Willetton finishing the night with 22 points and 11 rebounds on the back of shooting 9-of-13 from the field and 2-of-3 from downtown.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks 53 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 71
Rockingham Flames 94 defeated Willetton Tigers 60

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Perth Redbacks 108 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 90
Rockingham Flames 101 defeated Willetton Tigers 97

Article by Chris Pike