THE Rockingham Flames and Willetton Tigers' men's and women's teams both recorded victories over the Mandurah Magic and South West Slammers on Friday night to open Week 14 of the SBL.

The two women's matches on Friday night saw the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beat the Mandurah Magic 98-59 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Willetton Tigers defeat the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 79-62 at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Flames thumped the Magic by 39 points at home on Friday to extend their unbeaten start to the season now to 17 victories while the loss sees Mandurah slip to a 10-5 record and to fourth position having started the weekend in third.

Once again it was emerging centre Darcee Garbin who led the way for the Flames with another 30 points and 17 rebounds while shooting 12-of-21 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.

Samantha Whitcomb also starred for Rockingham with 28 points, seven rebounds, six steals and four assists with Tarsha Fletcher adding 10 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Casey Mihovilovich did all she could for the Magic finishing with 22 points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

Last year's minor premiers Willetton took a step closer towards eighth position as well on Friday with the 17-point win over the Slammers.

South West began the weekend in eighth spot but now slip to 10th with the loss with a 5-10 while the Perry Lakes Hawks go up into eighth on 5-9. The Tigers improve to 5-10 with the victory to now be in ninth.

Lisa Wallbutton top-scored for the Tigers with 22 points, eight rebounds and three assists with Antonia Edmondson adding 11 points and Emma Lobb 10 points, six boards and three assists. Brooke Hiddlestone also pulled in 10 rebounds and blocked two shots despite not scoring a point.

Amy Patton still had a big game for the Slammers despite the loss with 29 points, 12 rebounds and four assists with Lauren Jeffers adding 15 points, five boards, three steals and two assists.

And in the two men's matches on Friday night, the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beat the Mandurah Magic 108-98 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex and the Willetton Tigers scored an upset 123-110 win over the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers at Willetton Basketball Stadium.

The Flames' 10-point victory over the Magic moves them to equal on 15 wins with the top-placed Geraldton Buccaneers, but Rockingham remains second having lost five matches to just the three that the Buccs have conceded so far in 2014.

Meanwhile, the Magic missed a chance to return into the top-eight with the loss and now remain in ninth position with an 8-9 record.

Cooper Land was the star once again for the Flames scoring 41 points to go with nine rebounds. He shot a terrific 15-of-24 from the field as well and an outstanding 6-of-8 from three-point territory.

Ryan Godfrey contributed 19 points and five assists as well for Rockingham with Tom Remmerswaal finishing with 14 points and Andrew Bowman 10.

Captain Taylor Mullenax led the way for the Magic with 27 points, seven rebounds and five assists with Rhett Della Maddalena adding 22 points (seven rebounds), Ben Smith 14 (16) and Paul Hafford 13 (seven, five assists, two steals).

The Tigers kept whatever slim playoff hopes alive that they still might have while also knocking the Slammers out of the top-four with the 13-point win at home on Friday.

Willetton remains well back of eighth position at 6-10 but the win at least gives the Tigers some hope while the Slammers slip to fifth spot with the defeat that takes them to a 10-8 record.

For once Willetton's imports received some strong support with Nick Cody outstanding finishing the night with 30 points, eight rebounds and five steals on the back of shooting 13-of-19 from the field.

John Dickson had another good outing with 29 points and 10 rebounds for the Tigers while shooting 8-of-14 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three-point territory.

Jacob Reed also contributed 19 points for Willetton, Quinn McDowell 13 to go with eight rebounds and eight assists, and Mitchell Clarke 11 points, four boards, four assists and three steals.

Clive Weeden did all he could for the Slammers ending up with 34 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 13-of-16 from the field.

New import Markus Monroe had a good game too with 20 points and four steals while shooting 9-of-16 from the floor.

Trent Worthington also added 19 points for the Slammers, Ty Harrelson 18, 15 assists and nine rebounds, and Wade Hitchcock 15 points.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 98 defeated Mandurah Magic 59
Willetton Tigers 79 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 62

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 108 defeated Mandurah Magic 98
Willetton Tigers 123 defeated Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 110

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Darren Speedie (Vision Inspired Photography)