AFTER Week 14 of the men's SBL competition the table appears to be sorting itself out with Geraldton, Rockingham and Lakeside the top three, Perth, East Perth and South West fighting over fourth spot and Joondalup, Mandurah and Cockburn battling over seventh and eighth.

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.

Then on Saturday night, the six matches began at Active West Stadium with the Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers beating the Stirling Senators 106-84 and the Cockburn Cougars defeating the Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 98-92 at Neils Hansen Basketball Stadium.

There was one more regional clash on Saturday night as well with the Perry Lakes Hawks getting the win over the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 93-89 at Eaton Recreation Centre.

And then around Perth, the Lakeside Lightning beat the Willetton Tigers 125-116 at Lakeside Recreation Centre, the Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles defeated the Joondalup Wolves 97-89 at Morley Sport and Recreation Centre and the Perth Redbacks thrashed the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 127-98 at Ray Owen Sports Centre.

The round concluded on Sunday afternoon with the Mandurah Magic scoring a thumping 112-83 victory over the Kalamunda Eastern Suns at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

The Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers remain on top of the men's standings after Week 14 action with a 16-3 record ahead of the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames (15-9), Lakeside Lightning (12-7) and the Perth Redbacks (11-8).

The Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles (10-9), Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers (10-9), Joondalup Wolves (9-9) and the Mandurah Magic (9-9) then round out the rest of the top eight.

The Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars are in ninth position with a 9-10 record followed by the Stirling Senators (8-9), Perry Lakes Hawks (8-10), Willetton Tigers (6-11), Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants (3-15) and Kalamunda Eastern Suns (3-15).

It was another weekend for starring individual displays but none were better than Aaron Ralph's incredible 49-point display for the Geraldton Buccaneers on Saturday night.

Cooper Land also had a 41-point game for Rockingham on Friday while six other players scored 30 or more points, 28 others hit 20 or more and Jarrad Prue had another incredible night on Saturday.

On Friday night, Cooper Land was the star 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).

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.

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.

On Saturday, Aaron Ralph had a remarkable night out for the Buccaneers finishing up with 49 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and two steals on the back of shooting 17-of-37 from the field, 8-of-18 from three-point territory and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line.

Bennie Lewis also had another good night for the Buccs with 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists with Matt Wundenberg also contributing 16 points and 22 rebounds.

Cody Ellis had likely his best game of the season for the Senators finishing with 32 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

Jordan Wild also added 16 points and 14 rebounds for Stirling with Austin Bruton adding 15 points and Josh Throns 11 to go with seven boards.

The Cougars only had seven players suit up against the Giants but all made a strong contribution with Damien Scott top-scoring with 30 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Gavin Field also was a strong performer with 24 points, 13 rebounds and six assists with Jaarod Holmes adding 20 points and Adam Nener 10 to go with 14 rebounds and three steals.

Michael Haney led the way for the Giants with 23 points and 10 rebounds with Duran Blue contributing 21 points, nine assists and seven boards.

Adrian Majstrovich contributed 14 points, nine rebounds and four assists in his second game for the Giants.

Corey Easley finished with 25 points and nine rebounds for the Hawks with Justin Cecil adding 20 points and 11 boards, Josh Garlepp 17 points and Ben Purser 14 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Markus Monroe had a good night for the Slammers with 25 points with Ty Harrelson adding 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists, Clive Weeden 16 points and nine boards, Josh Weir 13 points and Trent Worthington 11 to go with 16 boards, five assists and three blocks.

Brad Tinsley top-scored for the Lightning with 29 points and nine assists with Caleb Palkert contributing 24 points, 13 rebounds, four blocked shots and three steals.

Jarrad Prue had yet another incredible night with 23 points, 27 rebounds, five blocks and two assists on the back of shooting 11-of-14 from the field.

John Dickson had another solid night for the Tigers with 26 points and 12 rebounds with Nick Cody adding 20 points and nine boards.

Tom Jervis returned from his time with the Boomers in the Sino-Australia Challenge with China, and fresh off re-signing with the Perth Wildcats, and led the way for the Eagles on Saturday with 23 points, 11 points, six blocked shots, three assists and two steals.

Trian Iliadis did all he could for the Wolves with 32 points, five rebounds and three assists while Seb Salinas contributed 18 points, eight boards and four assists. Ephrem Davis also added 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks.

Dennis Tawhiti top-scored for the Redbacks with 27 points while star import duo Lee Roberts and Stan Okoye had strong nights again. Roberts finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals with Stan Okoye ending up with 23 points and 12 boards.

Luke Nevill returned for the Eastern Suns having recently done well for the Boomers against China, and finished with 22 points and nine rebounds but it was Ben Smith the star for the Suns with 33 points on the back of shooting 12-of-22 from the field and 5-of-8 from downtown.

Adhar Mayen also added 22 points for the Suns.

And finally on Sunday afternoon, Taylor Mullenax led the way for the Magic with 29 points and nine rebounds with Trent Gerovich adding 20 points, Ben Smith 20 and Caiel van Sambeeck 13.

Luke Nevill top-scored for the Eastern Suns with 27 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots with Louis TImms adding 22 points, Adhar Mayen 12 and Ben Smith 10.

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

SATURDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Sun City Plumbing Geraldton Buccaneers 106 defeated Stirling Senators 84
Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants 92 lost to Raw Nutrition Cockburn Cougars 98
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 89 lost to Perry Lakes Hawks 93
Lakeside Lightning 125 defeated Willetton Tigers 116
Vorian Agency East Perth Eagles 97 defeated Joondalup Wolves 89
Kalamunda Eastern Suns 98 lost to Perth Redbacks 127

SUNDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Mandurah Magic 112 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 83

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Steve Brooks