THE Rockingham Flames, Willetton Tigers and Mandurah Magic women are all straight through to the SBL semi finals for 2015 after wins on Friday night with the South West Slammers men' also advancing with a thrilling victory at home.

The Flames, Tigers and Magic women all won their respective Game 1 quarter-final match ups on the road last weekend, and then returned home on Friday night winning and eliminating the Cockburn Cougars, Perry Lakes Hawks and Kalamunda Eastern Suns in the process.

Meanwhile, the Slammers men won a one-point thriller to eliminate the Tigers while the Cockburn Cougars levelled their series with the Rockingham Flames setting up a deciding Game 3 now on Saturday night.

Three of the four women's Game 2 matches took place on Friday night with the Orange Autos Rockingham Flames beating the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 82-61 at Mike Barnett Sports Complex.

The Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers also beat the Perry Lakes Hawks 77-56 at Willetton Basketball Stadium while the Mandurah Magic defeated the Kalamunda Eastern Suns 63-51 at Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre.

Those results leave just the one women's quarter-final left to be decided with the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves to host the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers in Game 2 on Saturday with a one-nil lead, and then on Sunday again at Joondalup Basketball Stadium if required.

There were two men's matches on Friday night with the Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers beating the Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 88-87 at Eaton Recreation Centre and the Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars defeating the Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 116-94 at Wally Hagan Stadium.

That leaves the Cougars and Flames to play a deciding Game 3 on Saturday night, while there will be Game 2's on Saturday night between the S & K Electrical Geraldton Buccaneers and Silver Lake Resources Goldfields Giants, and the Merriwa Tavern & Bistro Joondalup City Wolves and Perry Lakes Hawks.

Starting with the women's action on Friday night, the Flames had a commanding 31-point win in Game 1 over the Cougars last Friday night on the road and then at home this Friday, the defending champions beat Cockburn by 21 on their home floor to advance straight to the semi finals.

Darcee Garbin was again the star for the Flames with 24 points, five assists and four rebounds on the back of shooting 9-of-18 from the field, and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.

Sami Whitcomb added 14 points, five rebounds and four steals as well for Rockingham while Jacinta Bourne contributed 13 points, 12 rebounds and four assists, Kate Williams 11 points and Talisia Bourne six points and five rebounds.

Deanna Smith finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals for the Cougars with Katie Loberg adding 14 points, Taryn Priestly 10 points, four boards and three assists, and Chelsea Evans eight points and three rebounds.

The Tigers only narrowly missed the minor premiership at the end of the regular season and then last week beat the Hawks 69-53 in Game 1 of the quarter-final series away, and at home on Friday night Willetton was able to beat Perry Lakes by 21 points to advance to the next round.

The Tigers started strong with a 28-16 first quarter, but the game was still up for grabs at half-time with the Hawks able to bring the deficit back to just eight points. However, Willetton proved too good in the second holding Perry Lakes to six third quarter points to end up winning by 21.

Louella Tomlinson was again the difference maker for the Tigers with 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocked shots.

Ebony Antonio added 16 points, five assists, four rebounds and two steals as well for Willetton with Kate Malpass contributing 14 points, seven boards and four assists.

Emma Gandini also finished with 13 points off the bench for Willetton while Desiree Kelley contributed 10 points, four boards, two assists and two steals.

Megan McKay top-scored for the vanquished Hawks with 14 points and nine rebounds while Kassi Conditt contributed 10 points and four boards, Sarah Donovan 10 points and Mia Satie nine points and four rebounds.

The Magic are also straight through having beaten the Suns on the road last Saturday night by 11 points, and then this Friday at home Mandurah was able to beat Kalamunda by 12 points.

The Suns started the game well with their season on the line, but the Magic then held them to just five points in the second quarter and nine in the fourth with Mandurah ending up winning by a solid 12 points.

Casey Mihovilovich was the star for the Magic with 25 points, eight steals, six rebounds and four assists while Emma Klasztorny added nine points, four steals, four rebounds and two assists.

Rachel Halleen also had nine points and three boards for Mandurah with Briana Klasztorny contributing six points, 15 rebounds and four assists.

Abbey Duinker did all she could for the Eastern Suns finishing with 19 points, 13 rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists with Jessie Edwards adding 11 points, 14 boards and five blocked shots.

Melissa Moyle also finished with six points and seven rebounds for the Suns, Rebecca Motroni seven points and seven boards, and Natalia Soli'ai six points and seven rebounds.

Then in the men's matches, the Slammers scored a 90-83 win on the road last weekend at Willetton and then secured their place in the semi finals, but only just with a one-point win over the Tigers at home on Saturday night.

The Tigers put themselves in a strong position to force a deciding Game 3 against the Slammers leading 75-68 at three quarter-time, but South West finished strongly with 20 points to 12 in the fourth quarter to score the sweep of the quarter-final series.

Tre Nichols was the star for the Slammers again with 38 points, seven rebounds and two assists on the back of shooting 14-of-27 from the field.

Ty Harrelson also had 24 points, six rebounds and two assists as well for the Slammers while Brian Voelkel contributed 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists with yet another triple-double.

Damien Scott tried hard for the Tigers and finished with 22 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots while Ephrem Davis added 19 points and six boards, Nic Cody 13 points and 10 rebounds, Kyle Armour 12 points and five assists, and Mitch Clarke eight points and five boards.

The Flames managed to win Game 1 against the Cougars at home last weekend, but Cockburn levelled the series on Friday night with a 22-point victory on their home floor to take all the momentum into the deciding Game 3.

Gavin Field led the way for the Cougars with 31 points, eight rebounds and two assists while Eric Milam contributed 23 points and nine boards, Najee Lane 19 points, nine boards, three assists and three steals.

Grant Davey also had 12 points, six assists and four rebounds for Cockburn and Sheldon McIntyre eight points, five boards and four assists.

Cooper Land finished with 29 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots while Tom Remmerswaal added 16 points and six boards, Justin Beard 13 points and five rebounds, Ryan Godfrey 10 points and Taylor Land 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

FRIDAY WOMEN'S SBL MATCHES
Orange Autos Rockingham Flames 82 defeated Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 61
Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 77 defeated Perry Lakes Hawks 56
Mandurah Magic 63 defeated Kalamunda Eastern Suns 51

FRIDAY MEN'S SBL MATCHES
Collie Crane Hire South West Slammers 88 defeated Goodlife Homes Willetton Tigers 87
Soprano Designs Cockburn Cougars 116 defeated Nags Head Tavern & Bistro Rockingham Flames 94

Article by Chris Pike
Photo by Mick Cronin