The Rockingham Flames Men made the 636km trek to Kalgoorlie on Saturday as they attempted to notch up their sixth successive win as round fourteen commenced in the State Basketball League.

Following a bruising contest seven days earlier at Bunbury, the Flames went in without star import Trey Clarkson who was forced to miss with an ankle injury which caused Coach Mark Utley to change up his game plan.

The Flames came out with great confidence and when Ryan Godfrey nailed back to back threes the team was up and about. The momentum then shifted as the Giants were able to string some consecutive baskets and take the lead which they kept for the remainder of the quarter. As the buzzer sounded the Flames went to the bench trailing 28-22 with both teams shooting in the 30 per cent bracket.

In the second it was a high scoring affair as both teams traded baskets but every time the Flames threatened the home side they were able to land some timely baskets to hold the buffer eventually going in with a 14 point lead at the main break. With 72 point scored for the term, the team that could get some stops at the defensive end was going to put themselves in a front running position as scoring was no obstacle for either squad.

In the third a red hot Giants line-up found everything they touch turn to gold as they landed 12-18 field goals for the term to register another 37 points and while the Flames managed a handful more of attempts it was their shooting from the charity stripe notching 11-17 makes which kept the door ajar trailing 105-86 at the last change.

As the Flames gave up the first score of the last quarter the home fans were sensing a blow out but the Della brothers and Godfrey were able to land some baskets which reduced the lead to 8 points with 3.52 remaining on the clock.

With the momentum and very realistic shot at claiming a massive come from behind win on the road the Flames were stunned as Giants big guns stepped up to the plate knocking down two clutch three point field goals to push the lead back out to 14.

From that point on the Flames just couldn’t make another run as the home side ran away with a 137-119 victory which pushes them to ninth and in a must win predicament next weekend.

Following the game Flames coach Mark Utley said “offensively it was a shootout but the disappointing part was the fact we missed some defensive assignments in the first half which gave them a lead at half time and we were playing catch up.”

The Flames were led by young sensation Ryan Godfrey who had 33pts, big man Rhett Della chipped in with 25pts & 9rebs while Joey Harrell was solid with 22pts & 10rebs.

This weekend will see both teams return home to host the Lakeside Lightning on Saturday evening with the women on court at 6:00pm and the men at 8:00pm.

Article by Rockingham Flames