The Rockingham Lady Flames entered week one of the playoffs making the trip to Lesmurdie to face the Eastern Suns in game one of the best of three quarter final series.

The game began with a Casey Haggar bucket as both teams tried to get into the flow and when Gail Eikhoudt knocked down a three the Flames took an early 6-2 lead. The Suns then got back on even terms but another Eikhoudt three accompanied by a pair scores from captain Tucker had the Flames leading 14-6 with 3.54 remaining in the opening stanza. The home side then made another mini run reducing the lead to two points before Tucker took her tally to nine points for the term as the Flames went into quarter time leading 20-16.

To start the second term back to back threes from Mackin Brown and Eikhoudt pushed the Flames lead out to double digits before an epic struggle to score took place in the middle part of the quarter. Tucker netted another two to break the ice with Eikhoudt up to her usual tricks landing another three as the Flames lead extended to 13 with 4.32 left on the clock. The Suns wouldn’t lie down reducing the lead yet again to six points before a Casey Haggar score saw the Lady Flames take a 35-27 lead into the main break.

Upon recommencement it took nearly two and half minutes before the first score of the quarter was made and it happened to be a Suns score before Tucker and Eikhoudt once again steadied the ship. With the Flames lead at nine, the remainder of the term was controlled by a rampant Suns outfit as they stormed back into the game. Setting up for a dramatic finish the Flames lead had been trimmed to just a single point (44-43) as they could only manage nine points at 28 per cent for the third period.

The opening four minutes of the last saw both teams trade baskets before a Samantha Norwood basket locked away the scores at 50 a piece with 5.17 left on the clock. The Suns then took their first lead of the game with 3.53 remaining before Eikhoudt came back into the picture with her fifth three pointer to reclaim the lead back for the Flames (53-52).

The final three minutes were frenetic as both teams had opportunities to close out the game and when Nicole Miller stepped up to the foul line with 51 seconds remaining and a two point deficit on the scoreboard there were whispers of overtime. Miller failed to land either of her shots and when Norwood went down the other end and dropped two points, Flames coach Ryan Petrik called a time-out as his team had 30 seconds to reverse a four point margin. A pair of turnovers followed the timeout and a missed Miller three pointer was the final shot in the 57-53 loss despite leading for 36 minutes of clash.

Kaye Tucker continued on with her regular season form finishing with 19pts & 9rebs while sharp shooter Gail Eikhoudt knocked down five triples on her way to 18pts as they were the only Flames to reach double figures.

This weekend will see the women back at home in a do or die clash on Friday against the Suns with a 7:30pm tip-off. If the Flames win on Friday then a third and final game will also be played at the Hot House on Saturday at 7:30pm.

Article by Ryan Rogers (RBRA)