Flames on fire in opening finals round

Rockingham Flames women and men both scored crucial victories in the opening round of their best of three playoff series' against the Cockburn Cougars at the weekend.

The women dominated and cruised to a 79-48 victory on Friday night while the men got off to a good start and were able to hold on and win 89-82 the following evening.

In the women's game Sami Whitcomb and Darcee Garbin provided a devastating one-two punch that Cockburn had no answer for.

Garbin scored a game high 28 points and Whitcomb had 22 points and 15 rebounds.

Rockingham raced out to a 14-2 lead just minutes into the game.

The Cougars made their only run of the night in the second quarter, cutting the lead to eight with seven minutes remaining in the quarter, however Rockingham promptly responded by scoring 21 consecutive points to close the quarter and blow out the lead to29 heading into half.

The men's game was a much more tightly contested battle as the underdog Flames started the game strongly and led by eight points at half-time.

In the third quarter Cockburn turned up the heat on defence, as the Flames went six minutes without scoring a point and Cockburn took a 64-62 lead with a minute left in the frame.

Fortunately for the Flames, Tom Remmerswaal hit a big fadeaway jumper to end the drought and tie the score going into the fourth.

In the fourth, Taylor Land, Ryan Godfrey, and Cooper Land carried the Flames as they opened up the quarter on a 6-0 run and never looked back.

Cooper Land finished with 29 points and 16 rebounds, Godfrey had 22 points, and Taylor Land finished with 18 points and eight assists, as all three players made crucial baskets down the stretch to help seal the game.

Both teams will be in action again this weekend, needing to win one out of two games (if necessary) to advance to the semi-finals of the State Basketball League.

Both games tip off at 8.30pm on Friday, with the women playing at home and the men on the road.

If either team loses, the third and deciding game will be played the following night at the same venue.