West Recap | Round 16 Tuesday

Image credit: @sl.media.au

Alex Sharp and Alex Ciabattoni led Rockingham Flames to crucial Tuesday night NBL1 West win and their men won too despite 51 points with 25 in the final quarter for the Mandurah Magic from Lachlan Bertram.

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Rockingham Flames (90) defeated Mandurah Magic (63)

They were the two best players in last year's grand final and Alex Ciabattoni and Alex Sharp combined for 52 points on Tuesday night as the Rockingham Flames closed in on a top four spot beating the Mandurah Magic 90-63.

The two local rivals met in a crucial Tuesday night battle at a packed Mike Barnett Sports Complex with the Flames at home and having won two straight to be in sixth position.

The Magic also arrived having won their past three matches to be in fifth place and the reward for the winner of the battle of the near rivals was that they would enhance their prospects of a top four finish which would provide a finals double chance.

Mandurah's cause wasn’t helped with the absence of McKenna Dale but the two teams couldn’t be separated by quarter-time with the scores locked at 20-20with Rockingham shooting 8/20 to the 9/20 from Mandurah.

The Flames took over in the second term by outscoring the Magic 26 points to 13 on the back of shooting 8/18 from the field while limiting the Magic to a paltry 3/22.

That lead for Rockingham only continued to grow throughout the second half with it getting out to as much as 19 points in the third quarter and then into the fourth and the Flames competed a stunning 19-0 scoring run.

That saw the lead get out to 33 points and from there it was a 27-point victory on their home floor on the back of shooting 42 per cent from the field to 29 from the Magic while Rockingham shot 11/33 from downtown to 4/21.

It's a big win in the context of the season for the Flames too as they improve to a 10-7 record on the season to be closing in on the fourth spot currently held by the 11-6 Willetton Tigers who remain without Zitina Aokuso.

Rockingham now plays that Willetton back at home on Friday night with the chance to move into fourth place with Alex Ciabattoni starring with 32 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals on 13/18 field goal shooting.

Ciabattoni would have won the grand final MVP last year had Cockburn won, but with Rockingham winning it was Alex Sharp winning the MVP for the game and she had another 20 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Aysha Kemp also delivered 13 points and three rebounds for Rockingham with 3/6 three-point shooting, Marena Whittle 11 points, seven boards and five assists, and Sydney Erikstrup 11 points, three assists, two steals and two rebounds.

The loss is a big blow to the top four hopes of Mandurah as they slip to a 10-8 record as their three-game winning run came to an end with a thud.

Claire Jacobs continued her standout season for the Magic with 24 points, eight rebounds and three assists with Emma Klasztorny adding 14 points and seven boards, Tina Stephens eight points, 10 rebounds and two steals, and Grace Berg eight points and four boards.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 90 (Ciabattoni 32, Sharp 20, Kemp 13)

MANDURAH MAGIC 63 (Jacobs 24, Klasztorny 14, Berg 8, Stephens 8)

MEN

Rockingham Flames (110) defeated Mandurah Magic (95)

Lachlan Bertram played like a young man possessed with 51 points for the Mandurah Magic, but the absence of Julian Pesava and Jahcoree Ealy was too much with the Rockingham Flames retaining top spot with the 110-95 home win.

Rockingham were back home at Mike Barnett Sports Complex to play host to their fellow Peel region rivals from Mandurah with plenty on the line for both teams.

The Flames remained in top spot coming into the game coming off a narrow win against the Goldfield Giants while the Magic were still sixth despite a 40-point loss on Saturday night to the on-fire Geraldton Buccaneers.

Not helping Mandurah's cause was the absence of key starting pair Julian Pesava and Jahcoree Ealy denying the defending champions of the 38.3 points, 11.7 rebounds and 10.7 assists that the pair had been providing in 2025.

Rockingham were still without their star point guard Emmett Naar for the second straight game, but the Flames threw their championship winning 346-game former captain Ryan Godfrey into the starting five, and didn’t miss a beat.

It was just a three-point lead by quarter-time for Rockingham with Mandurah doing well to stick with them but the Flames then started to pull away in the second term by piling on 32 points to 20.

Rockingham shot 6/10 from three-point range in that second quarter to the 1/5 from Mandurah which saw the home team go into the half-time break leading 54-39.

That lead continued to grow for the Flames with it getting out to 27 points in the third quarter and 28 in the fourth, but to Mandurah's credit they did fight the game out.

The Magic ended up scoring 34 points in the last quarter and Bertram put in a phenomenal 10 minutes of basketball scoring 25 of those points including four three-point bombs as he surpassed 50 points for the first time in his 92-game career.

Rockingham still secured the eventual 15-point victory to keep them in top spot with a 16-3 record ahead of a tantalising match up also on their home floor with Willetton on Friday night.

Isaac White only played 22 minutes of the game but still top-scored with 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for Rockingham while shooting 5/9 from three-point territory.

Ryan Godfrey also made the most of his increased role with 18 points, eight assists and three rebounds with 5/6 three-point shooting while Laquinton Ross delivered 16 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Justin Beard also had 12 points and six rebounds for the Flames, Dean Supljeglav eight points on 2/2 three-point shooting, Faitala Patu eight points and an assist, and Tevin Jackson seven points and three rebounds.

Mandurah is still vulnerable in seventh position as a result of the loss with a 10-10 record with games to finish against the Perth Redbacks and Kalamunda Eastern Suns.

Lachlan Bertram put in a hell of a performance for Mandurah with 51 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals while knocking down 19/36 from the field, 8/15 from three-point territory and 5/8 from the free-throw line.

Sammie Freeman added 17 points and nine rebounds, Nick Woodall 15 points, five boards and two assists, and Hamish Warden seven points and two assists.

ROCKINGHAM FLAMES 110 (White 24, Godfrey 18, Ross 16)

MANDURAH MAGIC 95 (Bertram 51, Freeman 17, Woodall 15)