The South West Slammers have convincingly beaten the Rockingham Flames 85-48 to claim their first ever women’s State Basketball League Championship.

It was a fairy-tale win for the Slammers who came from 11th place last year to take out this years title and the victory was combined with the incredible milestone for captain Lisa Cartwright, playing in her 250th game.

The Slammers were led to victory by grand final MVP Kim Sitzmann who finished with an incredible 24 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Kara Hargreaves also stepped up with a massive 20 points, nine assists and seven rebound.

Championship winning centre Zoe Harper was solid for the Slammers defensively and finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.

The Flames fought valiantly, however they struggled offensively, shooting just 26% from the field and 23% from three point territory.

Star forwards Emma Cannon (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Kaye Tucker (11 points, 11 rebounds) were unable to fire for the Flames.

The game started with the Slammers firing early, going into the first break with a 25-15 first quarter. The second and third quarters were much closer, the Slammers managing to increase their lead to 17 points heading into the last break.

However the Slammers continued to push and when Emma Cannon fouled out early in the fourth the Flames were unable to hold on.

The game was played in front of a record women’s crowd of 956 fans supporting both teams in their first ever grand final.

Article by Hannah Coleman
Photo by Helen Theoharakis (Hoop Shots)