BigV Round 4

Updated 26 April 2007

Round 4 was a big weekend for both womens and mens teams. The action started Saturday night as the women took on Blackburn at the Veneto Club and defeated them 61-38. Hannah Lowe and Bianca Lambert leading the way with 18 and 14 points respectively. Also making a solid contribution was Emily Matheson with 3 steals and 9 rebounds. The men took on Sunbury in Sunbury and came away with the W 102-80. Jay Allen, Stewart Cameron, Zac Barry, Peter Jordan, Boyd Smart and Matt Slaven all coming away with double figure points. Boyd Smart pulled down 11 rebounds while Jay Allen and Stewart Cameron each dished out 5 assists in what was an impressive win on the road.

On Sunday, both teams returned to the familiar surrounds of the BSC. The women were first on court and ran into a red hot Warrandyte outfit which featured WNBL legends Jo Metcalfe and Kate Cohen. The match was never in doubt as Warrandyte dominated in all aspects of the game. There was a glimmer of hope at the end of the match as the Magic staged a fight back on the back of back to back three pointers from Marika Kitchen and Hannah Lowe, but it was too little too late for the Magic. Warrandyte taking out the match 61-49.

Following the womens match, the men took on the Altona Gators. This was yet another highly competitive match as has been the case over the past few seasons with this rivalry. Matt Slaven kick started the Magic in the first half with a barrage of threes. The Magic had a commanding lead at half time 54-38. The Magic withstood a late Gator charge with run out winners 97-90 capping off a perfect weekend for the mens team. Jay Allen lead the way with 21 points and Boyd Smart was solid with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Next week, the Magic are on the road. The womens team travel to Central Victoria to take on Shepparton and the men make the trip down to the Mornington Peninsula to take on Southern Peninsula in what will be a rematch of the 2005 Division One Grand Final. BigV action returns to the BSC on Sunday 6th May from 12pm.

Match Recaps

Stu Pirie

Saturday's game against Blackburn saw Bianca Lambert have her best game of the season to date, with 14 points playing in the unfamiliar 4-man position. Hannah Lowe consistently fed the ball into Bianca, as well as scoring 18 points of her own. Hawthorn was ahead throughout the game, taking an 11 point lead into half time in a low scoring game, and eased away to a 23 point win in the end. Blackburn kept the game tight throughout, making a run in the 3rd quarter, but were unable to penetrate Hawthorn's stingy defence and ultimately paid for it, shooting less than 30% while Hawthorn had their strongest shooting night to date.

Sunday saw the Magic back up against the league leading Warrandyte and their stars, Kate Cohen and Jo Metcalfe. Cohen's steadiness throughout proved pivotal, despite outstanding defensive efforts by Emily Matheson and Elyce Lambrou in combating her. Emily also top scored for the Magic, with 13 points. One poor quarter hurt the Magic, with a 10 - 23 point 2nd quarter (when Warrandyte shot FG's at 70%) allowing Warrandyte to to skip away to a 15 point half time lead. The Magic fought the game out well, holding Warrandyte to 23 points after the half and winning the second half. Despite repeatedly drawing within striking distance the Magic fell 12 points short in the end but can take a lot of positives out of the game.

Match Previews

Round 4 of BigV sees the Hawthorn Magic women take on Warrandyte while the men take on Altona at the BSC on Sunday 22 April.

Division One Womens

This week, the Magic would like to welcome the top-of-the-table Warrandyte to BSC. Warrandyte has enjoyed a 4-0 start to the season and is sure to put on a great game, with their strong offensive output set to clash with Hawthorn's league leading defence. Hawthorn will be looking for another strong performance on the boards, with Anna, Bernadette and Lauren to lead the way, and to once again hold their opponents to a poor offensive return.

Last weekend was a huge game for the Magic, with the opportunity to battle Craigieburn, the team that had prevented Hawthorn from claiming their first premiership in last year's division 2 competition. Hawthorn were switched on from the start, racing to a 19-5 break at the end of the first quarter, with Hannah Lowe getting involved in everything early on. Poor shooting through the next 2 quarters, and an increase in tempo from Craigieburn saw the margin shrink to a solitary point at the midway of the last quarter. Yet again, Hawthorn was able to turn to its defence and held Craigieburn to only 8 last quarter points, eventually running out 15 point winners. Bianca Lambert enjoyed a perfect shooting night, going 3/3, and Bridget Blackburn's effort off the bench in the final quarter came at a vital time when the game was there to be won.

Division One Mens

Today’s match up between the Hawthorn Magic and the Altona Gators is an intriguing contest, both teams were finalists last season and split last season with one win apiece from two games. Neither team has established a clear advantage during their time competing at BIG V level and home court advantage seldom has any real influence.

Altona (3W-2L) have already played two double headers and currently sit in 4th place on the ladder, whilst Hawthorn (1W-2L) isin 7th place.

Altona are well led by Coach Mick Downie and an experienced core including Nathan Marsh (21ppg, 10rpg), Randy Shanklin (12ppg) Jeremy Marsh (14ppg, 8 rpg) and Justin Shafer (13ppg). The Gators come into this game having lost to competition pacesetter Mildura last week after the Mavericks slipped away in the final quarter.

The Magic will look to skipper Jay Allen (17ppg), Boyd Smart (11ppg, 8rpg), Matt Slaven (12ppg, 7 rpg) and Glenn Watts (11ppg) to improve on a disappointing showing last week against Sherbrooke. It will take a far better performance to beat the Gators today and I look forward to seeing our team rise to the challenge.