Magic Shot Down

Added 18 June 2007

This weekend saw the Sunbury Jets womens and mens teams visit Boroondara for a double header against the Hawthorn Magic. The Sunbury mens team arrived fresh from their surprising victory at Sherbrooke, last season's premiers.

Kicking us off for the day was the Division One Womens match. Prior to the match, the womens team was right in the mix for a  finals spot and needed a win to keep pace with the top 6. A disastrous start for the Magic saw Sunbury fly out of the blocks with a 17-6 first quarter. The Magic never recovered from this and struggled throughout the match with the Jets' extended pressure on defence. The Jets taking the honours 71-38. For the Magic, Ash Fennell was the only one in double figures in what was a disappointing game for the Magic's finals aspirations.

Following the womens match, the Magic men had the chance to strengthen their spot in the top 4. The early exchanges saw the teams go basket for basket in what was shaping up to be a tight contest with Steve Carter carrying much of the early load on offence for the Magic. However, following the strong start, the Magic's offence stuttered and the Jets countered with solid execution and were the stronger team. The Magic made a late run but it was to no avail. The Jets completing an impressive weekend road double over last season's grand finalists, beating the Magic 92-73. The Magic were led by Boyd Smart with 21 points, Jay Allen and Steve Carter had 17 and 13 points respectively and were the only players in double figures.

With the finals approaching, the womens team must now finish the season strongly to assure themselves a spot in the final in their debut season in Division One. They are currently in 8th place and in a pack of 6-7 teams competing for the final 3 spots in the finals. The mens team currently sit in 4th spot on the table with Altona and Sunbury snapping at their heels. The Magic will want to finish the season strongly to avoid a first round finals matchup with Mildura who have been the standout team in the Division One Mens competition.

Next week, the women travel way out west to take on Warrnambool while the men have the weekend off to recharge the batteries before making an assault on the top 4. BigV basketball returns to Saturday night at the BSC on June 30th when Mildura travel down to Melbourne to take on the Magic in a double header. All the action starts at 6pm.