Five Straight Going Into Finals

Added 31 July 2007

The regular season of BigV Division One drew to a close on Sunday. Both mens and womens teams had double headers on the weekend with the men travelling to Monbulk to play Sherbrooke before returning home to take on Southern Peninsula and the women travelled to Warrandyte before the home clash with Werribee on Sunday.

Having won three straight going into the final round of the season, the Magic men were full of confidence as they visited Sherbrooke and attempted to knock them out of finals contention. Sherbrooke were the Division One Mens champions last season after defeating the Magic in the grand final series. The Magic shot an impressive 43% from the 3 point line and 54% from the field in a 113-107 victory. The experienced heads of Steve Carter, Matt Slaven, Jay Allen and Boyd Smart led the way combining for 90 of the Magic's points.

Meanwhile, over in Warrandyte, the women took on the highly rated Venom team featuring ex-WNBL legend Kate Cohen. The Magic flew out of the blocks with a 24-5 first quarter. This set up the victory as the Magic continued their recent return to form, running out 61-57 winners. Emily Matheson and Anna De Araugo both finished with double doubles in the victory.

Back at the BSC on Sunday with 3rd spot on the ladder sewn up, the Magic took on the Southern Peninsula Sharks in a preview of next week's finals. Having fallen to the Sharks earlier in the season at home, the Magic were keen to prove they could protect their home court ahead of the finals. Southern Peninsula started the game with a barrage of 3 point baskets in what was an early shootout pulling away to a 9 point half time lead. However, the Magic steadied the ship in the 3rd quarter and surged to the lead on the back of a 3 point barrage of their own. Jay Allen was prominent in this run with 20 of his game high 27 points in the second half. Warren Staples iced the match from the free throw line in the dying seconds. Magic taking the win 97-94. Matt Slaven was again solid with 22 points as was Stewart Cameron with 17 points. Brenton Lenaghan had his best game of the season with 10 points, 6 assists and 8 rebounds and Seb Belfrage controlled the boards with 14 rebounds.

Earlier in the day, the Werribee Devils visited the in form Magic womens team. Poor execution coupled with excellent shooting from the visitors led to a dissapointing 16 point half time deficit. However, it was a different Magic team that came out for the 2nd half. A 15-4 3rd quarter put the Magic back into the game and a continuation of this run early in the 4th quarter put the game within reach. But mid way through the 4th quarter, the Magic stuttered and Werribee seemed to put the game out of reach with a few big baskets. The Magic found themselves 3 points down with just a minute on the clock. However late game heroics by Bianca Lambert including bringing the Magic within 1 point on a fast break and then the game winner with seconds to go, got the Magic over the line in a thriller. Again, Emily Matheson and Anna De Araugo were the catalysts for the Magic with Anna De Araugo also grabbing 14 rebounds in the 51-50 win. A great way to finish the season following their promising start and dissapointing middle.

Now with the regular season out of the way, the small matter of the Division One Mens finals will commence next week. Make sure you are at the Boorondara Sports Complex Saturday 4th August at 7:30pm for Game One of the Semi Finals between the Southern Peninsula Sharks and your Hawthorn Magic.