Magic Come Up Empty At Home

Added 14 April 2008

The Boroondara Sports Complex played host to round 3 action of BigV Basketball on Saturday night. One of the premiership favourites, the Werribee Devils visited the Hawthorn Magic women, who were coming off a couple narrow losses last weekend.

The game was slow to get going and it was not until a fifth minute free throw from Anna De Araugo, that got the scoring underway. Werribee were the stronger side in the first quarter, taking a 7 point first quarter lead before the Magic pegged them back to trail 27-23 at half time. The second half was closely fought as Werribee held the lead heading into the final couple minutes. An Emily Matheson 3 pointer with a minute remaining, put the Magic in the lead by 1 point before a pair of Werribee free throws and a mix up between Jess Mackenzie and Elyce Lambrou on an inbound pass in the final minute all but handed the victory to Werribee. The Magic did have several chances to send the game into overtime when they were down by 3 in the dying seconds, but were unable to score. The match ending 56-52. Lauren Killmister and Anna De Araugo led the Magic in scoring with 10 apiece in the third consecutive narrow loss. The loss now leaves the women languishing with a 1-4 record.

Last weekend, the Magic men got off the mark in season 2008 with a road win over the Westgate in Altona. Geelong, newcomers to the BigV competition were the visitors to BSC.

Stewart Cameron carried the Magic early on with an efficient inside game. However, Geelong took control of the match as the Magic were uncharacteristically flat throughout the game. The Magic were outscored in every period, except for the fourth quarter where they were able to match Geelong on the scoreboard, but it was too little too late. The Cats running out 108-91 winners. For the Magic, Jay Allen led the way with 25 points and 5 assists, Stewart Cameron finished with 19 points and Seb Belfrage had 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. The dissapointing loss leaves the reigning premiers Magic team with a shaky 1-2 record, both losses at home.

Next Sunday, there will be a double header from 12pm where the women take on Warrandyte featuring WNBL life members Kate Cohen and Jo Metcalfe, followed by the men who take on heavy Division One Men title favourites Sherbrooke. Make sure you're at the BSC to support the Magic in these must win games!

Photos courtesy of Cathryn Lowe and Charlie "5 Fingas" Fyffe.

Jazzy's Blog: Singing The Song
Em's Blog: Magic Dissapointing On The Road
Hawthorn Magic Kick Off BigV Season
2008 Hawthorn Magic BigV Fixtures
2008 Hawthorn Magic BigV Squads
2008 BigV Season Photos in the Gallery