Trevor Jackson
AN impressive effort from the Millicent Magic men saw a Country Basketball League win in their first outing.
The Magic hosted the Colac Kookas and just got across the line with an 82-80 victory.
The game went right down to the wire as the Kookas put up a three-point attempt with just seconds on the clock, but the ball did not go down and Millicent celebrated.
It was a game of ebbs and flows, as the Magic began slowly and let the Kookas out to a handy 15-point advantage.
They turned that around in the third term to close the margin, with just a few shots in the contest heading into the final stanza.
The Magic held sway from there, but had to fight hard down the stretch, as big man Finn Grimes and the dangerous Kade Bradley (12 points) were both fouled out of the game with around four minutes to play.
According to coach Darren Dean, both players had been quite influential during the night.
“They both battled against Jamieson Hultgren – he is about 205cm so they were giving away a bit of height,” Dean said.
“Finn got two fouls in about 30 seconds to finish his night.
“Kade was having a reasonable night.
“He quietened the big fellow down in the second half, giving away a foot but was smart with his body and game sense.
“It hurt us because we had to go back to Harry Mules, who gave away plenty of size too.”
Despite the miss-match, the Magic were able to hold on down the stretch and secure the win in dramatic fashion.
Much of that came through the hard work of Jack Haggett, who racked up 27 points with tough work inside the key.
“Jack was good in offence and defence,” Dean said.
“He had a good battle with Jordan Lingard – they played most of the night on each other and had a good battle.
“He was our best player by far, had a lot of shots inside, created opportunities, took rebounds and claimed second efforts.
“For someone who could blow over in the wind, he was able to get some good boards for us offensively.”
Dean said Frazer Bradley, who contributed 16 points, ignited the side in the third term with two big triples to get back on track.
However, it was the final choice by the Kookas which puzzled Dean somewhat.
“There were a lot of fouls in the game and everyone who drove to the basket, the defence was generally called a foul against,” he said.
“They had an opportunity to score and tie it up, but they chose to shoot the three and missed it.
“It was a bit odd they tried to shoot the three rather than taking the easy option to shoot the two.”
regardless, the Magic secured a well-deserved victory, which Dean said was pleasing in their first game for several years.
“We haven’t played in this comp for three years and some of these boys haven’t played together at all or not much.
“It is good to get them all together.
“The chemistry is starting to build and hopefully it continues as the season goes on.”
the Bradley boys and Haggett were joined by Jackson Bowden in double figures, with 11 points to his name.
The Magic now have a week off for the Millicent tournament, before heading to Portland to take on the Coasters.
