James Murphy
MILLICENT’s Magic men were left at the mercy of Simon Berkefeld on Saturday night.
The anticipated cross-town battle saw both teams understaffed, but it was the Mount Gambier star who stole the show with a huge 37-point game.
The third-placed Magic was not without its own highlights and they held the lead at the final change.
However, in the end the young side ran out of legs and suffered a 17-point loss.
“It was always going to be interesting with who was missing and who was going to perform,” he said.
“It became the Simon Berkefeld show unfortunately.
“He certainly stepped up in Kane de Wit’s absence and was the best on court by a long shot.”
Millicent tried a couple of changes throughout the game to counteract Berkefeld’s influence, but nothing seemed to work.
“We had a bit of a plan with Clint Gallio to start with,” Dean said.
“That didn’t work so went to Jackson Bowden, but we just could not contain him.
“His shooting percentages were well up and he was just too good for us.”
Dean said it would have been enjoyable to watch from a spectator’s point of view and by the end of the game there was nothing left to do but “enjoy the show”.
The Magic was not without their own attacking presence, as Jack Haggett and Jackson Bowden backed themselves after a busy couple of days.
The duo shot 22 and 18 points respectively in an impressive display.
“They both played in Adelaide Friday night, had state training Saturday and got back for the start of the game (Saturday night),” Dean said.
As such they and the rest of their team started to run out of legs in the final quarter.
It was a disappointing outcome after a solid three quarters from the hosts.
“The first three quarters as a group we competed really well,” Dean said.
“Our ball movement was better than what we had been the previous few weeks.
“Even at three-quarter time I think we were up by eight.
“I think we were up by 10 at half time and they came back at us in the third quarter and got within four, then we got it back out to eight.
“It was on the line in the last quarter and we just ran out of gas.”
Millicent remains in third place despite the loss, but now face some challenges on the road in the lead up to finals.
