James Murphy
A HUGE 39-point game from Emily Winter pushed Millicent Magic to a narrow win over Horsham Hornets in Saturday’s Round 12 Country Basketball League clash.
The Magic made the trip to Horsham understaffed, with Jasmin Howe, Alana Berkefeld, Poppy Ven and Edie Easterby all unavailable.
However, a strong defensive game, paired with Winter’s explosive performance under the basket helped keep them a win clear on top of the South West conference leaderboard.
The final score was 61-59 and Millicent won all-but the final quarter, where the Hornets put in a last ditch effort against their tiring guests.
“Defensively we were really good for three quarters,” Millicent coach Damien Venn said.
“We held them to 22 points at half time.
“Jess (Venn), Emily (Winter) and Georgia (Winter), those three didn’t come off the court the whole game.
“It wore them down a little bit and in that last quarter we let (Horsham) off the hook a bit.
“We were just good enough to hold on.”
A six-point half-time lead turned into a seven-point advantage at the final change, after an even third quarter.
However, as legs began to tire and Emily found herself guarded heavily by up to four players when she had possession, it was a matter of holding on in the final stanza.
The Magic did just that and now carry further confidence into the Christmas/New Year break.
Venn was pleased with Emily’s performance, which he described as a game saver, as the bulk of Millicent’s big scorers were absent.
“I knew it was going to be tough,” Venn said.
“I was fairly confidence defensively we could lock them down to a score which we could get, but offence was the big issue.
“(Emily) just ripped the game apart luckily.”
She also excelled defensively, shutting down a key shooter.
“Emily did a really good job on Emalie (Iredell) and held her to 13 points,” Venn said.
“She is their most prominent scorer and we kept her fairly quiet.”
Georgia Winter played a solid game as well, despite a lesser impact on the scoreboard with nine points.
Jess Venn also shot nine, while the youngsters in the roster stepped up.
“It was good for the kids,” Damien Venn said.
“Tayla (Rowe), Lillie (Paul) and Lauren (van Eeden) got a lot more court time than what they normally would have.
“It is a good learning experience for them.
“I walked away thinking it was a really good win for us.”
The CBL competition now enters a break for the holiday period, with the Magic next hitting the court at Warrnambool on January 8 for a meeting with the Mermaids.
