Five Millicent teams made the trek to Adelaide over the long weekend to compete in the South Australian Country Basketball Championships.
The Magic showed some tricks at the competition led by the Under 14 Boys Division 2 team which finished its big campaign as country champions.
The side coached by Jamie Cooper got off to a rollicking start, winning all its group games by comfortable margins at the St Clair Recreation Centre.
The first three games were good wins due to consistent offence and pressured defence, while the fourth game against Murray Bridge proved to be harder as the Magic’s defence was unable to find a rhythm.
Despite this, Millicent hung on to win by 11 points and entered the semi-final with confidence.
The contest against Port Lincoln was a tough game and the Magic started slowly as the young players were nervous knowing they had to win to make the grand final.
At half time, the Magic were down by six points, but worked hard defensively in the second half and it paid off, giving them the win by three points.
In the decider against Whyalla Steelers, Millicent showed some more nerves in a tight opening.
The Magic made their move in the third quarter to get the job done by six-point win where the determination and perseverance was exceptional.
Top scorer in the grand final was Harrison DeGaris with 18 points while Ari Robbins and Naite Thomson scored six points a piece.
The Millicent Under 14 Girls Division 1 team coached by Peter Seebohm also went all the way to the grand final.
There were two pools in this competition and Magic won most games quite convincingly. Millicent had only beaten Strathalbyn once over the summer season and always find the game to be difficult.
Ashlee Dean was unavailable for the tournament and that meant all players had to step up and play their best.
The qualifying battle against Port Augusta was the hardest fought battle as the Magic were not hitting their marks consistently.
They were in foul trouble and found it hard to score in the first three quarters as Port Augusta’s defence was strong.
However, the Magic found the basket in the fourth quarter to get over the line by just three points.
The semi-final against the Great Southern Slammers was an even game for the first three quarters as both sides struggled to find the basket.
The defensive pressure forced errors and made it hard to penetrate the scoreboard.
The Magic yielded some early scores in the first half of the last quarter and went on to win by seven points at the final siren.
Millicent faced their season rivals the Strathalbyn Storm in the big dance and knew they all had to playing their best to come close to winning.
The game was close and at the first-quarter break they were level on five points.
But Strathalbyn had a great second quarter and enjoyed a 20-7 lead into the main break before Millicent came out firing and their shots were finding the net to reduce the deficit to just four points.
The scoreboard was tied during the last term before Strathalbyn scored a few quick points to land them the win in a close, but fantastic well-fought game for the Magic.
Emily Denton and Seballa Coghlan were top point scorers for the grand final and the weekend.
Millicent’s Under 14 Girls Division 4 outfit played a strong first two games and came away with the wins over Strathalbyn and Murray Bridge, but the energised run ended against Mount Gambier in a strong, physical game.
The scoreboard was tight until the final quarter where the Lakers found a few quick easy shots to come away with the win.
The quarter final against the Great Southern Slammers was a tight and closely fought encounter, with an exhausted Millicent enduring a slow first half before turning the game around in the third quarter.
The Magic gained momentum and stole the game in overtime by one point.
Millicent was too defensive in the semi-final over Keith and lost 18 to 34, with Lucy Crow fighting hard all tournament to score the most points in the match.
The late pull outs of coach Darren Dean and player Olivia Dean put the Millicent Under 18 Girls Division 1 team into disarray.
Luckily, Sarah Faulkner was able to coach and Edie Easterby was on hand to take to the court at short notice, but they could not prevent the team from recording a couple of losses due to a lack of defence and forced errors.
But the team bounced back in the last three games with lifted intensity led by Tayla Rowe, Lacey Haines and Aislinn Schultz.
Aiden Schultz’s Under 18 Boys Division 1 team had an inconsistent campaign.
The Magic went basket-for-basket with the Mildura Heat, but eventually went down by eight points before bouncing back with a hard-fought win over Eastern Hills 56 to 44.
But the team could not string together much momentum and lost the final games against Great Southern Slammers and Port Augusta.
Top scorers for the weekend were Jackson Bowden with 109 points and Harry Mules with 76.
