The 2022/2023 Millicent Magic Basketball Town Team competitions started over the October long weekend.
This season Millicent will field up to 14 junior basketball teams at any one carnival and the club will take part in as many as seven carnivals over the season, with the final tournament being the SA country Championships in March 2023.
Trainings started in August and all teams are looking forward to the season ahead.
Millicent Magic performed well at the Murray Bridge Junior Basketball tournament, with four teams competing.
The Under 16 Girls came away as Division 1 winners, coached by Peter Seebohm with Jess Ellis as team manager.
After a clean sweep against Mount Gambier, Murray Bridge, Yorke Valley and Naracoorte, they again faced and defeated Yorke Valley in the grand final.
All players scored during the weekend and all stepped up when counted.
Top scorers were Matti Fauchelle, Piper Paul and Emily Denton.
In the grand final between Magic and Yorke Valley, Magic got away with the points and were up 10-4 at the first break.
Magic’s defence was strong, in the second quarter both teams conceded fouls but a timely three pointer from Piper Paul was what the team needed to settle back into the game.
The half time score was 21-14, but in the third quarter both teams found it hard to finish their shots.
In the final quarter Piper, Asha and Matti made their shots from the free throw line which helped secure the win, with Piper the top performer.
Millicent’s Under 14 Boys, coached by Jenny Herbert with Ange Sinel as team manager, had a tough time in Division 1.
The team had a slow start to the season after minimal trainings and not having played together previously.
Although they did not get a win, the group – with only two top age boys – was competitive.
The boys showed some great offensive plays in the key and had to learn very quickly how to overcome some tough double teaming at the halfway line by their opponents.
Brody improved over the weekend as this was his first town team experience and Campbell showed some great offensive skills.
Their lack of height did not let their fight for the ball stop them.
Ari Robins top scored over the weekend with 55 points and showed great leadership to the young side.
In other results, the Under 14 Girls finished runner after dropping just one game ahead of the grand final match, which came down to the final seconds.
Luck was not on the side of the Under 14 Boys Division 2 squad, which faced tough opposition in each of its four matches.
