Millicent Magic’s junior basketball teams attended the local tournament held by Naracoorte District Basketball Association last weekend.

The tournament was held at the Naracoorte main stadium, Naracoorte South Primary, Naracoorte High and Lucindale Area schools.

The power went out on Sunday at approximately 9.40am and did not return until 1pm, so many games were abandoned.

The Millicent Under 12 Girls Division 1 side coached by Matthew Faulkner had a great weekend winning two of the three games and went into the grand final full of confidence to emerge victorious.

The girls were keen to make a better defensive game as during their loss on Saturday, Riverland got the jump on them.

The game was close at every change and both teams applied a lot of defensive pressure.

Riverland got into some foul trouble in the last quarter which helped Magic take the lead convincingly in the last 30 seconds of the game for the win.

In the Under 12 Girls Division 2 Millicent was successful winning all games and the grand final pleased coach Amy Mason and team manager Krystal Madden.

This was exciting for the team as it was the first grand final they had made and a great start led to many turnovers resulting in points for Magic to run out 20-point winners.

The Millicent Under 14 Girls Division 1 was on their game winning three of the four games coached by Peter Seebohm.

In the first two games on Saturday the girls scored well and played top defence, however Sunday did not seem as easy and both the Riverland and Mount Gambier made them work for it.

Losing to Riverland early Sunday morning made Magic come out firing in the grand final with the half time score 19 to 3 Millicent’s way.

The second half was a different story as Riverland fought back, with Magic in a little bit of foul trouble and holding out to win by just three points.

Top scorers for the weekend were Ashlee Dean and Emily Denton.

Peter Seebohm guided the Under 16 Girls Division 1 team to two victories from three minor rounds and went into the grand final with heads held high. Riverland proved too strong to win by 10 points in a physical game with Poppy Venn top scoring for the weekend.

The Under 18 Men Division 2 Millicent team coached by Aiden Schultz was ill-prepared heading into the grand final with just 10 minutes notice due to the power outage.

Despite this Magic started the final well and kept a 5-10 point lead most of the game, with Keith finding it hard to score and Magic’s defence proving unbeatable. The Magic won by nine points and Ethan Leopold claimed the top score for the weekend.

The Millicent under 16 boys’ Division 1 team was hindered by COVID, cricket finals and injuries so the weekend was a challenge from the start for coach Damien Venn.

Trying to match up players was difficult from the start for Millicent as Mount Gambier proved too strong to claim the win.

The Jamie Cooper coached Millicent Under 14 Boys Division 2 side endured a slow start to proceedings, going down in the first two games to the Riverland and Naracoorte before bouncing back against Keith and Casterton.

Top point scorers for the event were Louis Easterby and Flynn Collins.

Ben Zalme’s Under 16 Boys Division 2 side did not have a Magic weekend at the tournament, going down in the early games before bouncing briefly back and finishing the event with a loss. Top scorers were Leigh Richards and Bodhi Lear.

Millicent Under 12 Boys Division 1 also had a weekend to forget, going down in all games despite putting up a fight before the last game was called a draw due to the power outage.

Top performer for the weekend was Campbell McMullan.

Andrew Thorne’s Under 16 Girls Division 2 Millicent side endured a weekend of mixed results, with the girls recording a loss in the first game, winning the second and going down in the third before the power outage cancelled the last game. Eva Crowe, Sara Smith and Sarah Sigston top scored for the side.

In the Under 12 Boys Division 2 game the Nathan Chapple coached Magic side put up a solid fight but was unable to record a victory.

The team will learn and develop from the tournament and come back firing. Top scorers for the weekend Kobe Bromley and Sonny Wiese while Colby Watson was named as best defender.

The Jasmin Howe coached Under 14 Girls Division 2 Magic side started well with a victory in the first game before losing the remaining two matches. The power outage cancelled the final game ending the team’s weekend with Lucy Crowe and Lilly Hackwill named as top scorers.

Millicent Magic’s Under 14 Boys Division 1 team was coached by Jamie Cooper

Millicent Under 14 Boys Division 1 coached by Jamie Cooper was unable to lodge a victory in the early games and had the weekend cut short with the two final games cancelled due to the power outage and costing valuable game time for the boys.