The 2023/2024 Millicent Magic Town Team season has kicked off as three teams travelled to the Murray Bridge tournament over the October long weekend.

The Magic Under 16s side was runner up in Division 1, with the girls having a good first tournament of the year winning their four games before going down in the grand final to Strathalbyn by 11 points.

The team got off to a good start defeating Mount Gambier in the first match 34-20 with Bell Coghlan top scoring with 15.

In the best game of the tournament the Magic defeated Slammers 38-22 with the girls moving the ball well in the second half to get the scores on the board.

Emily Denton scored 15 and Ash Dean 10.

The third game was hard fought against a talented Yorkers team with the girls coming away with a six point win, 23-17.

Denton scored 9 and Asha Gysbers shot some long bombs to finish with 8.

The fourth game was a sluggish match with the girls battling it out to take the win 17-7.

Jeda Hibberd and Kalani scored well under the basket and Scarlett Zalme hassled hard in defence.

The final match became the grand final against Strathalbyn and was a very defensive game.

The girls’ full court defensive pressure was vital in stopping the Strath girls from scoring.

The girls battled hard in offense but could not finish under pressure, going down 15-26.

Alex Haines was the top scorer.

The Under 18 Magic boys were in action in Division 1, having a tough weekend but showing grit and determination to keep up with some of the top teams in the competition for the first half of games.

The boys started slowly but showed in each game they were working much better together.

There were sSome great passages of play in all games which showed good ball movement and defensive pressure.

Top scorers were Beau Douglas, Noah Duka and Oliver Braun.

The side drew with Murray Bridge Bullets 38-all, before losing to Barossa Settlers 69-35, Great Southern Slammers 52-24 and Riverland 44-33.

The Under 18 Girls Division 1 side finishing runner up.

The team had a disappointing loss to the Barossa 38-39, but in the second game the girls stepped up their defensive pressure and got the opportunity to run a new play to defeat Murray Bridge 60-19.

In the semi final the Magic downed Mount Gambier Lakers 35-32 in their best performance of the weekend.

The girls found themselves 10 points down half way through the third period, struggling with the opposition’s height but playing great defence.

The girls dug deep with Edie Easterby (19) and Poppy Venn (18) shooting 15 points between them in the last three minutes of the game in a thrilling finish.

Millicent came up against the Strathalbyn Storm in the grand final, getting off to a great start however a high fouls count saw the girls having to back off in defence, allowing Strath to get back into the game.

In hot conditions, the girls fatigued and lost the game by two points, going down 32-34.

Easterby again led the way with 12, with Venn knocking down 10.