Mandurah win fourth straight

The Mandurah Magic men’s side have won their fourth consecutive game in the State Basketball League after defeating last year’s champions Cockburn Cougars by one point on Friday night.

The 91-90 victory consolidates a top eight position for the Magic and sees them move into sixth place on the competition standings.

The Magic had a tough task ahead of them as for only the second time this season the Cougars were at full strength as they welcomed star import Brian Carlwell back into their team. Carlwell was an important factor in Cockburn’s title run last season and would again prove to be a difficult matchup for Magic coach Jason Chalk to contain.

Once again the Magic got off to a flying start with big man Taylor Mullenax asserting his dominance underneath the basket, while Taylor Land started the night with consecutive three pointers to give the Magic an early double digit lead.

Mandurah were red hot early and had one of their best first quarter outputs of the season with a 35-23 advantage at the first break.

Cockburn coach Stephen Charlton urged his team to lock down on defense and they answered his call, restricting the Magic to only 15 points in the second quarter, and scored 19 of their own to trim the margin back to 12 at half time.

The momentum seemed to stay with the Cougars as they came out firing in the third quarter. Wildcats developmental player Gavin Field was instrumental in Cockburn’s comeback, connecting on five three pointers for the game. Cockburn outscored the Magic by 12 in the third quarter to take a four point lead into the final quarter.

Cockburn again got off to a strong start in the fourth quarter but the Magic stayed close and were able to score when it counted. The game came down to the final possessions and with the game tied at 90, Carlwell was called for a travelling violation with just over nine seconds remaining which handed the ball back to the Magic.

During the furious final seconds the Magic were unable to hit their final shot but Rhett Della came to the rescue, grabbing the offensive rebound and drawing a foul on his put back attempt. He was able to make the first free throw to give the Magic the lead, and deliberately missed the second to allow time to run out and prevent Cockburn from having a chance to win the game.

Taylor Mullenax was the game high scorer for the Magic with 25 points, while Taylor Land again narrowly missed out on a triple double finishing with 18 points, ten rebounds and seven assists. Rhett Della finished the night with 19 points and ten rebounds. Carlwell and David Reichel each finished with 24 points for the Cougars.

It was a happier note for the Cougars earlier in the night as their women’s side were able to hold off a fast finishing Magic team to record a 77-69 victory.

The result somewhat soured a historic night for Mandurah basketball as veteran Tracey Richter became only the third player in WSBL history to play 400 games.

The Magic got off to a strong start leading by one point at the first break but were unable to stop Cougars import Steph Jones, who used her height and strength to dominate an undersized Magic team.

West Coast Waves squad member Kate Fielding was also dangerous for the Cougars, as was Taryn Priestly as they used their speed up and down the floor to provide for their teammates.

Rachel Halleen loomed large early for the Magic connecting on three three-pointers in the first quarter, while Casey Mihovilovich was her effective self on both ends of the floor.

However it was Steph Jones who proved to be too much on the offensive end for the Magic to counter as she finished the night with 34 points, converting on 13 of 15 from the field.

Mihovilovich finished the night with 25 points while Halleen added 16 for the Magic.

The win sees the Cougars move into fifth on the State Basketball League ladder, while the Magic drop out of the top eight for the first time this season as they fall into tenth.

Mandurah face off against Willetton this Friday night at the Mandurah Aquatic and Recreation Centre, which will be touted as Mandurah’s Think Pink night, raising funds for Breast Cancer research. Magic players will be wearing pink during the game and the teams will be collecting gold coin donations throughout the night. Tipoff is 6.30pm for the women and 8.30 for the men.

Article by Nathan Winch
Photo by Mick Cronin




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