Despite one of its strongest performances this year, the talk following Moss Vale Magic’s match against Shoalhaven on the weekend was all about the ejection of Carter Reeves in the fourth quarter.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Magic travelled down the coast to take on the Waratah Youth League division two leaders Shoalhaven Tigers on Saturday night.
In the end the Tigers proved to be too strong, finishing with an 81-53 win.
But it was the ejection of Moss Vale’s Carter Reeves that got everybody’s attention.
Reeves was given an unsportsmanlike foul in the first minute of the match.
Then in the final quarter he was fouled for a flop.
As a result of these two fouls he was ejected from the game and now has a yellow card against his name.
Magic coach Kev Campbell said two technical fouls in a game, two unsportsmanlike fouls or one of each now resulted in players being ejected from the match.
“It didn’t cost us the game but it took away our momentum,” he said.
“[I thought] he was just playing good defence [with the flop call].”
This incident overshadowed the Magic’s performance, one in which they pressured the league leaders for most of the match.
With just seven points in the match at three quarter time, it was anyone’s game to win.
A couple of three pointers in the final 30 seconds of the match blew the scoreline out a bit which Campbell said flattered the opposition.
“If you take six points off that it’s a much more respectable scoreline,” he said.
“We got ourselves in a position to knock off the undefeated leaders but couldn’t go on with it.”
Campbell said Shoalhaven coach Scott Balsar praised the Moss Vale team’s effort as it was the first time the Tigers had been put under any real scoreboard pressure.
Zac Ottosen scored 14 points for the Magic in Saturday night’s game while Will Cunich in his first year with the side, came off the bench and scored a couple of important three pointers to get Moss Vale back in the game.
While they didn’t finish with the desired result, Campbell said he was proud of the team and the way it played.
With a few new faces in the side, he was glad to see continued improvement each week.
“If we play like we did on the weekend, we’ll be right up there when the whips are cracking.”
This weekend the Magic will hit the road again and travel to Newcastle to take on Newcastle Hunters before returning to Moss Vale on May 19 where they fill face Illawarra Hawks.
Moss Vale now sits in 13th spot on the ladder, while Newcastle in 10th and the Hawks are in third spot.
