The Magic faced one of the top teams in the Waratah Youth League division two competition- the Illawarra hawks- at home on Saturday night.

But a “melee” at three quarter time led to three Moss Vale players and one Illawarra player being ejected from the game.

Some push and shove just as the quarter ended resulted in players coming in off the bench.

The match was stopped for about 10 minutes as the referees separated the teams and watched the video footage before taking action.

Mitchell Bancroft, captain Isaac Martin and debutant Tristan Glenn were the three Moss Vale players to be ejected.

Moss Vale coach Kevin Campbell said it was an unfortunate incident and they would now have to wait to see whether the players will face a Basketball NSW tribunal this week.

It was a particularly disappointing way to end the match for Glenn, who Campbell said had played well in his debut youth league match.

“He got some time in the second quarter and went really well. He had a couple of nice three point shots that looked really good but just didn’t go down for him.”

He remained hopeful he would be exonerated and said Glenn would likely be part of the squad for the rest of the season.

In the end, despite a strong run home, the Magic went down to Illawarra 59-75.

Another slow start cost Moss Vale and the Magic found themselves down 25-13 after the first quarter.

They then kept the Hawks to just nine points in the second quarter and finished the match well to level the scoring at 19-19 in the final quarter.

Zac Ottoson was the Magic’s top scorer with 20 points, followed by Marko Laus (13 points) and Carter Reeves (12 points).

It was always going to be a tough assignment against a team that “was basically a division one side” and included six NSW players and an under-17 Australian representative in Sean Cranney.

Following the match Campbell said Hawks coach Mick Cranney commented on how impressed he was by the young side which managed to put pressure on Illawarra for most of the match.

On Sunday afternoon, the Magic made the trip to Manly to face the Sea Eagles.

“We’ve got to get the win [against Manly], Campbell said prior to the match.

A strong start would be crucial for the Magic who have struggled to fire early on in their recent matches.

Heading into Sunday’s match, Moss Vale sat 13^th on the ladder while Manly Warringah Sea Eagles was in 11^th spot.