It was another close loss for the Highlands boys in the Waratah Youth League division two competition, going down in the final minutes 87-83.

Again it was a slow start that cost Moss Vale, with the visitors trailing  28-16 after the first quarter.

They were still down 53-34 at the halftime break and needed to fire up.

A “big” halftime talk from coach Kevin Campbell and a change in defensive strategy to a full court press got the Magic into gear.

They hit back in the third period to win the quarter and lead 66-64 heading into the final break.

It appeared as if Moss Vale might come away with the win but a few intercepts capitalised on by Manly sealed the match.

“Because we were pressing, we were getting turnovers, I thought we would have had enough momentum in the stretch,”Campbell said.

“We ran out of legs in the last few minutes.”

And while it was a strong performance for most of the match, Campbell was once again disappointed by the start from his side.

“We were terrible in the first half, we just weren’t there,” he said.

In the past few matches, a slow start has been a problem for the Moss Vale side but Campbell said he had yet to pinpoint what the problem was.

The Magic has been on the road for the past few weeks, bar its home game on Saturday night, and while Campbell said travel could leave players a bit flat, it was no excuse.

“All teams have the same problem, some are worse than us. I think it’s a mental and an attitude thing.” 

But in a strong second half, Carter Reeves, who top scored with 33 points, showed why he is one of the league’s leading scorers, shooting a few three pointers in a row to get his side back in the match.

Marko Laus scored 24 points for the Magic and Zac Ottoson finished with 14 points.

Tristan Glenn also celebrated his first youth league basket and was unlucky to miss a couple of three point opportunities that just rimmed out of the basket.

“He’s got a beautiful three point shot. It’ll be exciting when he gets going.”

One of the newer members of the side, Luke Davenport had his best game of the season, according to Campbell.

“He played some sensational defence and really got us back in the game. His rebounding was great.”

This Saturday will be another big trip for the Magic as they travel up to Bathurst to take on the Goldminers.

“Every game is a different game and we move on to the next challenge,” Campbell said.