The Magic were up against Illawarra Hawks Red and once again an inconsistent performance cost them the win.

Moss Vale was behind 20-13 after the first quarter but fought back in the second period to trail by just two (32-30) at the halftime break.

But it was also during the second quarter that the Magic lost Zac Ottosson to an ankle injury when he limped off the court midway through the quarter.

Coach Kevin Campbell said it was a crucial turning point in the match.

“He was just starting to get on a roll, they couldn’t handle him,” he said.

“He’s our second leading scorer and rebounder. Zac’s been averaging 18 to 20 points a game.” 

Coming back out after the break, the Magic did not play with enough intensity to match it with the Hawks and Illawarra ran away to a 53-45 lead at three quarter time.

Moss Vale continued to fight in the final quarter and some vocal support from the bench had them fired up but a couple of well timed three-pointers from the Hawks sealed the win and left the Magic boys deflated.

Campbell said he was at a loss to understand why the boys struggled to play to their potential for an entire match.

“We came out flat in the third quarter, coming off a good second quarter. That’s been the story pretty much all year those flat periods. It was again tonight,” he said.

“I’m at a loss to explain our lack of intensity tonight. [We had ] a good crowd, everything to play for and we just looked flat.”

Campbell was also disappointed with the Magic’s offence and said there were too many individual efforts.

“There was a lot of one out stuff in offence, players trying to do it all themselves rather than the team offence. We’ve got some really good offences that have been working really well for us all year. For some reason we went away from those.”

Moss Vale looked good in defence at times, but again Campbell said there was not enough consistency.

But despite the loss, he said Moss Vale was still in with a chance to be in the playoffs.

“We’re still in the mix. Mathematically we can still make it but we should be beating teams like that to make it.”

Carter Reeves, who has been one of the top scorers in the Waratah Youth League division two competition this year, again top scored for the Magic with 11 points.

While he did not play most of the match as a result of injury, Ottosson remained the second highest scorer with 10 points.

Tristan Glenn contributed eight points for the match while Davenport brothers Luke and Alex each finished with seven points.

Campbell said Will McGladdery was good off the bench and Luke Davenport had another good game.

Following Saturday night’s match, Moss Vale remained in 14^th spot on the ladder with 15 points.

With league leaders Shoalhaven Tigers on 17 points, it will be a tough finish in a close competition.

Next weekend will be a big one for the Magic with a double header on the road.

On Saturday, Moss Vale will travel to Castle Hill to take on Hills Hornets and on Sunday they will face Camden Valley Wildfire with both teams in the top eight.