AVIS Magic were narrowly beaten by Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse, 56-54, in a tense contest in front of a full-house home crowd in Tauranga on Saturday.
With scores tied in the final minute, a super shot from the visitors broke the deadlock. It was a heart-stopping finish to a match that could have gone either way.
With nothing riding on the match for the Magic, playing for pride and to honour Georgia Tong’s last professional match, the home side delivered a memorable second half to keep the Pulse’s Finals Series involvement on tenterhooks.
Coming into the last 15 minutes with the scores level, the Magic had their noses in front for much of that time as the thrilling contest kept everyone of the edge of their seats but ultimately had the match stolen from them in the dying seconds.
The Magic left their best until last in a disappointing season while the Pulse live to fight another day. Respective shooters, Saviour Tui with 38 from 38 and Amelia Walmsley 43/43 were standout performers in a tense and pressure-stacked outing.
The opening stanza produced the tightest of contests in a goal-for-goal stand-off. The Magic employing a shorter style of game where they impressed with their ball retention while the Pulse found success when looking for the long-range option on attack.
Both sets of shooters returned impressive figures as possession was evenly-matched, the lead changing hands a couple of times before two Ameliaranne Ekenasio super shots gave the home side a 17-15 lead at the end of a high-scoring first quarter.
Coinciding with the injection of Whitney Souness, at centre, and Fa’amu Ioane, wing defence, both missing the previous two matches through concussion and illness, respectively, the Pulse clicked up a gear.
With Tiana Metuarau, Maddy Gordon and Souness providing seamless service to Walmsley while lifting their efforts on defence, the visitors bustled the Magic into error. Jackson and jack-of-all trades Gabi Simpson, at goal defence, also did a fine job of restricting the Magic’s strong shooting duo.
An 8-3 run by the Pulse prompted a tactical timeout for the home side who produced a fleeting response during which Tong produced several of her trademark athletic endeavours in getting hand to ball while Claire O’Brien was a busy contributor in the midcourt.
The Magic couldn’t get their two-shot working in this phase, the Pulse picking up the crumbs, building their defensive pressure and nailing their opportunities with Walmsley slotting 31 from 31 for the half to give the visitors a handy 32-27 lead at the main break.
The Magic ensured the contest would remain on a knife-edge when delivering a resurgent and thrilling third stanza. Tension levels rose dramatically in the heat of battle as the home side fought every inch of the way.
The connection between shooters Tui and Ekenasio provided the sparkle and motivation under the hoop with their movement and accuracy. Defensively, the home side added the squeeze at the Pulse’s attacking end with Erana Mikaere prominent as errors crept in for the visitors.
The feeling from both sides was evident, a sell-out home crowd urging the Magic all the way as they hit the lead with five minutes of the quarter remaining.
A Malesala two-pointer gave the lead back to the Pulse by a tenuous single goal, a furious goal-for-goal exchange in the closing minutes leaving the game wide open when the scores were locked 43-all at the last turn.
