A gritty fightback wasn’t enough for Mandurah to overcome a serious case of first-quarter shooting woes as the Magic went down to Joondalup 95-81 on Saturday night. Mandurah posted a measly six points in the opening term, knocking down just three of their 21 shots as the Wolves raced out to 19-point lead at the first break. To the Magic’s credit, they fought hard to get back into the game, winning the second and fourth quarters in a tough display. But the catastrophic start led to the Magic’s demise, despite the team clawing their way back to a respectable margin by the end. Head coach Aaron Trahair said his side showed heart to fight back after the first quarter, but were never going to be able to overcome their off shooting. “It was quite amazing actually. The guys were taking good looks but sometimes you just have those nights,” he said. “Obviously if you only score six points in a quarter you’re probably never going to win, but to our boys’ credit they worked their tails off to get back in the game and compete. “I was happy with how we finished the game, but obviously we need to start better and cut out lapses like that.” Taylor Mullenax led all scorers for the Magic with 28 points, while Will McNeill tallied 17 points and six rebounds. Coach Trahair said the game provided his team with a platform to judge themselves against one of the competition’s strongest sides. “Joondalup have been the benchmark of the State Basketball League for some time now so going into the match I was really curious to see how our guys, especially our younger guys, would go,” he said. “I think we sort of had to remind ourselves that our younger guys would have some nerves, but I was quite pleased with how they handled most of the game. “Fletcher (Klasztorny) and Damon (Ballantyne) were solid for us on the boards and played some good games.” Klasztorny finished the match with eight points, eight rebounds while Ballantyne tallied eight and ten. The Magic will continue to search for their elusive first win when they take on East Perth this weekend.
