They beat the Magic 56-55 in front of a sold out crowd at the Edgar Centre this evening. Georgia Heffernan nailed a two-pointer on the buzzer – her speciality – to give the Steel a 55-52 lead at the extra-time break. It brought the crowd and the bench to their feet as they started to smell victory brewing. And they held on to keep the Magic winless – but they nabbed a bonus point – and win their sixth game on the trot. It was
a real grind for the Steel, playing in front of their first sold-out Edgar Centre in the franchise’s 18-year history. Down by one with eight minutes left in regular time, wing defence Renee Savai’inaea picked the pocket. It helped the Steel level 47-47 with the Magic and gave the home side some confidence. Steel defender Carys Stythe forced Saviour Tui to spill the ball over the baseline and the goal keeper’s elated scream could have been heard for miles. They held a 49-47 lead with
two minutes to go, but Sarah Guiney nailed a two-pointer and the Magic forced extra-time. Aliyah Dunn was outstanding with 46 from 46 and Stythe had eight deflections. Stythe had a good battle with Tui – who was sidelined the last time the Magic met the Steel – with the Magic shooter using her elevation to get around the rangy defender. Dunn used her full bag of tricks, setting an early front screen to push Oceane Maihi high and open the space at the back.
Kimiora Poi rolled to the top and popped the ball on the fly into Heffernan. The Magic’s full court zone held the Steel up with limited short options coming to the ball to help bring it through. Stythe pounced on another ball – but Maihi responded at the other end snaffling a cross-court ball. That helped the Magic hold a 15-14 lead at the break. The Magic defence continued to smother the Steel, forcing a held ball to open the second quarter. The Steel needed
their attackers to do more work off the ball and offer more off the circle edge for their attacking flow to return. Renee Savai’inaea did a mountain of work to bring the ball down the court and support her attack end. Poi ignited the her team – and the crowd – when she flung the ball back inside falling out of court and Khayne-Lii’ Munro-Nonoa collected the crumbs. Ali Wilshier picked up a tip on the transverse line and the Magic moved swiftly, to extend
their lead to two. The Magic defensively shut down Dunn’s first option which closed up the Steel’s circle. But they found a way to work through their teething issues and maintain their composure to regain the lead. Stythe rejected Guiney’s shot, Heffernan helped alleviate the pressure on Dunn and Serina Daunakamakama came in to the game more. The Steel led 28-26 at halftime. They went on a three-goal run to start the third quarter, but the Magic came back firing to win the quarter 14-11.
The Steel’s through court defence lifted another level, stunting the Magic’s flow on attack. But Wilshier unleashed a stunning long ball into Tui to open the space. It felt like a real grind for both teams to get the ball to circle edge and into their shooters, showing the hunger they both had to secure the victory. Ariana Cable-Dixon gave back to back bullet pass to Tui on the base to level 37-37 – and then a two-point lead. Georgie Edgecombe wrapped up Daunakamakama and
kept the Steel attack end quiet for the Magic to lead 40-39.
Steel, Magic, Edgar Centre, Georgia Heffernan, extra time, sold out, Renee Savai’inaea, Carys Stythe, Aliyah Dunn, Carys Stythe deflections, Saviour Tui, Sarah Guiney, MISRYOUM