The Mandurah Magic men’s side pulled off the upset of the State Basketball League season when they knocked off the top two Buccaneers in Geraldton on Saturday night.
Hitting the road with just nine players to take on second place, Magic fans could have been forgiven for thinking their chances of coming away with a win were slim.
But the last-placed Mandurah dug deep, putting in their best performance of the season and willing themselves to an 84-79 win.
Mandurah Magic coach Aaron Trahair won a National Basketball League championship with the Perth Wildcats in 1995, but didn’t hesitate to describe the win over Geraldton as one of the best in his basketball life.
“To go up there with nine players who were mostly young kids and come away with a win was incredible. I don’t really have the adjectives to describe a win like that,” he said.
“We actually had a joke going on the way up that it was Mully (captain Taylor Mullenax) and his kids off to play in Geraldton.
“But every player who hit the court was outstanding and we fought out a win that was one of the best I’ve ever been involved with in basketball.”
Trahair, who coached Geraldton last season, was full of his praise for his young outfit.
“We had some standout players on the stat sheet but overall I thought every player we had step on the court was fantastic,” he said.
“Caiel (Van Sambeeck) hasn’t had a heap of floor time this year but he really stepped up, and young Cousteau (Kyle) didn’t shy away from the challenge.”
The Magic opened the game strongly but found themselves trailing by six points after a sluggish second quarter.
But their defence was outstanding in the second half as they restricted a high-octane Geraldton offence to just 29 points.
Scoring 40 of their own second half points allowed the Magic to run out five point winners.
Mullenax finished with a game-high 30 points to go with his eight rebounds, while Will McNeill poured in 20.
Young gun Damon Ballantyne racked up 10 points and nine rebounds.
The win is Mandurah’s second in two weeks, following on from an upset over Perry Lakes in round 16.
They will now return home to face the East Perth Eagles this Saturday night.