The Busselton Magpies 18's and Masters teams travelled to Harvey on Sunday take on the Harvey Bulls.
Coach Beth Stokes challenged her 18s team to apply a strong and disciplined team effort - a move which paid dividends for the Magpies. Excellent shooting from Nikira Brock and Nikki Smith saw the Magpies take an early 21-3 lead. Exciting defence from Ella Griffin and Ivy Golding in the mid court enabled plenty of turnovers which were consistently converted to goals by incoming goal attack Asha Hughes. Jaymee Dahlenburg and Isabel Legros' speed and accuracy also combined to form an unrelenting force in the centre court, making it very difficult for the Harvey defenders. Ruby Simonetti and Hannah Bowden restricted Harvey to two goals in the final term with strong defensive teamwork allowing them to shut down the attacking play.
The final score line was 84-11, another convincing and collaborative win from this young side. This puts them in contention for top of the ladder with Bunbury just edging them out on percentage.
Magpies Masters won the toss and took an early lead 6-0 before Harvey got a few quick goals of their own and reduced the Magpies lead to 8-6.The second quarter became more physical, but the Magpies pushed ahead playing their own game and went into the main break leading 14-10. In the third quarter the Magpies surged ahead again and capitalised on Harvey's frustration. Harvey changed their game plan and were rewarded as they outscored the Magpies 10-9 and cut the Magpies lead back to 23-20. The final quarter was an even affair with both teams scoring six each as they battled for the win. The Magpies held their lead taking out the match 29-26. Anya Dawson was awarded Busselton Health Freak Café player of the day. This moved them to second on the ladder with their next match on June 28 up against top team the Carey Park Panthers.
The League team had a win by default with the Harvey Bulls forfeiting the match. This places them fifth on the ladder with nine points as the top four teams all sit on 10 points each. The 16s had a bye and are sitting second on the ladder.
The next fixtures will be played on June 22 at the Leschenault Leisure Centre against the HBL Lions, with 18s playing at 1.15pm followed by 16s and League at 2.45pm. Then all the netball action will be at the Eaton Recreation Centre as our ECU Souwest Jets play the East Freo Sharks in a rare home game, with the 20&U playing at 5pm, followed by League at 6.30pm, also on June 22. Get courtside and cheer on Busselton players Riley Culnane, Harmony Sutherland, Brooke Gibson, Paris Newman, Georgia O'Neill, Matilda Cann, Mia Pethybridge and Sophie Bell.
