Two losses over the weekend has seen the Mandurah Magic men’s team drop to seventh place on the State Basketball League ladder, and could hamper their top four chances as the season heads into it’s final weeks.

A 99-79 loss to Lakeside and a 122-110 loss to Wanneroo sees Mandurah’s record slip to 12 wins and ten losses, with inferior percentage keeping them from any higher position on the ladder.

It was always going to be a tough task for the Magic as they faced the competition leaders Lakeside Lightning on Friday night. The Magic were easily beaten in the rebounding count, as well shooting percentages.

Lakeside started the game strong and had extended their lead into double digits early in the first quarter. Lakeside’s imports Ben Beran and Justin Cecil proved to be too much for the Magic big men as they were able to use their shooting range to draw the Magic forwards out of the key. This resulted in the league’s leading rebounder Jarrad Prue to provide the Lightning with numerous second chance opportunities.

The Magic were able to mount a challenge in the second and third quarters but the shooting efforts of Beran and Cecil proved too much for the Magic to counter.

Taylor Mullenax was the Magic’s high scorer, finishing with 32 points and 12 rebounds. Beran led the way for the Lightning with 30 points, while Cecil had 20 and Prue finished with 12 points and 21 rebounds.

Saturday night was a much higher scoring affair but the Magic were unable to stop Wanneroo’s team contribution, as the Wolves ended the night with six players in double figures. Both teams shot the ball well at 54%.

Trian Iliadis led the scoring for the Wolves with 27 points, while last year’s SBL Most Valuable Player Damian Matacz finished with 26 points. Rhett Della was the game high scorer for the Magic with 29 points. Aaron Trahair finished with 28 points while Taylor Mullenax had 22 points and ten rebounds.

It was also a disappointing weekend for the Magic women as they also lost consecutive games over the weekend.

The Magic started slowly against Lakeside on Friday night, but a 21-9 third quarter run saw them bring the margin back to within two points during the last quarter. However the three point shooting of Lakeside’s Courtney Byrnes and Courtney Bayliss held off the Magic fightback and saw the Lightning record a 79-65 victory.

Bayliss finished with 22 points, while Byrnes had 21. Casey Mihovilovich led the scoring for the Magic with 19 points. Bree Klasztorny finished with 16 and Ashlee Sidebottom had 14.

Saturday night was a much tougher affair for the Magic as they faced league leaders Wanneroo. The Wolves had far too much firepower for the Magic as they ran out comfortable winners 69-42.

Former WNBL player Nikita Martin led Wanneroo with 17 points, while West Coast Waves squad member Shani Amos had 12. Casey Mihovilovich again led the scoring for the Magic with 14 points, but could not get much more help from her teammates.

Mandurah have another double headed fixture this weekend as they host the East Perth Eagles on Friday night. On Saturday they will make the short trip to Rockingham to take on the Flames.