Magpies soar to top spot with big win

Magpies firmly stamped themselves as title favourites in Albany Basketball Association women’s A-grade competition after downing Panthers by 17 points in the top-of-the-table clash on Tuesday night.

Meeting for the third time this season, Magpies trailed by as much as seven points early in the first half before Narelle Humphries and Jasmyne Jones found their range to quickly erase the deficit.

Magpies scored the last 17 points of the first half as they completely changed the momentum of the game and took a 10-point buffer into half-time.

Panthers, with only one player on the bench, had their own problems. Star guard Ella Scamozzi had four first-half fouls and, as a result, the Panthers’ scoring had dried up.

Picking up from where they left off, Magpies continued their onslaught as a three-pointer to Mikayla Ditchburn pushed her side’s advantage to 17 points.

Centre Nina Smith finally ended the scoring drought for Panthers, as her first points of the game lifted them off 11 points.

Aleesha Narkle did her best to keep Panthers in touch but her side could never get the margin under 15 points in the second half.

Narelle Humphries top scored with 12 points for Magpies as they recorded a 40-23 win and she received great assistance from twin sister Nardia Humphries (10 points) and Jasmyne Jones (7), in what was an uninspiring second half of basketball.

Smith and Scamozzi both finished the match in foul trouble, limiting their impact but Narkle led the way for Panthers with 12 points.

Meanwhile in the other round 7 fixture, Raiders under-18 development squad continued Flames’ miserable season thus far with a tight six-point win.

Maddison Dallimore and Kayla Thomas each hit 13 points for Raiders, who improved their record to 3-3 with the 46-40 triumph.

Indianna Weeden nailed 13 points for the winless Flames and Savannah Hill chipped in with nine.