Mid City Magic favourites as club giants meet again

Toby Lewis [Mid City Magic] is blocked by Patrick Tipene [City Rise Bombers] during a Men's Club A Grade basketball match at the Edgar Centre this year. PHOTO: ODT FILES

Fittingly, it is the St Kilda Saints that stand in their way.

The pair have dominated men’s club basketball over the past 20 years, and today will be the 13th time since 2005 they have met in the final.

The Magic hold a 7-5 advantage in those finals, and have recent dominance over the league in winning six of the past eight titles.

However, an unbeaten season — something the Saints achieved in 2022 — has eluded them.

Twice they have won having dropped just one game — notably in 2023 their sole loss was by two points in overtime.

But today they enter the big dance with a 16-0 record, and enter as favourites.

It is their depth of quality across the court that makes them so dangerous.

In Otago Nuggets forwards Mac Stodart and Patrick Freeman they have a long, athletic and versatile duo that are a handful in every sense.

Guard Dallas Hartmann has been arguably the best player in the league the past three years, the 2023 MVP’s strength and ability to get to the hoop making him tough to guard.

There is the on-ball defence and shooting of his backcourt partner Noah McDowall.

Any of those four could take over the game — as could several others, such is the depth of this Magic team.

While they have run rampant in recent weeks, including a 52-point shellacking of the Mid City Lions in last week’s semifinal, they have also shown the ability to hang tough and get out of close ones.

The Saints have had a rocky season in parts, but have found top form in the last month with the fulltime return of Nuggets backcourt duo Mike Ruske and Christian Martin.

They were influential in reeling in the City Rise Bombers late in their semifinal last week, and will need to fire if they are to win today.

Lawson Morris-Whyte is a quality presence inside, while the likes of Tyler Lapham, Liam Aston and Jamie MacDonald are all now older heads with plenty of big game experience.

Tipoff is at 2.10pm at the Edgar Centre.

On Tuesday night, Ajax will face the South Pac Magic in the women’s club basketball final.

It is a reprisal of a historical rivalry, the pair having met in six consecutive finals between 2016 and 2021.

Ajax have plenty of stars to draw on in the trio of Zoe Richards, Elise Gilbert and Samara Gallaher.

However, South Pac have quality of their own and both Tia Pavihi and Fay Fualau-Searle shone in a tight semifinal win over Varsity.

Tipoff is at 7.45pm at the Edgar Centre.