Magic: Super sub can't stop Firebirds

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic might have beaten Queensland Firebirds if they'd had seven Jamilah Gupwells on court last night.
The goal attack was a star for Magic off the bench in the 2011 ANZ Championship major semifinal, but her efforts weren't enough to halt the Firebirds juggernaut as it hurtled its way to the grand final, by way of a convincing 50-39 victory in front of a thrilled home crowd.
Gupwell, a new acquisition for Magic this season, found herself in a high pressure situation in her first ANZ Championship finals match but made a real difference, providing a calming influence and slotting in her largely mid-range shots with apparent ease and control.
Gupwell echoed the thoughts of Magic coach Noeline Taurua and defender Casey Williams in summing up the game from her team's point of view - they had the game plan, they just didn't execute it.
Firebirds will now go straight to the grand final which they'll play in a fortnight, against the winner of next week's preliminary final featuring Northern Mystics and Magic, the latter by way of the major semifinal second-life system.
"There's a big rivalry between us and Mystics," Gupwell told The Daily Post from the Gold Coast last night. "This season we've won one and they've won one and their semifinal against Swifts is the most consistent I've seen them play. They kept the pedal down - similar to what Firebirds did to us.
"Next week we really need to get a good start and execute our game plan, eliminate any hesitation," she said.
Hesitation and lack of cohesion were major factors in Magic's downfall last night, a disappointment after the progress shown in recent weeks. After a bad start from which they never recovered, Magic were unable to gain any flow or momentum, falling further and further behind as the game progressed.
In contrast, Firebirds grew in confidence with every turnover and goal scored, shutting down the visitors on attack and making it look a lot easier than it should have been when on attack themselves.
Magic took a full first quarter to settle and a dismal second spell saw a four-goal deficit stretch to 16-23 by half time. Things went from bad to worse in the third quarter and Magic, down 26-39 going into the final stanza, hadn't a show of taking the match.
Firebirds put on an excellent team effort, the unstoppable Laura Geitz leading the charge with a superb performance at goal keep.
She and her defensive unit stifled Magic's attack play and forced a lot of errors.
Gupwell took over the Magic goal attack position from Julianna Naoupu during the second quarter and proved to be the most consistent player for her team.
She hadn't banked on getting court time and had prepared herself to play the sideline support role.
"When I was told to get on the court I was a little nervous but wanted to give it everything I could, do myself proud and hopefully play well enough to help the team," she said.
"I just tried to breathe and take it one ball at a time and not think of it as a semifinal but as just another game, just another pass, just another goal."
Magic could do well to take a leaf out of Gupwell's book as they look to regroup this week ahead of their crucial elimination semi against a Mystics team on a high and apparently peaking at the right end of the season.
Result of the major semifinal:
Queensland Firebirds 50 (Romelda Aiken 29/33, Natalie Medhurst 21/27) Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic 39 (Irene van Dyk 17/20, Julianna Naoupu 6/7, Jamilah Gupwell 16/18). Halftime: 23-16