The Manchester Magic crashed out of the National Basketball League Championships at the Coventry Skydrome last weekend.

Despite a valiant fight the team were outmatched and eventually defeated in the semi-final 96 - 83 by eventual champions and treble winners the Teesside Mohawks on Saturday 11th May.

The following day a downhearted Magic missed the chance of finishing in third place by losing 89 - 80 to the Plymouth Raiders, despite a fantastic 30-point haul by veteran Kevin St Kitts.

Fourth place is an achievement in itself for a team who were only founded in 1999. When they started in the old second division, when the now bankrupt Manchester Giants dropped its academy team in a hope to save money.

The team was taken over by the Greater Manchester Youth Basketball club who changed the team name to the Manchester Attitude and installed many new young players and Jeff Jones, formerly of the Manchester Giants and the Derby Storm as head coach.

In their first ever season the Attitude won the Second Division Championship and as a result the Magic (as they are now called) were promoted to the elite 10-team NBL conference.

The Manchester Magic basketball team.

This season the Magic earned a respectable 9-win 9-loss record in the league and managed 5th place in the league.

This meant a match with the fourth placed Kingston Wildcats in the playoffs, with the Wildcats having the advantage of playing the second game at home.

The first leg was played at the Manchester Veledrome to allow more seats than the Magic's usual home venue the George H. Carnell Centre.

Manchester won 78 - 74 mainly thanks to St Kitts and Sergio Lara-Bercial who hit 14 points apiece The Magic traveled to Kingston the following week with a slender 4-point lead. It was a daunting task as the Magic were missing many players due to illness and junior international duty and many people were writing off Manchester's chances of making it to Coventry.

However, a marvelous display by former Manchester Giant Sean McKie and another marvelous total of 30 points for Kevin St Kitts saw the Magic see off Kingston 92 - 86. A ten point aggregate win.

Despite the disappointment of their recent defeats the future looks bright for the Manchester Magic.

Next season they will be moving to a new home in Whalley Range called The John Amaechi Basketball Centre, named after the clubs patron and NBA star.

The total cost of the venture was over £2 million and the centre is unique in that it is the only 3-court facility in England used solely for basketball.


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