Hard work about to be rewarded

BASKETBALL

IT has been a long time coming.

When the Otago Nuggets finally take the Edgar Centre court against the Wellington Saints on Saturday night after a sevenyear absence, there will be all sorts of memories swirling around.

The big crowds and successes of the 1990s in the freezerdome.

The teams that battled with little success through the 2000s.

The five years in the wilderness following Basketball Otago’s financial issues in 2014.

Last year’s fairytale return and the side lifting the trophy after an intense final at the Showdown.

And for some — several years of hard work behind the scenes to get the team up and running.

It was 742 days ago the Nuggets submitted their expression of interest in returning to the league.

That may seem a long time ago. But for Nuggets general manager Angela Ruske, it has time that has gone very quickly.

‘‘Some of it feels a while ago, especially when I have to go back and refresh my memory,’’ Ruske said.

‘‘The last year has absolutely flown and the last four months have been a bit of a blur.

‘‘I certainly didn’t know what I was getting myself into, I’d have to say.

‘‘It’s been a really valuable experience for me and my own personal development. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.

‘‘It’s been really nice to see it all come together.

‘‘It’s nice to see we’ve got such a great team culture this year. It makes it all worthwhile when you know what you’re doing is appreciated.’’

Ruske said establishing a base of people to help with the operation had been important.

That had been significant in terms of branding, securing partners and getting on top of all the administration work that needed to be done.

Plenty of volunteers had been significant.

Gameday preparation was another component to which the franchise has recently had to turn its hand.

While last year’s return in Auckland had been an ‘‘excellent launch’’, this year brought its own challenges.

Hosting games and not having the NBL looking after many of the logistics as it did last year made it a far bigger operation.

Ruske is hopeful of a sellout crowd on Saturday night.

‘‘There’s obviously, little bits and pieces that need to be sorted out. The team’s ready, I’m excited to see them on the court and I think it’ll be an absolutely brilliant.’’

Saturday’s game tips off at 7.30pm.

THE South Pac Magic withstood a comeback.

Then it closed out the game. A late run helped it edge Varsity 7166 in women’s club basketball at the Edgar Centre on Tuesday.

Veteran forward Natalie Visger was key for the Magic down the stretch. She scored seven points in a 91 late run to help seal the win.

Visger hit a threepointer to tie the score at 6363 with under two minutes remaining, before sinking a shot from the high post to take the lead.

A Millie Simpson layup followed, before Visger reached the line and sank two free throws to make it 6964.

Varsity had started strongly. It pounded inside to Sophie Adams (15 points), who scored eight early points and helped the students establish a 2113 lead.

But the Magic hung around and two threepointers to Kylie Maihi (13 points) helped pull it back to 2419 at the break.

Varsity held its lead until some Magic defensive adjustments, coupled with an injury to Varsity guard Caitlin O’Connell, swung momentum.

The Magic began crashing the boards hard and grabbing offensive rebounds at will, while stalling the Varsity offence.

Lisa Wallbutton (13 points) was influential there, while

Georgia Te Au (eight points) hit twice from deep to give the Magic an outside threat.

It took a 3833 lead to halftime, which it extended to 5137 midway through the third quarter.

At that point Varsity began to secure rebounds, while at the other end its shots started to fall and it started getting to the line.

Kelly Thompson was influential in coming up with a handful of steals, while Rosie Davison began penetrating from the perimeter.

That helped it reel in the deficit and a threepoint play from Adams gave Varsity a 6160 lead.

But at that point Visger stepped up, stemming the flow and giving the Magic a lead it held to the lead.

It leaves the Magic unbeaten after two rounds, as are the Falcons Dandelions.

They beat the Andy Bay Falcons 7454, Annabelle Ring and Sereana Rokotakala scoring 18 and 17 points respectively.

Hannah Matehaere led Ajax with 17 points as it claimed a 6629 win over South Pac OGHS.