The Latest Orinda Magic News




7/25/08 -Texas Fire bring the heat vs. Orinda Magic Black.  Can we ever play a team that doesn’t shoot the lights out?  Magic had thirty seven rebounds, the Texas Fire had thirty eight.  We were nine of eleven from the Free Throw Line, Texas was four of ten.  They hit seven threes but so did we.  The Magic only had eleven turnovers (the lowest of the tournament), the Fire had twelve.  It just seemed they couldn’t miss a shot, and if they did there was someone there to pull down an offensive rebound (they had fifteen).  The Magic shot only twenty of sixty two from the field.  A hard fought battle from start to end. Kelsey Byrd led all scorers with 17 points and six rebounds to finish the five game tournament averaging 10 points, seven rebounds, 3.4 assists and two steals per game.  Stephanie Golden had thirteen points and nine boards to finish the tournament averaging 13.6 points, 5.2 rebounds per game along with six blocks.  Sarah Tamulski scored six points and got eleven boards against the Fire. She finished the tourney with an average of 10.8 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.  Sonia Aguilar had nine points in the game to bring her averages to 10.75 points, 2.25 rebounds, 1.25 assists and 2.5 steals per game.  Stephanie Triggas also chipped in with two of the seven three pointers the Magic sank versus the Fire.  Texas Fire came out on top with a final score of 61-56.

7/24/08 - Orinda Magic face the St. Louis Swarm.  Fourth game, fourth location and now we’re at the NIKE Home in Memphis.  The weather has been miserable, in the high nineties or low one hundreds every day, but today we got rain - hallelujah, the temperature dropped to eighty!  The Magic jump out to a 22-6 lead behind the scorching hot shooting of Sonia Aguilar who went three for three from the three-point line and two for two from the free throw to end the half with ten points.  Down 28-36 to start the second half the Magic employed a man to man full court defense that held the opponent to only eighteen points, but it wasn’t enough to overtake the Swarm who prevailed 54-52. Kelsey Byrd had nine rebounds and three assists.  Stephanie Golden scored sixteen points, while Sarah Tamulski added six points, six rebounds and three assists.  Aguilar finished the game with twenty one points to lead all scorers, shooting five of six from the three point line and adding four rebounds.

7/24/08 - Orinda Magic Black play a Bay Area team.  OK, third game, third location, third time playing at 10:20AM.   We’re now at Ridgeway Baptist Church and our opponent is Blythe’s Basketball out of San Mateo, CA.  Kelsey Byrd with ten points, ten rebounds and six assists led the attack along with Sarah Tamulski who had twenty points to lead all scorers and yanked down seven rebounds.  But it was Deserie Azlin with an incredible midair putback that wowed the fans, she finished with thirteen points and eight rebounds.  Sonia Aguilar was tenacious on defense coming away with six steals, three of which she converted for layups.  The Magic defense held Blythe’s Basketball to only thirteen points in the second half, with the final score of 60-36.

7/23/08-On to our second game, second location, second straight day we play at 10:20 am.  This time we're at Orinda Magic Black at Christian Brothers University vs. Central Illinois 17 Piazzaz. Sharpshooting Brooke Bisping from the Central Illinois team dropped in 20 as Central out-shot the Magic and frustrated them Orinda Magic Black with a suffocating man-to-man defense and won before 30 more than interested college coaches in the second round of the RIVER CITY CLASSIC, in Memphis, Tennessee. Junior forward Stephanie Golden put up 15 points to go with six boards and two blocks. Senior gaurd Kelsey Byrd put on an all-around performance with 10 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks.  Forward Sarah Tamulski pulled down 14 rebounds to go along with 6 points  giving her 33 boards in the first 2 games of the tournament.  The Magic fought themselves into a 21-20 lead at half, but couldn't hold on, eventually losing by the final 56-49.

7/22/08- TAMULSKI SHINES! The Orinda Magic Black opened the RIVER CITY CLASSIC, in Memphis, Tennessee, with a hard fought victory over the Tulsa Giants from Oklahoma.  Sarah Tamulski, the Piedmont High senior, put on a dominating performance in front of many college scouts, as she grabbed a staggering 19 rebounds to go along with her 16 points. Stephanie Golden had a game high 17 points and also whipped four nifty assists to her teammates.  Deserie Azlin added three rebounds and a key basket while Kelsey Byrd contributed a couple of three-pointers and two assists in the middle of a 14-0 run, helping put the game out of reach with two minutes to go. Patrice Saindon went 2 of 2 from the 3 point line to continue her amazing streak of 10 straight 3 point shots made without a miss over the last three games. The Magic have now won 7 of their last 8 games in Portland, Chicago and Memphis this summer.

7/15/08 - In the consolation championship of the Chicago Nike Summer Showcase, Orinda Magic Black faced and opponent in the Michigan Wizards who were effective in causing multiple problems for the Magic early on. Down 33-21 with 5:30 left on the clock in the first half, Kelsey Byrd, Patrice Saindon and Sarah Tumulski led their teammates in one defensive stand after another. Putting the clamps on the vaunted Michigan offensive attack, and holding them to 16 points the rest of the way to complete a remarkable 60-49 come from behind victory.

7/14/08 - The Magic started off the game versus the NSD Stars Titans from Canada so good it was scary. After five and a half minutes of play, the girls from the Bay Area , could do no wrong in a  a gem of a start, 25-2,  at the CHICAGO NIKE SUMMER SHOWCASE. Patrice Saindon put on an electrifying performance going 6 of 6 from the 3 point line.  Stephanie Golden dropped in a dazzling array of hooks and jumpers and dazzled the crowd also.  Star guard Sonia Aguilar  led the team defensively and drilled the nets repeatedly.  By the time senior point guard Stephanie Triggas put her finishing touches on the girls from Canada,the Orinda Magic Black had put on a memorable performance scoring the most points of any team in the tournament 83- 47.