It will go down as one of the most remarkable championship triumphs of all with the coach-MVP partnership of Mark Utley and Joel Murray bringing an NBL1 West title to Mandurah for the first time.
The Magic women have had their hearts broken with six Grand Final defeats and the men were in their first ever and on the biggest of stages in front of 6460 people at RAC Arena against the Willetton Tigers.
Not only that, Mandurah as a club were on its knees when Utley returned to take over as coach in 2023, they won just two games that year and then everything came together in the most unimaginable ways in 2024.
It all culminated in having to come from the death in the Grand Final. Willetton was in its first Grand Final as well since 2010 and led for the majority of the contest, and by as much as 12 points.
The Tigers were still six points up when Michael Dupree made his third three-pointer of the night with 2:45 to play, but Utley had the utmost faith to put his 35-year championship wait in the hands of his superstar MVP winning point guard.
And Murray delivered on his promise of bringing a championship to Mandurah by scoring nine points in the last two minutes of the game including twice hitting go-ahead baskets either side of a monster three that restored Willetton's lead from Marshall Nelson.
Despite having been through some horrors as a club, despite being down most of the Grand Final and with history against them, Utley, Murray and this Magic team were not going to accept anything but making history.
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What makes the championship triumph all the more remarkable is that Murray was only a late signing to Mandurah, he hadn’t played for the last 15 months because of a wrist surgery and only arrived days before making his professional debut.
He was then able to produce an MVP season and then took it up another level in finals, culminating in what he did in the Grand Final finishing with 30 points, seven rebounds and three assists while playing all 40 minutes.
It was anything but a one man show, though, for Mandurah to pull the win out of the fire. Julian Pesava is another new addition to the Magic and he scored 11 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter to go with seven rebounds.
Michael Durr then did a power of work inside and some of his and-ones were crucial on his way to 21 points and 19 rebounds while Lachlan Bertram added 14 points and four boards, and Jarrod Molnar two points on the first basket of the game.
It will be a devastating Grand Final loss for Willetton to get over but there's so much for the Tigers and coach Adam Nener to be proud of to be so close to that championship glory.
Michael Dupree finished with 32 points and six rebounds with Marshall Nelson finishing with 19 points, five boards and three assists, and Damien Scott 14 points and five rebounds before fouling out with six minutes to go.
Deng Gak also battled hard for eight points and eight rebounds as did Michael Vigor with six points, 11 assists and eight boards.
Mandurah started the Grand Final with a bucket to Jarrod Molnar but Willetton responded thanks to a triple to Marshall Nelson. Damien Scott would score seven quick points to give the Tigers a 12-7 lead and to Willetton's credit, they did maintain a buffer for a lot of the night.
The Tigers went into quarter-time leading 29-27 thanks to a halfcourt buzzer beater from Tom Gerovich and then they scored the opening eight points of the second term to extend their lead out to double digits.
Michael Dupree then closed the first half with two three-pointers which helped Willetton hold the 52-45 advantage at the main break.
Willetton continued to threaten to push that lead out further right throughout the third quarter but it was a couple of and-ones from Michael Durr that kept Mandurah in touch.
But still the Tigers looked to have the answers leading still by eight points at three quarter-time before it was Pesava who came out in the fourth period aggressive.
He scored eight quick points to bring the margin back to four and by being aggressive taking it inside, the Magic quickly got Willetton into the bonus and also got five fouls on Scott in his 351st game.
But still Dupree hit a massive three with 2:45 to go to keep Willetton up six. But Murray answered with the next two buckets, Lachlan Bertram then hit a pair of free throws and scores were all tied at 1:11 left.
Murray then wound down the clock, got to the mid-range and made a shot to give Mandurah a first lead since the first 45 seconds of the game.
The ball was in Nelson's hands for Willetton on the next possession and he knocked down the three to restore the Tigers to a one-point lead with 21 seconds to go.
But it was Murray's year to finish and he scored once more on a tough finish to put Mandurah in front, they then forced a stop and the MVP iced the championship at the foul line.
MANDURAH MAGIC 91 (Murray 30, Pesava 24, Durr 21)
WILLETTON TIGERS 89 (Dupree 32, Nelson 19, Scott 14)
Grand Final MVP: Joel Murray
