Ajax survived the final scramble under the hoop.
With it, the three-time defending champions clinched top spot heading into women’s club basketball’s playoffs.
Katie Smith’s mid-range jumper had just put them ahead of the South Pac Magic by one with 15 seconds left, as Millie Simpson’s mid-range pull-up seemed to be falling into the hoop.
It came off both sides of the rim, before bobbling back out.
A scramble for the rebound landed to the Magic, but the put-back was no good either.
That allowed Ajax to escape with a 60-59 win over its old foe on Tuesday.
The win took them to a 9-3 record, leaving them equal with Varsity, who took a 70-62 win over the Andy Bay Falcons.
Ajax takes top spot, by virtue of a better points differential in the head-to-head tiebreak, which was 2-2.
Perhaps that, and the result of Tuesday’s games, shows there is little among the four sides heading into next week’s semifinals.
Neither team was able to break away, each briefly holding a six-point lead, but the margin stayed within three most of the way.
Ajax led 16-15 at quarter-time, before the Magic overtook them 33-29 at halftime.
Simpson (18 points) splashed a triple, before initiating a fast break for Sarah Joy Aruwa (16 points) to finish at the hoop and make it 38-32 early in the third quarter.
A 12-0 Ajax run, led by guard Ryan Dailey (14 points), helped them surge to a 46-40 lead.
The Magic still generated enough good looks in this time, they just were not able to finish any of them.
But they eventually hit back with a 9-0 run of their own. Anita Samisoni hit a triple to give the Magic back the lead with seven minutes to play.
Back-to-back three-pointers to Dailey and Smith took Ajax back ahead at 51-49, a lead they held most of the way, Dailey keeping the score ticking over.
Simpson began hitting several big baskets for the Magic, and finished through contact to give it a 59-58 lead with less than 30 seconds remaining.
But Smith responded immediately, hitting the winner from the short corner, before the Ajax defence did just enough to hold on.
In the other game a big third quarter helped Varsity edge the Falcons 70-62.
Southern Hoiho duo Tyler Mitchell and Caitlin O’Connell had 17 and 16 points respectively for Varsity, while fellow Hoiho player Alexa Duff had 22 points for the Falcons.
Ajax will face the Falcons, while Varsity play the Magic in next Tuesday’s semifinals.
