Magnolia impresses, wins seventh straight

BLACKSVILLE, W.Va — After an 0-3 start to the year, Magnolia came out of Thursday night’s game at Clay-Battelle with its seventh straight win overall. Behind underclassmen Preston Boswell and Spencer Campbell, the Blue Eagles soared past the Cee Bees, 82-51.

“The nice thing about those two are they’re gym rats – you have to run them out of the gym,” Magnolia coach Dave Tallman said. “Boswell is a sophomore and Campbell is a junior, so they’re a good tandem for us down the road.”

The two set the pace for Magnolia (7-3), combining for 22 of the Blue Eagles’ 30 first quarter points. Boswell and Campbell were also the head of a full-court press that forced a slew of early Cee Bee turnovers that led to a 30-11 first quarter lead for Magnolia.

“You never know what kids are going to do after a layoff of 12 days, I was real pleased the way we came out,” Tallman said. “We shared the ball, hit open shots and hit the boards.”

Magnolia beat Clay-Battelle 82-51, winning seventh straight game overall.

Boswell finished with a game-high 29 points, followed by Campbell who had 20. The Blue Eagles also controlled down low as big men Mitchell Winters finished with 13 points and Zachary Willhoite chipped in 10 in the win.

“Our big guys really ran the floor well after such a long break and it was a good team effort,” Tallman said.

Clay-Battelle, which was without leading scorer Zach Chilser due to an injury, got only as close as 14 points, twice in the third quarter.

“We were being lazy today, we weren’t hustling, getting back on defense and our shots weren’t falling like the had been,” Clay-Battelle coach Josh Kisner said. “They’re a nice team and have some great shooters, we will see them down the road.”

Cannon Brummage and Jarret Hockenberry paced the Cee Bees with 15 points a piece, as they saw their three game win streak snapped.

Magnolia, meanwhile, continues to build momentum with that seventh straight win.

“The schedule we played (early) was very demanding at the beginning,” Tallman said. “We were just real inexperienced and young, but we’re getting better all the time.”

*** Also, out of Class AAA Thursday night, South Charleston improved to 10-1 on the year with a 61-58 win over Huntington as SC’s Brandon Knapper hit the game winning three for the Black Eagles.





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