NEW MARTINSVILLE, W.Va — Magnolia (12-6) and head coach Dave Tallman have had recent success in making it to Charleston, but once they make it the Capitol City, getting to the next round has been a challenge.
“We’ve lost five in a row in Charleston, for me, it’s great motivation,” Tallman said. “We don’t want to just make it to the state tournament, we would like to win one, two or maybe three games with this young bunch.”
That goal looked a bit out-of-reach very early on as Magnolia dropped three straight out of the shoot. However, since then, the Blue Eagles have won 12 of 15 overall, positioning themselves for another postseason run.
“(The kids) have never got discouraged. We lost a triple overtime game to Martin Luther King out of Cleveland, which was our third loss in a row and they came back real positive,” Tallman said. “We said once we get back in our league we will be okay, and they have responded well.”
The Blue Eagles are a very young team with three sophomores, a junior and a senior in their starting lineup. They are led by do-it-all point guard Preston Boswell – one of those three sophomores. He averages 23 points a game, to go along with five boards, four steals and seven assists.
“Preston is having an incredible year, he is shooting 47 percent from 3 and 52 percent overall,” Tallman said. “He boxes out as well as anyone I have, and he always covers the other teams best guard.”
Magnolia, playing out of a difficult Section 1 in Region 1 of Class A, has wins overall on the year over Class A state tournament contenders Wheeling Central, Greater Beckley Christian and Clay Battelle. Key sectional seeding matchups loom down the stretch against Bishop Donahue and Madonna.
“We’re a young team and we’re constantly growing and just trying to get a little better everyday,” Tallman said.
MAGNOLIA Boys Basketball Schedule |
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1 | 12/17/13 06:00PM | H | MONROE CENTRAL , OH H.S. | 69 | – | 86 | L | |
2 | 12/20/13 05:15PM | A | RIVERSIDE | 70 | – | 76 | L | |
3 | 12/21/13 02:15PM | A | MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. – MARIETTA TOURNAMENT | 81 | – | 91 | L | |
4 | 12/27/13 06:00PM | H | TYLER CONSOLIDATED | 93 | – | 34 | W | |
5 | 01/04/14 06:00PM | A | RIVER , OH H.S. | 73 | – | 52 | W | |
6 | 01/10/14 05:45PM | A | WHEELING CENTRAL CATHOLIC | 82 | – | 71 | W | |
7 | 01/14/14 06:00PM | H | RIVER , OH H.S. | 65 | – | 43 | W | |
8 | 01/17/14 06:00PM | A | ST. JOHNS,OH H.S. | 101 | – | 33 | W | |
9 | 01/18/14 07:30PM | A | TYLER CONSOLIDATED | 75 | – | 48 | W | |
10 | 01/30/14 05:15PM | A | CLAY-BATTELLE | 82 | – | 51 | W | |
11 | 02/01/14 03:00PM | A | GREATER BECKLEY CHRISTIAN | 78 | – | 74 | W | |
12 | 02/06/14 08:00PM | H | WHEELING CENTRAL CATHOLIC | 63 | – | 70 | L | |
13 | 02/07/14 06:00PM | A | MONROE CENTRAL , OH H.S. | 82 | – | 68 | W | |
14 | 02/08/14 04:00PM | H | PADEN CITY | 82 | – | 89 | L | |
15 | 02/10/14 06:00PM | H | UNIVERSITY | 84 | – | 53 | W | |
16 | 02/11/14 06:00PM | A | HARRISON CENTRAL, OH H.S. | 66 | – | 59 | W | |
17 | 02/17/14 05:30PM | H | BISHOP DONAHUE | 73 | – | 87 | L | |
18 | 02/19/14 07:00PM | A | BUFFALO | 77 | – | 69 | W | |
19 | 02/21/14 06:00PM | A | PADEN CITY | – | ||||
20 | 02/22/14 01:00PM | A | BISHOP DONAHUE | – | ||||
21 | 02/24/14 06:00PM | A | CAMERON | – | ||||
22 | 02/26/14 06:00PM | H | MADONNA | – | ||||
wins: 12 lost: 6 ties: 0 |