NEW MARTINSVILLE, W.Va. — Magnolia is one of several teams that will be battling to emerge out of Class A Region I into the boys basketball state tournament.
The Blue Eagles, who entered the week with a 15-4 record, have two wins over Bishop Donahue and a win over Class A defending state champion Wheeling Central on the year. Along with a loss to Monroe Central (OH), Magnolia’s other three losses have come to championship contenders Greater Beckley Christian, Wheeling Central and Bishop Donahue.
“We had Greater Beckley down by 19 at our place — and we played like we were behind by 19,” Dave Tallman said. “We’re just excited to be in the hunt. You know how tough our section and region is, we’re just trying to get better every day.”
Along with Bishop Donahue and Wheeling Central, Magnolia is joined by Madonna and Cameron out of section one — all teams who are expected to be tough outs in the postseason. Wheeling Central and Clay-Battelle advanced out of Region 1 a year ago.
“Preston Boswell (for us) is the real deal and he is getting a lot of looks from Division II schools,” Tallman said. “Spencer Campbell is a pure shooter and he’s my only senior – that’s why I feel like there’s an urgency to do it this year, you have to have that guy who can hit jump shots. He’s shooting 92 percent from the foul line and 58 percent from the field.
“Inside, we have Mitch Winters who averages a double-double for us,” he continued. “Kyle Ritz has done a whale of a job for us at power forward. Then, our No. 3 has been Derrick Blain who does everything for us. Another guy for us, a 1,000 yard rusher in football this past year, has been Tyler Anderson off of the bench — he can play any position and whatever role we need him in.”
The complete interview with Tallman is posted at the top of the page.
Follow MetroNews High School Sports on Twitter and on Facebook.
| MAGNOLIA Senior Basketball (B) Schedule |
||||||||
| 1 | 12/13/14 | 01:00PM | H | LINSLY, WV. H.S. | 93 | – | 55 | W |
| 2 | 12/23/14 | 06:00PM | A | MONROE CENTRAL , OH H.S. | 66 | – | 92 | L |
| 3 | 12/26/14 | 08:30PM | A | WHEELING CENTRAL – WHEELING JESUIT TOURNAMENT | 74 | – | 63 | W |
| 4 | 12/27/14 | 08:30PM | A | BISHOP DONAHUE – WHEELING JESUIT TOURNAMENT | 75 | – | 64 | W |
| 5 | 01/03/15 | 06:00PM | H | RIVER(HANNIBAL) , OH H.S. | 81 | – | 51 | W |
| 6 | 01/05/15 | 06:00PM | H | TYLER CONSOLIDATED | 87 | – | 53 | W |
| 7 | 01/09/15 | 07:00PM | A | PADEN CITY | 75 | – | 55 | W |
| 8 | 01/16/15 | 06:00PM | A | OAK GLEN – TYLER CONSOL. TOURN. | 99 | – | 59 | W |
| 9 | 01/17/15 | 07:30PM | A | VALLEY – TYLER CONSOL. TOURNAMENT | 87 | – | 55 | W |
| 10 | 01/20/15 | 06:00PM | A | RIVER(HANNIBAL) , OH H.S. | 71 | – | 44 | W |
| 11 | 01/21/15 | 06:00PM | A | BISHOP DONAHUE | 76 | – | 86 | L |
| 12 | 01/24/15 | 08:00PM | H | WHEELING CENTRAL – ROTARY TOURNAMENT | 73 | – | 93 | L |
| 13 | 01/27/15 | 06:00PM | H | CLAY-BATTELLE | 103 | – | 37 | W |
| 14 | 01/28/15 | 06:00PM | H | TRINITY | 81 | – | 76 | W |
| 15 | 01/31/15 | 04:30PM | H | GREATER BECKLEY CHRISTIAN | 79 | – | 84 | L |
| 16 | 02/06/15 | 07:00PM | H | PADEN CITY | 76 | – | 74 | W |
| 17 | 02/09/15 | 07:30PM | A | VALLEY FAYETTE AT CHARLESTON CC | 77 | – | 72 | W |
| 18 | 02/10/15 | 06:00PM | H | BISHOP DONAHUE | 78 | – | 76 | W |
| 19 | 02/17/15 | 07:30PM | A | MONROE CENTRAL – OVAC GAME | 92 | – | 85 | W |
| 20 | 02/23/15 | 06:00PM | H | CAMERON | – | |||
| 21 | 02/23/15 | 07:30PM | A | FORT FRYE – OVAC GAME | – | |||
| 22 | 02/25/15 | 06:00PM | A | MADONNA | – | |||
| wins: 15 lost: 4 |
||||||||