ST. MARYS, W.Va. — William Steele connected on eight triples and led all scorers with 30 points as St. Marys cruised past Magnolia, 95-60 on senior night.
The Blue Devils outscored the Blue Eagles 24-9 in the second quarter to take a 45-21 halftime lead and they led by at least 18 points throughout the entire second half.
“William got us started,” said St. Marys head coach Mark Barnhart. “After he got us started, the other guys kind of got in on the act. I thought Richard (Dornan), Peyton (Auxier) and William had a senior night to remember.”
Grant Barnhart scored 16 points and Dornan added 14 points.
In the fourth quarter, senior Leon Taylor appeared in his first varsity game and drained 4 3-pointers in the final five minutes of play. He finished the game with 12 points.
“The fans said it best. They wanted him in with about five and a half minutes to go,” Barnhart said. “He has played for us some on the reserve team. He is a nice young man. He has done everything we have asked here in the program. For him to get to do that in front of a packed gym on senior night, it just put an exclamation mark on it.”
Levi Cecil led Magnolia (15-7) with 19 points and Jacob Gamble added 10. The Blue Eagles secured the top seed in their sectional earlier Tuesday, while the Blue Devils (16-5) were seeded second. St. Marys will host Ritchie County in their postseason opener. But first, they will conclude their regular season Thursday against Madonna.
“That’s a game we know in the first round of sectionals, we have to be ready to play.”