Magnolia Hoping History Repeats
By JOSH STROPE
What they saw was a group of underdogs that shaved its heads and defied odds to win a state championship.
These Blue Eagles took the first step in repeating history as the No. 7 ‘‘Bald Eagles’’ upset No. 2 seed Bluefield 51-48 in the quarterfinals of the West Virginia Class AA boys’ basketball tournament Thursday at the Charleston Civic Center Coliseum.
‘‘It was scripted with the seventh seed,’’ said Magnolia coach Dave Tallman, who improved his state tournament record to a perfect 7-0. ‘‘I wasn’t concerned with who we were playing more than I was with when we were playing because I didn’t want the morning game. We didn’t want the late evening game either so we were tickled to death.
‘‘We also liked playing a team we had never seen. We were confident all the way in. We are a confident basketball team, and we are looking forward to playing Logan (today).’’
The Blue Eagles (16-9) face the Wildcats at 11:15 a.m.
Anyone who has seen Magnolia play this season knows the strength of the Blue Eagles relies on their free-throw shooting.
That was once again the case.
Magnolia was 9 of 10 from the line in the fourth quarter, when it mattered most.
‘‘We knew if we could get to the free-throw line, and made our shots, we had a chance all the way,’’ Magnolia senior Jonas McEldowney said. ‘‘We knew if we played with them and slowed the ball down, we knew we had a shot.’’
The game was tied 32-32 entering the fourth quarter.
Both teams went back and forth, with five ties and six lead changes in the final 8 minutes.
Bluefield (21-4) took its final lead when Dexter Moore hit a floater in the lane to put the Beavers up 40-39 with 3:49 remaining.
It didn’t last long as Colt Street buried a 3-pointer for a two-point lead.
‘‘It was big and Colt’s the kind of guy that doesn’t get rattled,’’ Tallman said. ‘‘I get pretty high-strung out there but, Colt stays calm and does the job, same with Jared (Blatt). You have to have that even keel, especially in basketball.’’
Bluefield tied the game on a jumper from Kyle Hammond.
Magnolia took the lead right back after two free throws by McEldowney, and Moore tied the game again with two free throws of his own at the other end.
Blatt was fouled on the inbounds pass and knocked down both his free throws to put Magnolia again up by two, only to have Moore tie it up once more with a floater in the lane, making the score 48-48.
On Magnolia’s next possession, Street was fouled, but only made one free throw, missing the only shot from the line in the quarter. Magnolia led by one point with 9 seconds remaining.
Bluefield put the ball in Moore’s hands and he drove to the lane and was fouled by McEldowney.
Moore missed the front end of the one-and-one and Matt Swartling nabbed the rebound.
Swartling was fouled and made both free throws to put Magnolia ahead three with 2.2 seconds left.
‘‘I was nervous, but we’ve come a whole season and I wasn’t going to let my teammates down right there,’’ Swartling said. ‘‘I’m not a great free-throw shooter, but I wasn’t going to let them down and it was my game to step up and I’m glad I did.’’
Moore took the inbounds pass and heaved a desperation shot from midcourt. The ball hit the back iron, bounced high in the air, and fell to the court to allow Magnolia to advance into the next round.
‘‘Dexter Moore is the best player I’ve faced in four years,’’ Tallman said. ‘‘He’s an incredible player, and I thought that last one was in but thank goodness it wasn’t.’’
The Blue Eagles held Moore to 13 points, 10 below his season average.
‘‘Nathan West doesn’t get enough credit,’’ Tallman said. ‘‘He guarded Dexter most of the day and last week had (Weir’s) Pete Brogdon.
‘‘Nathan does a great job of handling the ball, and he and Jonas have been playing together all their career. Today, they relied on each other and trusted each other, and I’m really happy for them.’’
The Beavers were quicker and got in the face of the Magnolia ballhandlers, forcing Tallman to use a different strategy.
‘‘We went to something that we didn’t do a whole lot this year by bringing Jared along slow,’’ Tallman said. ‘‘He played freshman ball, jayvee ball, and we have been experimenting in practice with Matt and Jared playing together and they forced our hand to do it a little (Thursday).
‘‘It really worked out well and Jonas McEldowney and Nathan West had to handle the basketball and Colt Street was our three-guy and he had to move around, a little like Mike Gansey plays. He doesn’t dribble real well but he’s a good shooter.’’
And when the Beavers had the ball, the Blue Eagles went to a box press to slow the tempo down.
‘‘It’s definitely designed to slow them up,’’ Tallman said. ‘‘The scouting report said they would reverse the ball and take their time a little bit so that’s what we tried to do. When we dropped to zone, we were hoping they would take their time. They showed great discipline and took great shots and we are really fortunate to be sitting here.’’
Added Bluefield coach Ernie Gilliard: ‘‘They did a real good job with their 1-3-1 to extend their defense to keep our perimeter shooters out of good shooting range. Dexter did a really good job of not trying to force his game, and as a result, we still had a chance to win it. They did a good job of extending their defense and pushing our shooters away from the basket.’’
McEldowney led all scorers with 17 points. Swartling added 12.
The Blue Eagles will once again try to play the role of spoiler in today’s game with No. 3 seed Logan, a 60-42 winner against Petersburg on Thursday.
‘‘I watched them (Thursday morning) and they like to go outside a little bit,’’ Tallman said. ‘‘But if their outside game isn’t working, they have a real threat inside. They are gonna come ready to play and we’re looking forward to it.
‘‘I think that we’ve proven that the schedule we play in our area prepares us pretty well. That’s a credit to everyone we play on our schedule. We respect Logan, but we are gonna go after them and give them everything they can handle.’’
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