MHS’ Jon Rine puts up a shot while teammate Andy Huggins sets a screen during action against the Lincoln Cougars. (Photo by Jamie Benson)

It was a very entertaining game on Saturday, Jan. 10, when the Magnolia Blue Eagles played host to the Lincoln Cougars and came away with a 72-60 victory.

Near the end of the game the student section started chanting the names of the players who had not yet been in the game – freshmen Jason Keller and Nick Blatt and junior Mason Rine. Head Coach Dave Tallman obliged and cleared the bench.

The Eagles controlled the tip and quickly jumped out to a 6-0 lead on threeballs from Andrew Robinson and Matt Sapp. The Cougars answered with six points of their own, but Robinson quickly put the Blue Eagles back in the driver’s seat with another longball to make it 9-6, Eagles.

The Cougars got the next six points to go up 12-9 when Sapp nailed a two, followed by a Cougar two and a free throw. Robinson drained one from behind the paint to cut the Cougars’ lead, 17-14 after one.

Jared Blatt got two free throws with 6:45 to go in the second. The Cougars came back with a twoball, which was followed by a deuce from Blatt to make the score 19-18, Cougars.

Blue Eagle Jon Rine dunked a free throw and the Cougars landed a deuce, but sent Rine to the charity stripe, where he made one to make the score 23-20, Cougars.

The Cougars got the next four points, which they followed with two successful free throws, but Rine responded with a basket, followed by a Cougar two, to make the score 31-22.

Blatt scored a free throw and a basket and the teams swapped buckets that included a buzzer-beating deuce from Blatt that brought the crowd to its feet. The teams went to the break with the score 34-32, Cougars still in control.

Blatt lead the Eagles in scoring in the first half with 11 and Robinson was close behind with nine markers.

The Eagles came out hot in the third quarter as Traeh Keller hit a three, followed by a Blatt deuce. The Cougars tried to stop the run with a two, but Andy Huggins scored a basket, Blatt hit a deuce and followed it with a free throw to make the score 42-38, Eagles. The teams exchanged buckets with the Eagles still holding the reins, 44-40.

Then came the threeballs, with two from Keller and one from Landon Herrick, which put the Eagles up 53-40. The Cougars got seven of the last 11 points in the third, but Blatt added two baskets for Magnolia to make the score 57-47, Eagles, after three.

The Cougars cut the lead to five with 7:03 to go in the game. Buckets by Huggins, Jordan Moore, and two deuces from Blatt gave the Eagles a 65-55 advantage. With 1:57 to go in the game – and leading 65-57 – Tallman took a time out to empty the bench.

Senior Jon Rine drained a bucket, followed by freshman Nick Blatt, who made the student section go crazy when he scored on a hook shot to make it 70-57, Eagles. A Cougars three and two free throws from junior Mason Rine ended the game, 72-60, Eagles.

Scoring for Magnolia: J. Blatt, 26 points; Robinson and Traeh Keller, nine points each; Jon Rine, seven; Sapp, five markers; Huggins four points; Moore, three points; and Mason Rine and N. Blatt, two each.

*****

The Eagles traveled to Glen Dale on Jan. 5 to take on Class-AAA powerhouse John Marshall Monarchs and came home with a 60-47 loss.

In the first quarter, the Eagles seemed to have no trouble scoring as they led 16-12 after one. In the second, the teams managed to match each other point for point as they both scored 12 to give the Eagles a 28-24 lead at the half.

But, in the third, the Monarchs took control of the game as they scored 19 points and allowed the Eagles to score seven points to take a 43-35 lead into the fourth. The Monarchs continued to roll in the final quarter, outrunning the Eagles 17-12 to get the win, 60-47.

Scoring: J. Blatt 24; J. Rine 11; Moore six points; Robinson, three points; and T. Keller, two markers. Robinson, Blatt, and Moore each drained one from beyond the arc.

JM shot 18-21 from the free throw line compared to the Eagles’ 12-20.

The number five-ranked Blue Eagles will hold a make up game against the seventh-ranked Weir Red Riders on Thursday, Jan. 15, at home beginning at 6 p.m.