The Eagles’ Mallory Chapman exploded for a career-high 30 points, while hauling in 11 rebounds to knockoff the Tyler Consolidated Lady Silver Knights 70-67 Dec. 27 inside the HammerDome at Magnolia High School.

The spirited Lady Eagles kept pace with the talented Consolidated team and led 21-20 after one period of play. Chapman was on her game early as she netted 11 of her points in the opening frame

Tyler and Magnolia netted identical numbers in quarter number two to give the hosts a 39-38 advantage at the break. Magnolia’s Grace Berisford drained a long three pointer right before the halftime buzzer.

The Matt Kinnard-led Lady Knights took a 53-49 lead with three minutes left in the third period, which was promoted by some good old fashion man-to-man full court pressure. However, the Lady Eagles knotted the game at 57, scoring the final four points of the quarter.

The Big Blue continued to light up the HammerDome scoreboard, scoring the initial six markers of the fourth period to cap off a 10-0 run to take the game’s largest lead at 63-57 early in the final stanza.

With 38 ticks left in regulation, both teams traded baskets until the Lady Knights trimmed the Blue Eagle lead to one point after a pair of free throws. However, Berisford and point guard Katie Blatt capped the scoring with charity tosses of their own to seal the deal.

Tyler had a chance to send the game into OT with an open look at a threeball. But, it just missed the mark and Chapman snatched the rebound as the horn sounded.

“It has been a very tough week for these girls and I have only had them for a couple of days,” said Interim Head Coach Mark Blair, who was named to replace Dave Chapman, who resigned last week.

“For them to come out here and perform like this,” Blair continued, “I am just so proud of them. Now all I can hope is that we will get better and we can continue to do that every day. The girls never gave up. I think you can tell we were a little out of sync at times, but the girls really responded well overall.

“I cannot say enough about the great job Mallory did,” Blair continued. “I am just so happy for her right now. There is a bit of rivalry between these two teams and the girls just responded big all night.”

Chapman had a double-double, 30 points and 10 rebounds, to pace the Eagles, while shooting 9-12 from the floor and 11-16 at the charity stripe.

Berisford followed with 16 points and four steals. Kiera Standiford netted eight points, grabbed six boards, and blocked a shot, while making a steal.

In addition, Blatt tickled the twine four times from the free throw line, while Jasmine Litton and Audrey Gibb each tallied a pair of deuces.

The Lady Knights’ Torrye Cline scored a team-high 22 points, while Sydney Reed added 17 points. Allison Wable had herself a double-double, scoring 11 points and hauling in a dozen boards, while Sofia Kinnard netted 11 markers in the losing effort.

In addition to holding down the interim coaching position with the Lady Eagles, Blair is assistant coach for the MHS boys’ varsity team.