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Yellowjackets Pounce Over Magnolia Eagles

By Staff | Mar 4, 2009

Foul Shots and costly turnovers kept the Magnolia Blue Eagles from winning their season finale at Williamstown Feb. 26 to the Yellowjackets, 61-57.

The Eagles fell behind early and the ‘Jackets used a patient offense that rattled the Blue Eagles to forge ahead 21-10 after one period.

Even though Magnolia shot poorly in the first period, they would make up for it a little in the second period by outscoring the hosts 17-10.

The Eagles’ Jon Rine tallied eight points and Matt Sapp drilled a pair of three-point bombs to spark a 11-2 run in the last three-and-a-half minutes to close the gap to 31-29 by intermission.

The third period was all about Williamstown’s 6’5″ Matt Kiger. He was everywhere. He scored nine points in the third period and finished with a game-high 18 points in dominating fashion. He helped the ‘Jackets extend their advantage back to nine points, just two minutes into the third frame.

But, the Eagles 6’5″ center Jared Blatt’s rebound bucket made it a two-point game at 40-38. However, Kiger ignited a 4-0 run that pushed the ‘Jackets to a 44-38 lead heading into the final period.

A three-point bucket the hard way by Kiger and the fourth trey by Tyler Ullom pushed the Williamstown lead to 10 points, 54-44, at the 3:35 mark. But, Blue Eagle resilience closed the gap to 56-53 with a minute and change left in the game.

The Eagles had to give away some fouls to have any chance to win and picked on Kiger, who missed several opportunities; that gave Magnolia a chance. However, the Eagles also gave up some opportunities down the stretch.

Rine led all Blue Eagles scorers with 14 points, while Blatt settled for 13 and Sapp 11 in the season finale. Andrew Robinson contributed eight points, while Traeh Keller came off the bench to tally a pair of three-point baskets for the Eagles. Jordan Moore netted three markers, while Andrew Huggins added a deuce.

The Eagles made one more basket than Williamstown, but the ‘Jackets went to the line twice as much as the Eagles; that helped to decide the outcome.

Magnolia finishes the 2009 regular season at 15-6 and is ranked third in Class AA. Magnolia will have hosted Tyler Consolidated before press time Tuesday in the West Virginia Class AA Sectionals and the Wetzel Chronicle will have all the results in next week’s sports pages.

*****

The Williamstown Yellowjackets swarmed in New Martinsville Feb. 19 and flew away with a 90-57 victory over the Lady Eagles of Magnolia.

Williamstown used the transition game to help build a big first half advantage, before finishing with an impressive victory led by ‘Jacket freshman Elizabeth Flowers, who scored 26 first half points and 40 points for the game to lead the highly rated Class A Yellowjackets.

Flowers scored 17 of the 29 first period points, including 7-7 from the floor and 3-3 at the charity stripe to give the visitors a big first quarter lead.

The second period was just as impressive as the ‘Jackets controlled the tempo and outscored the Lady Eagles 23-11 for a 52-29 advantage heading into the locker room.

Williamstown used a 13-0 run midway through the third period to push its margin to 69-40 and coasted from there for the win.

Blue Eagle seniors Tincy Haught, Corinne Murdock, and Lindsay Riggs scored 14, 12, and 11 points, respectively, on their Senior Night contest. Padyn Ludewig added eight points, while Marissa Bosley netted five markers and Abby Harlan sent up a three-point bucket. Jordan Babe and Dallas Mullett each netted two points in the effort.

The loss dropped the Class AA Lady Eagles to 5-16 on the season, while the Yellowjackets improved their Class A state ranking with an impressive 17-5 record.