Blue Eagle senior point guard Jayson Keller slices and dices his way between a pair of Brooke defenders, while his teammates Zach Wilhoite and Mark Winters look on. (Photos by Bruce Crawford)

Magnolia 69, Brooke 59

Five Magnolia players hit in double figures as the Blue Eagles beat Brooke 69-59 in a mutual season opener Dec. 16 at in the friendly confines of the MHS HammerDome.

The Eagles raced out to a 20-9 advantage and took a comfortable 35-19 lead at the break, as every Blue Eagle player saw some action on the court.

In the second half, Magnolia shooting was off its mark and Brooke scraped and clawed to get back in the game. But, the Eagles – behind double doubles by Mark “Special K” Winters and Nick “The Mad Swatter” Blatt – were just too much for Brooke to handle.

Winters paced the Blue Eagles with a game-high 20 points and 16 rebounds, while Blatt netted 14 points and 15 rebounds. Jayson Keller tallied 12 points, including a pair of three point baskets, while Zach Wilhoite and Hunter Campbell each netted 10 points. Tanner Hanna finished all the Eagle scoring with three points.

Magnolia 72, Union Local 47

Mark Winters scored 31 points, including four baskets from beyond the arch, to lead the Eagles over Union Local, 72-47, in the opener of the Wheeling Hospital/Wheeling Park Tip-Off Classic, Dec. 17 at the Palace on the Hill in Wheeling.

Winters, who was 13-21 from the floor, sparked a 29-49 overall Blue Eagle shooting night to help them gain their second victory in as many games to open the 2011-12 season. However, it wasn’t Winters doing all the scoring for the Big Blue. Hanna swished a basket from beyond the arch to open the game and the Eagles never trailed as they built a 15-8 advantage after one and a 35-23 stride at the break.

In the second half, Magnolia outscored the Jets 16-13 before closing out on a 21-11 blitz to get the win. MHS Head Coach Dave Tallman stated after the game that he was “very proud of the way the boys handled themselves on the court by limiting turnovers to three” until the final minutes of the game. “That is almost unheard of this early in the season,” added Tallman about the way the Blue Eagles took care of the ball.

Besides Winters’ 31-point effort, Hanna tacked on 10 points, including a pair of triples, while Zach Wilhoite netted eight points and four assists. Keller, Blatt, and Evan Helsep each tallied four markers, while Mike Winters swished 3-4 from the free throw line. Dillon Fruner hit a deuce for the Blue Eagles.

Continuing, Tallman commented, “Our shot selection was good and I thought, defensively, we did a better job than we did against Brooke in our opener. We were able to create some turnovers and get some steals that led to some easy baskets.”

The Eagles – whom unconfirmed reports say will play in the single-A division next year – were scheduled to play Monroe Central Tuesday, after this newspaper went to press. Magnolia will host the Pilots of River High School on Dec. 22 with the junior varsity game to get under way at 6 p.m.

Paden City 39, Beallsville 69

The Beallsville Blue Devils raced out to a 21-6 lead to open the game and kept going for a 69-39 victory over Paden City Dec. 17 in Wildcat territory.

The ‘Cats’ freshmen Zach Heasley and Kennedy Cain scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, to lead the young Wildcats. Geoffrey Bidwell added eight markers, while Craig Allen and Drew Bidwell each added three points. Jamie Billiter finished the Wildcat scoring with a deuce.

Paden City will try to get back to their winning ways when they hosted Hundred at 7 p.m. Dec. 20, after the Wetzel Chronicle went to press. The Wildcats will host Clay-Battelle before the Christmas break on Dec. 22 at 7 p.m.

Cameron 66, Paden City 37

After a seesaw first half, the Cameron boys outscored Paden City 35-13 to claim its third victory of the young season, 66-37, Dec. 13 in Cameron.

Kennedy Cain tallied a team-high 13 points, including one basket from long range, and pulled down 10 rebounds for a double-double while Zach Heasley totaled nine points, including a triple to pace the Paden City squad. Wildcat senior captain Jamie Billiter was strong on the boards and tacked on eight markers in a good all-around performance. Geoffrey Bidwell scored three freebies, while Drew Bidwell and Trey Leonard each drilled a deuce.

Valley 60, Bishop 81

Bishop Donahue outscored the Valley Lumberjacks 30-7 in the third period to break open a close game, and went on to win 81-60 Dec. 16 in Pine Grove.

The Lumberjacks’ Clay Ueltschy netted his third double-double of the season with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and added four steals and four assists to pace the struggling ‘Jacks.

No other Valley player hit in double figures, but Jack Wells tacked on eight points, while Drew Wade contributed seven points, including one from beyond the arch. He also hijacked three Bishop basketballs. Tyler Hayes netted six points, Hunter Ring and Brady Nolan each tallied thee points, while Jordan Anderson swished a deuce.

Valley scored 22 field goals, including three pointers by Wade and Nolan, while making 14-19 free throws.

After a home game with Clay-Battelle on Dec. 20, the ‘Jacks will look to upset the Cameron Dragons in Pine Grove Dec. 28. The jayvee tipoff is at 6 p.m. with the varsity to follow.

Valley 63, Richland 31

The Valley Lumberjack defense held East Richland Christian to 10 first-half points Dec. 19 in Pine Grove and went on to a 63-31 win to give Valley its second victory of the basketball season.

Lumberjack sophomore Tristen Kocher netted a game-high 16 points, while Clay Ueltschy followed with 14 markers and Hunter Ring with a dozen points. Brady Nolan hit for 11 points, including a trio of baskets from beyond the arch.

In addition, Jon Smallwood tacked on four markers, while Jack Wells added three points, Tyler Hayes put up a deuce and Drew Wade swished in a free throw.

The ‘Jacks will close out 2011 with a pair of home games against Cameron and Paden City, on Dec. 28 and Dec. 30, respectively, with both varsity games tipping off around 7:30 p.m.

Hundred 47 , West Greene 49

Hundred was outscored 18-14 in the final period by West Greene, who would find a way to get a 49-47 win Dec. 15 at West Greene High School.

Greg Stewart and Chris Varner each fired in a team-high 14 markers to lead the Hornet offense. Stewart also pulled down 13 rebounds to get his first varsity double-double.

Kirk Shriver followed with eight points, while the Hornets’ two top scorers, Rusty Morris and Mitch Moore, were held to seven points and four points, respectively.

“We didn’t shoot the ball well from the field or from the free throw line,” said Hornet Head Coach Greg Hostetler. “We need to start making shots. If you can hold a good team to 25 percent, you should get a win, and we didn’t. When you shoot 29 percent and only make 13-29, you won’t win many games either.”

After a game with Paden City Dec. 20 after press time, Hundred will get to take on this same West Greene team at 7:30 p.m. at the Hornets Nest Dec. 28.

*****

In the junior varsity contest with West Greene, it was all West Greene as Hundred would fall, 40-24.

Josh King led the way for the Hornets with eight points, while Levi Simpson and Thomas Preston netted seven and six points, respectively. Wyatt Metz swished a pair of free throws, while Logan Kuhn nailed one charity toss.

“It was our first junior varsity game and we did some goofy things,” said HHS Assistant Coach Brian Bartlett. “We still need to clean up a few things, both on the defensive side and the offensive side.”