Knights Caleigh Phillips goes past the Blue Eagles Abigail Clegg for the winning basket on Friday night

The Magnolia Blue Eagles played hosts to the Tyler Consolidated Silver Knights Friday evening December 17, 2021, at the Magnolia Gymnasium in a close battle that went down to the wire with the Lady Knights Caleigh Phillips stealing the ball and going coast to coast for the winning basket with two seconds on the clock. The basket gave the visiting Knights a hard fought win 33-31 as they improved to 2-2 on the year.

Things were looking good for Coach Kasey Sapp’s squad having the possession of the ball with 21 seconds on the clock with the score knotted at 31 before Phillips stepped in front of a pass and hit the game winning layup. The Blue Eagles were looking to get their first win of the season but didn’t get it done and drop to 0-4.

The game was back and forth the whole night and after one quarter the score was tied at 7. Lauren Gaiser started the scoring off with a three pointer for the Eagles and the hosts jumped out to a 5-1 lead before Tyler knotted the score at five and both teams scoring two more points to end the first quarter. After several lead changes in the second frame, Coach Tommy Phillips Lady Knights closed out the half leading 22-19.

The Lady Knights came out of the locker room after the intermission break and pushed the lead to five points before the Eagles battled back and tied the score at 28 on a Lauren Gaiser shot from behind the arc.

Both teams scored a two point basket and added a foul shot apiece to tied it at 31 with21 seconds left on the clock, before the Knights Phillips made the play of the game to give Tyler the victory.

The Eagles were led by Gaiser and Jenna Blain scoring 9 points each, Makia Litton netted seven, Sharla Holiday added four, and freshman Sienna McKeever had a two pointer to round out the hosts scoring.

Tyler was led by Landry Buchanan and Lauren Templeton with 10 points each, Caleigh Phillips dropped in eight markers including the game winner. Lemasters and Lattea added two points each, while Wall hit a free throw.

The Silver Knights hit 12 field goals including a three from Buchanan and went 12-25 from the charity stripe. Magnolia knocked in 10 field goals including a 3-pointer from Litton and two threes from Gaiser, while hitting 6-10 free throws.

Lady Eagles Lose to Lady Warriors 73-49

The Magnolia Lady Blue Eagles made the long trek to Morgantown on December 14, 2021, to battle the Trinity Christian Warriors and were defeated by a score of 73-49.

The Warriors jumped out to a 23-9 lead after one quarter and the visiting Lady Eagles could not catch up with the powerful hosts. The first half doomed Coach Kasey Sapp’s Blue Eagles by going down 39-16 at the intermission break with Trinity connecting on seven from behind the arc.

“We came out a little flat in the first half but in the second half, the girls played them even. I was happy with our effort in the second half, we finally got the ball in the basket and played hard. Hopefully we can build off that and keep getting better scoring the ball,” said Sapp.

The Lady Eagles drop to 0-3 on the season after playing three of the top teams in the state in single A. Lauren Gaiser stepped up big to lead the Eagles in scoring with 13 points with three behind the arc, Shaela Holiday and Makia Litton backed up Gaiser with 10 markers apiece. Abby Clegg netted five, Freshman Sienna McKeever added four, Tamia Smith with three, Mallory McDiffitt scored two, and Magnolia’s leading scorer Jenna Blain could only muster one point. The Blue Eagles connected on three from behind the arc and the Warriors netted 12 bonus bombs.

The Warriors improved to 4-1 on the year were led by Maggie Mercure taking game high scoring honors with 16 points, Jenna Barnett added 13, Kyndel Kisner netted 12 markers for the victorious hosts.