Photo by Robby Parsons Magnolia’s Jake Gamble takes a shot during Tuesday’s game against Monroe Central.

NEW MARTINSVILLE — Jon Perkins only metaphorically wiped his brow outside Monroe Central’s locker room following Tuesday night’s game. The Seminoles went 10 of 21 from the free-throw line, but did enough on the defensive end to earn a victory against Magnolia.

Ryan LaFollette poured in a game-high 25 points as Monroe Central (2-1) overcame that hiccup to knock off the debuting Blue Eagles (0-1) by a 60-57 count at Magnolia High School.

”We’ve definitely got to work on our free throws because it would have been a lot easier there at the end,” Perkins said. ”I have the utmost respect for Coach (Dave) Tallman, and I have since I played against him when I was in high school.

”To come down here and get this win for our program, I am happy for our kids. I thought we hustled and we played well.”

The Seminoles entered the fourth with a 47-41 lead after Logan Pletcher canned a fadeway 3-pointer to close the third. But the Blue Eagles had one final run in them.

Leo Herrick, who paced Magnolia with 23 points, sandwiched a pair of hoops around another from Devin Shimp, to cut the lead to 51-49.

LaFollette followed with an acrobatic scoop shot and added a 1 of 2 at the line before DeMarco Smith canned the second of his three 3-pointers to get it back to 54-52. LaFollette scored again and Smith countered with another from behind the arc.

However, the Blue Eagles were not able to earn a tie or take the lead. Their final chance came just before the buzzer when Herrick’s straight-on 3-pointer was off the mark.

”How many shots did we miss in the lane? And we were 3-for-11 from the free-throw line,” Tallman said. ”Our kids worked hard, but we’re a work in progress. That was the first game for four of them as starters.

”But give Monroe Central credit. They did what they had to.”

Herrick opened the game with consecutive buckets to give Magnolia a 4-0 lead, but Monroe Central countered with a 10-0 run and didn’t trail again. The Seminoles held a 15-11 lead after one quarter and were ahead 30-24 at halftime, only because the Blue Eagles closed with a 6-0 spurt.

”We had been sitting in the zone and I think sometimes teams get comfortable seeing a defense,” Perkins said. ”I could tell they had practiced against our 2-3 zone and I went back to man.

”I told them in that last time out that (man) is what I believe in, so we’re going to match up here and go fullcourt.

”It worked.”

Zac Jones was big inside for the Seminoles with 12 points. Pletcher checked in with 11 and Robert Bigler netted seven.

Shimp backed Herrick for Magnolia with 10 points. Smith finished with nine, Eli Nice had eight and sophomore Jake Gambled scored seven.

”They went on that 10-0 run and we just could never stop the bleeding,” Tallman said. ”From the scrimmage at John Marshall until now, we have improved a lot. We really have, believe it or not.

”They’re a good bunch to coach. It’s early and we’ve got to bounce back. I saw a lot of positive things.”

Paden City 61

Beallsville 47

PADEN CITY — Paden City scored 22 points in the first quarter and never looked back as it defeated Beallsville in Jeffrey Hohn’s coaching debut for the Wildcats. Ethan Cross tallied 16 points to lead the way for the Wildcats (1-0) while Matt Saxon bucketed 14. Garrett Cross tallied a solid 12 points to round out the double figure scoring.

For the Blue Devils (1-2), Wyatt Brown had a team-high 15 points while Dakota Phillips netted 12. Adam Baker secured a solid 12 points.

Shadyside 71, Bridgeport 62

SHADYSIDE — Josh Zandron finished with a team-high 23 points as Shadyside ran away from Bridgeport in the fourth quarter. Kelly Hendershot was also solid for the Tigers as he compiled 20 points and Anthony Coggins secured 13.

For the Bulldogs, Trevon Ray had a game-high 25 points while Macrea Doyle netted 19.

Cameron 59, Hundred 34

HUNDRED — Travis Mickey and Robert Milliken both bucketed 16 points as Cameron scored at least 20 points in the first three quarters in a victory over Hundred. The Dragons also drained 10 3-point shots.

For the Hornets, Travis McCoy had a team-high 13 points.

Brooke 58, Indian Creek 53

WINTERSVILLE — Garrett Pauls led Brooke with 13 points as it defeated Indian Creek.

Austin Yaich netted three 3-pointers as he had 19 points for the Redskins while Austin Judson and Derrick Eakle had 13 and 11, respectively.

Bellaire 89, Buckeye Local 77

BELLAIRE — Chase Yoho had a game-high 35 points as Bellaire defeated Buckeye Local. Jacob Marthaler was also solid for the Big Reds with 16 points.

Drake Novak netted an impressive 34 points to lead the way for the Panthers while Shane Heitz secured a solid 20.

Shenandoah 64, Barnesville 35

BARNESVILLE — Boone Jones scored 14 points to lead a balanced attack as Shenandoah remained undefeated by defeating Barnesville.

Nick Miller added nine points for the Zeps (3-0).

Aaron Marovich’s 12 points led the Shamrocks (0-2).

Union Local 79, Buckeye Trail 62

OLD WASHINGTON — Cody Ray poured in a game-high 27 points as Union Local moved to 2-0 by defeating Buckeye Trail.

Ray was 11 of 12 from the field and 5 of 5 from the free-throw line.

Cal Kildown followed Ray up with 26 points for the Jets while Elijah Baker had 11.

Zach Grafton paced the Warriors (1-1) with 21 points, while Branden Barnett had 19.

Steubenville Catholic 63, East Liverpool 59

STEUBENVILLE — Four Steubenville Catholic players scored in double figures in a victory over East Liverpool. Donnie Vandeborne led the way for the Crusaders with 18 points while Matt Kilonsky had 14. A.J. Conner netted 13 points and Luca Conner had 10 to round out the double-digit scorers.

For the Potters, Gabe Roach had 16 points while Brennan O’Hara secured 13 and Tre Jackson bucketed 11.

Girls

Cameron 76, Liberty (Harrison) 24

CAMERON — Kelsie Meintel tallied 25 points to lead Cameron to a victory over Liberty. Jordyn Hughes was also solid for the Dragons (2-0) as she netted 11.