Photo by Kim North Bridgeport’s Evan Clark (4) grabs a rebound while surrounded by Magnolia’s Noah Hood (13) and Drake Christen (5) during Friday night’s game in New Martinsville. The Bulldogs unbeaten streak came to an end with a 54-51 loss to the Blue Eagles.

NEW MARTINSVILLE — Friday night was one of those nights that Magnolia boys’ basketball coach Dave Tallman has been waiting on. The veteran Blue Eagles head coach has been waiting for 6-7 Noah Hood to have a breakout game.

It finally came at an opportune time, as Hood scored 20 points and pulled down 17 rebounds as Magnolia (3-3) earned a measure of revenge in a 54-51 victory that handed visiting Bridgeport (7-1) its first loss of the campaign.

“He was sick all of last week but he played a heckuva game tonight,” Tallman stressed. “That’s what we’ve been waiting on, an effort like that from him.

“With Kingston on the outside and Noah in the middle, in single-A West Virginia we can be tough to beat.”

Magnolia dropped a 54-50 two weeks prior on Frank Baxter Court inside the John J. Havlicek Gymnasium in Bridgeport.

“They’ve got a really nice team. They were undefeated coming in here and that kind of stuff wears on you,” Tallman said. “I just thought our guys played a heckuva game. They hustled and finally played the way we know they can.

“I’m so proud of them,” he added. “This is a big win for us. I’ve got to give (assistant) coach (Randy) Shuman a lot of credit for this one. He runs our offense and it was pretty much error-free tonight.”

Bridgeport held a 46-44 lead midway through the fourth quarter, but Magnolia used a conventional three-point play from Hood to take a 47-46 advantage it would not relinquish.

Following a Bridgeport timeout, the Bulldogs turned the ball over for only the third time in the game and the Blue Eagles’ Kingston Christen made both ends of a two-shot foul; for a 49-46 lead with 2:20 left to play.

Evan Clark finished a Jaleel Vincent assist to get Bridgeport within 49-48 at the 2-minute mark, but baskets by Christen and Carson Wade bumped the margin to 53-48.

Bridgeport wasn’t finished, however, as Jameil McKennen knocked down a three from deep on the right wing with 10.4 showing for a 53-51 reading.

After a timeout by the Bulldogs, they fouled Wade who made 1 of 2 free throws. The Bulldogs got the ball down the floor and had a three-pointer from the right corner that clanked off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

“He made some tough shots in the lane, but I thought we played well against him,” Bridgeport head coach Donnie Cash said of the 6-7 Hood. “He was in foul trouble the first time we played them and we knew he would be a force if he stayed out of foul trouble tonight.

“We were up by nine early and took some ill-advised shots,” Cash added. “We told the kids that in that situation we want to run our offense and get a good shot instead of forcing something and giving them the ball right back. We didn’t run our offense all the way through and we need to trust in that and believe in that.”

Another area Cash wasn’t pleased with was foul shooting.

“I don’t expect us to be perfect, but 9 of 15 isn’t going to get it,” he stressed. “If we make four of those, we win the game.”

Christen led Magnolia with 22 points, with 13 coming in the second half when the hosts made their move. Vincent paced Bridgeport with 18 before fouling out late. Clark added 14 and McKennen finished with eight.

Behind Hood’s effort off the glass, Magnolia enjoyed a 32-27 advantage. Finn Loy had five boards for Magnolia. Clark led Bridgeport with eight, while Jaki Threet added seven.

Magnolia is back in action tonight as Bellaire visits. Bridgeport, meanwhile, looks to bounce back Tuesday night when Toronto visits.