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NEW MARTINSVILLE -- The Magnolia basketball team left its heart on its home court Wednesday night but took the nets with them.
After watching a 13-point halftime lead dwindle to a deadlocked dual in the fourth quarter, the Blue Eagles showed the grit of a champion and pulled off a 47-42 victory over Cameron in a Class A Region I co-final.
Magnolia will make its first trip to the state tournament since winning a state title in 2015. The Eagles will be the No. 7 seed and will face No. 2 Charleston Catholic at 1 p.m. next Thursday.
"We're really excited," Magnolia coach Dave Tallman said. "Everybody had to step up and I'm really proud of our guards. Guards are the guys who get you there. They take you a long way and (Wednesday) that was Trevor Williamson and Levi Cecil."
The Eagles punched their ticket to state in unlikely fashion after losing senior leader Jake Gamble to a knee injury just before halftime.
He showed the heart of a warrior and made an attempt to play in the second half but once again fell to the court in pain. He watched the remainder of the game from the sidelines.
"I just didn't want to leave my brothers," Gamble said. "I wanted to go out there and do all I could to get to Charleston and we finally did it.
"(The fast start was) big. That's really what we pride ourselves on -- getting out and getting the lead and keeping the lead."
His teammates did not let him down.
Following Gamble's injury, Trevor Williamson scored 12 of Magnolia's next 16 points and led the team with 15 points in the contest.
Magnolia held a 20-9 lead at the time of Gamble's injury late in the first half and had a 22-9 cushion at half.
Cameron outscored the Eagles 13-5 in the third quarter and quickly evened the score to open the fourth after a Noah Neely trey and a pair of free throws from Garrett Scott.
Tallman's squad later took a 32-28 upper hand on a 3 from Williamson before inside threat Gavin Postlethwait fouled out for the Eagles.
Despite playing without Postlethwait and Gamble, Williamson and Levi Cecil each netted seven points in the fourth quarter,
All of Cecil's seven points came from clutch free throws down the stretch that kept Cameron from pulling any closer.
Cecil finished with 11 points, while senior Trent Scheibelhood talled nine and Gamble netted seven before leaving the game.
Neely paced the Dragons with 16 points, while Trevor Beresford and Cole Burkett each garnered eight.