DUBLIN — The Lady Knights raced out to a quick 17-9 lead, put four players in double figures, got stellar play from its bench and handed visiting Heidi Trask a 63-23 Four County Conference loss on Friday.
The win improved West Bladen to 11-10 overall and 7-4 in the conference, while the Lady Titans fell to 0-19, 0-9.
Logan Autry canned four free throws and a basket during an 8-2 Lady Knights run to open the game, but Heidi Trask answered with a 7-2 spurt to close to within 10-9 before the Lady Knights finished the first quarter with a 7-0 run on baskets by Patience Parker, Jerena Purdie and Mikayla Winebarger — along with a free throw by Purdie — for an eight-point advantage going into the second stanza.
West Bladen coach Rick Rhoda sent his second team in to start the quarter, and they held Heidi Trask to just one point over the first 4 minutes. Meanwhile, the Lady Knights were putting together an 8-1 run and opened a 25-10 lead. The Lady Knights’ first team returned to the floor and, after the visitors hit two straight three-pointers to close within 25-16, West Bladen closed the half with a 6-0 run on a basket by Autry and Akira Grimes, along with two free throws by Parker for a 31-16 lead at the intermission.
The Lady Knights all but sealed the win by opening the second half with a 10-0 burst two baskets by Parker, a bucket by Purdie and a pair of free throws each from Laikyn Pait and Autry. Shortly after Heidi Trask scored its first point of the second half at the 4:55 mark, Rhoda again sent his second team in to finish the third quarter. West Bladen finished the period on a 10-1 run — Indiyah Williams hit two baskets, Purdie had a bucket, Erika McKoy had a basket and Parker had a basket — to take a 51-19 lead going into the fourth frame.
The Lady Titans opened the quarter with a basket, but West Bladen went on a 7-0 run behind two baskets from Pait along with a bucket by Autry and free throw from Purdie to open a 58-21 edge.
Heidi Trask buried a basket midway through the quarter and Purdie answered quickly for West Bladen — marking the end of the night for the Lady Knights’ first team. The second team came in with 3:50 left to play and held the Lady Titans scoreless the rest of the way. McKoy hit a basket and Elizabeth Allbright sank a free throw to close off the West Bladen scoring.
“It’s always good when you can get the young players in, because they are going to be counted on next season,” Rhoda said. “(But) I wasn’t all that happy in the first half — we weren’t aggressive enough on defense.
“I was happy with Patience — she has come along as one of our top defenders and reacts to the pass real well,” he added.
Autry led West Bladen with 14 points, while Purdie scored 12 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Parker scored 10 points and had nine steals, while Pait scored 10 points. McKoy added six steals for the Lady Knights.
West Bladen will be off for exams until Friday when they will face Midway in a conference game at 6 p.m.
W. Curt Vincent can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.