BLADENBORO – The West Bladen Knights have earned the fourth-seed in the NCHSAA 2A East Regional and they’ll take on the 29th-seeded Ayden-Grifton Chargers. The Knights have posted an overall record of 23-1 and they won the SAC 6 Conference title with a perfect 10-0 record. They’ll host their opening round game against a Chargers team that went 11-15 on the year. West Bladen has a chance to host at least three more home games if they can get through the gauntlet of some of the best teams in the 2A East Region.
Ayden-Grifton competes in the Eastern Plains Conference and they finished with a conference record of 3-10 during the regular-season. Farmville Central won the Eastern Plains Conference with a 12-0 record in conference action and they ultimately earned the number-one seed in the 2A East Region with an overall record of 20-4. West Bladen’s only loss of the season came against Farmville Central on December 19th in an eight point defeat.
Ayden-Grifton didn’t fare so well against Farmville Central as they took 40-point losses in both meetings with their conference foes. The Chargers have been averaging 60.9 ppg and they’ve allowed their opponents 62.6 ppg. The Knights have made their mark on the defensive side of the ball as they’ve only allowed 32.3 ppg this season and they’ve been averaging 63.9 ppg on offense. Senior center Chase Williams has undoubtedly been an unstoppable force this season with 20.4 ppg and he’s been the Knights rim protector in the interior.
Ayden-Grifton relies on their senior backcourt of Hatteras Jenkins and Jahmir Outlaw to score the bulk of their points. Jenkins is the leading scorer for the Chargers with 16.5 ppg and Outlaw is the team’s second leading scorer with 11.6. West Bladen head coach Travis Pait has an array of offensive options to turn to as Williams isn’t the only player that can induce punishment against their opponents. Senior guard Hezekiah Adams and junior guard Jackson Pait have proven to be quite the scorer this season.
Adams athleticism makes him a great two-way player but he has also been capable of hurting opponents with his mid-range game. Jackson Pait loves to pull-up from range and knockdown threes in order to turn momentum in favor of the Knights. The Fairmont Golden Tornadoes got the second highest seed in the SAC 6 Conference with the 16th seed. They will host the 17th-seeded Wallace-Rose Hill Bulldogs(11-7, 7-6) in the first round on Tuesday.
The Midway Raiders were the last SAC 6 team to make the playoffs and they earned the 18th seed. The Raiders will travel to the 15th-seeded Southeast Alamance Stallions(21-6, 13-3). To open up their postseason campaign. The Waccamaw Conference will have Heide Trask(15-10, 10-3) and Whiteville(16-7, 11-2) as their representatives for the 2A East Region. Heide Trask had a slow start to the season but were able to find their rhythm to win a share of the Waccamaw Conference regular-season title. They will be the 27th-seeded team in the East Region and will travel to the sixth-seeded South Granville Vikings(21-6, 12-2).
The Whiteville Wolfpack are the co-Waccamaw Conference regular-season champs and they’ll be the 10th-seeded team in the 2A East Region. The 22nd-seeded J.F. Webb Warriors(17-9, 8-6) will hit the road to meet the Wolfpack in the first round on Tuesday. The Reidsville Rams(25-0, 12-0) earned the number-one seed in the 2A West Region as they look to defend their 2A State Title from the year prior.