West Bladen saw its bid for a perfect conference season fall short by a whisker.
On the bright side, the Knights won the Southeastern Conference regular season title, will be the top seed for next week’s conference tournament and Coach Travis Pait will now be able to shave his whiskers.
Jayden Rossi made two free throws with 2.5 seconds left Friday night as South Brunswick clipped West Bladen 69-66 inside Ken F. Cross Gymnasium to close out the regular season. A desperation heave by the Knights’ Tylik McCall was short.
Master sports schedule | Standings
“They hurt us rebounding the ball,” Pait said. “We didn’t guard well in transition. They went right at us and we didn’t do a good job.” South Brunswick outrebounded the Knights 47-35.
Forwards Jayden Daniels and Edward Young led South Brunswick with 22 and 20 points, respectively. The Cougars (15-7, 7-3 Southeastern) finished second in the conference standings.
Jackson Pait scored 14 of his game-high 26 points in the first quarter, including West Bladen’s first eight points. Tylik McCall had 17 points for the Knights (18-6, 9-1 Southeastern). West Bladen will host the winner between Whiteville and Red Springs on Thursday in the conference tournament semifinals. South Brunswick will play the winner between Fairmont and South Columbus in the other semifinal doubleheader at The Castle.
“You never want to lose,” Travis Pait said, “but my wife (Heather) will be happy that I’ll shave.”
Pait had agreed with the team after a victory soon after Christmas not to shave until the Knights lost. Friday’s loss was their first of 2026.
“I hate it,” Pait said. “I’m about to itch to death.”
Of more serious concern is how Friday’s setback will impact the Knights’ seeding for the upcoming N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A playoffs.
“We’ll take a dive in the seedings,” Pait said. “We need to come out and play good next week. This might have bumped us out of a (first-round NCHSAA) bye, but you never really know what’s going to happen.” The top eight East seeds will receive a first-round bye.
Neither team held more than a six point lead in the first half. West Bladen’s advantage came early at 10-4 while South Brunswick took a 33-27 lead at the half. There were seven ties and six lead changes in the second half.
A basket by Jamari Adams-Peterson gave West Bladen a 59-54 lead with just over six minutes remaining, but the Cougars went on a 9-2 run for a 63-61 advantage.
The Knights tied it on a driving basket by Damarion Bryant, then took a 65-63 lead when Kendell Lessane stole the ball and scored. Young followed with a basket for South Brunswick that tied it at 65.
Adams-Peterson made a free throw with 28.7 seconds remaining to put West Bladen up by one, but Rossi countered with a basket for South Brunswick that made it 67-66 with 14 seconds left.
After West Bladen missed a shot, Rossi made two free throws for the final margin.
In the girls’ game, Adyson Bell scored 14 points as South Brunswick defeated West Bladen 42-13 to earn a share of the Southeastern Conference regular season championship.
The Cougars (16-2, 9-1 Southeastern) shared the title with Fairmont (21-2, 9-1 Southeastern). The teams split their two season meetings and both will receive first-round byes in next week’s conference tournament.
For West Bladen, Logan Powers led with five points. The Knights (5-16, 3-7 Southeastern) will host South Columbus on Tuesday in the first round of the conference tournament.
South Brunswick scored 14 of the first 16 points and were never threatened. The Cougars led 37-4 at half.
In the junior varsity boys’ game, the Knights wrapped up a successful season with a 51-27 victory. West Bladen outscored the Cougars 21-2 in the second quarter to rally from an early deficit and claim a 27-15 halftime lead.
Mark’kus Bass scored 12 points to lead West Bladen (14-4, 9-1 Southeastern). The conference doesn’t officially recognize a junior varsity champion.
VARSITY BOYS: SOUTH BRUNSWICK 69, WEST BLADEN 66
South Brunswick (69) — Jaxon Wallace 9, Cameron Howard 2, Julian Simmons 2, Jayden Rossi 12, Jacob Sherrod 2, Landon Hardy, Tripp Cable, Peyton Gordinier, Edward Young 20, Jayden Daniels 22.
West Bladen (66) — Jackson Pait 26, Damarion Bryant 6, Tylik McCall 17, Kendall Lessane 4, Keonta Hill 4, Jaquan Lesane 6, Jamari Adams-Peterson 3, Carnell Lewis, Cyncere Jessup, Blake Britt, Justin Spaulding.
VARSITY GIRLS: SOUTH BRUNSWICK 42, WEST BLADEN 13
South Brunswick (42) — Macy Barker, Lillian Triplett, Meryn Deutsch 10, Boston Olvey, Chelsy Jones 4, Lauren Morris, Adyson Bell 14, Gracin Johnson 6, Aubree Adams 6, Makia Cousart, Vivian Cruz 2, Addison Fitzhugh.
West Bladen (13) — Hailey Taylor 2, Harmony Richardson 2, Kali Allen 3, Hadley Dove 1, Saniya Martin, Amiya McCarty, Logan Powers 5, Natalee Sykes, Abigail Dicicco.
JV BOYS: WEST BLADEN 51, SOUTH BRUNSWICK 27
South Brunswick (27) — Jose Reyna 4, Banks Lucas 8, Brayden TooleySmith 1, Christian Woolum 8, Lloyd Hendricks 2, Braydon Jones 4.
West Bladen (51) — Parker Bourhill 3, Drake Gause 3, Jace Lessane, Isaiah Minus 9, Uzziah Gause, Gaston Russ 8, Sincere McKinley 6, Isaiah Lloyd, Mark’kus Bass 12, Shyron Thompson 6, Sterling Davis 4, Jarvis McMillian, Jeremiah Bryan, Rylan Bordeaux.