ELIZABETHTOWN — East Bladen led the best of the Three Rivers Conference by nine points in the third quarter.
At crunch time, turnovers against Whiteville’s fullcourt press were crippling.
The Eagles surrendered points on eight of the final 10 possessions and fell to the Wolfpack 58-53 Friday night in boys high school basketball. East Bladen, led by first-year head coach Aking Elting, lost it four times in the final two-plus minutes and only generated points on four other possessions.
“You can’t coach how not to turn the ball over,” Elting said.
Junior Javant McDowell, a 6-foot-6 presence inside, scored 14 points to lead the hosts. Senior RaSean McKoy and junior Jacob Priest added nine and eight points, respectively.
Junior Donevin Keith, his team’s lone point guard available, went 32 minutes and scored seven points. From a roster that once had 14 players, the Eagles were without two injured players, one player ejected from the last game, and had four available substitutes.
East Bladen exited 1-7 in the Three Rivers Conference and 2-10 overall, having lost two straight. Whiteville took a half-game lead over West Brunswick, climbing to 8-1 in the loop and 9-4 overall.
“We were sharing the ball,” Keith said of building a 39-30 lead, capped by senior Tayshaun Berkeley’s 3-pointer with 4:22 showing in the third period. “We were playing in the system and taking the ball to the basket.”
But the Eagles’ next field goal wasn’t until nearly seven minutes later, and only two other floor shots went in the hoop.
“They were good at pressuring the ball, getting us to turn it over,” McDowell said. “They were just solid defense.”
Wendell Smith led the Wolfpack with 22 points, scoring nine of his 10 in the first half during a second-quarter surge to deadlock the Eagles at 25 by intermission. In the final period, he made six of eight at the foul line and K.J. Hall scored eight of his 10 points.
Hall’s bucket with 2:22 to play put Whiteville in the lead for good, 47-46. The Eagles followed by missing a 3-pointer and turned it over three consecutive possessions, two of which didn’t get past halfcourt. The Wolfpack converted the sequence into a six-point lead and East Bladen never had possession with the difference less than four points.
“I still don’t feel defeated,” Elting said. “I’m proud of them. It’s just turnovers and knocking down free throws. I keep telling them, free throws and making layups win games at this level.
“These guys fought to the end.”
East Bladen’s Jacob Priest snares a loose ball Friday night during a 58-53 loss to league-leading Whiteville.
East Bladen’s Juwan Baldwin makes a move on the baseline Friday night during a 58-53 loss to league-leading Whiteville.