West Bladen’s Chase Williams duels East Bladen’s Rodney Lacewell.
West Bladen defeats East Bladen in 63-40 victory
BLADENBORO — The West Bladen Knights defeated the East Bladen Eagles for a 63-40 victory in a non-conference match-up Tuesday night.
West Bladen junior center Chase Williams and sophomore guard Jackson Pait combined for 50 points as they blitzed their rivals in the second half of the game. Williams was unguardable in the painted area as he dropped 30 points on 82 percent shooting from the field and he snagged 12 rebounds to complete a double-double. Pait rained bombs from behind the arc on 6-of-12 shooting from three and he finished the night with 20 points.
East Bladen took a 5-3 lead in the early stages of the first quarter on a Pierce Melvin three ball but the lead quickly evaporated when Pait drained his second three of the night to claim a one point lead. East Bladen junior Domnick Collins responded with a quick two-pointer to keep things tight in the first quarter.
West Bladen junior guard Hezekiah Adams grabbed a steal and sprinted down the floor on the break for the one-hand slam to make the score 10-9. East Bladen would turn the ball over on their next possession and the host had an opportunity to create separation between them. West Bladen would recover a missed shot for a second chance at the basket and Willams did just that with the finish inside.
East Bladen senior center Rodney Lacewell snagged an offensive rebound before putting up his lay-up through contact to keep his team within one point. Adams went 1-for-2 at the charity strip and he extended the host lead back to two points. West Bladen clamped down on defense and Adams converted on the fastbreak to push the score to 15-11. The second quarter seen Williams being involved more on the offensive end and with some swift moves inside he dropped in a lay-up to extend the score to 23-18.
Collins responded with a floater in the lane to bring the visitors within three points but the Knights quickly responded with a field goal of their own. The Knights jumped to an eight point lead after the jump ball arrow pointed in their favor and Pait drained his three-point shot. The Eagles attempted to respond but missed their shot on the other end of the floor. Williams flushed a two-pointer on the other end to extend the lead to ten with less than three minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Neither team made a shot in the final minutes of the first half but the coldstreak didn’t last for the Knights as they returned to the court in the third quarter with thoughts of killing the game off. Williams dropped his lay-up from in close to extend the host lead to 39-22 with under six minutes to play in the third quarter. West Bladen senior Andre Moore sent a dagger three from the wing to up the score to 42-22 and the home crowd began to get louder.
East Bladen was able to end their coldstreak on a two-point jumper but it wasn’t enough to keep their opponents from pulling away. The Knights took a 47-28 lead into the final quarter as momentum was firmly on their side. Adams finished the night with 8 points and three steals for an efficient night scoring the basketball. Moore led the Knights in assists with nine and sophomore Tylik McCall finished the night with four assists to his name.
Collins led the Eagles on the scoresheet with 17 points and senior guard Lee Barnes drained four three-pointers despite the loss. This was East Bladen’s first game with their full squad back after the conclusion of their playoff run on the gridiron last Friday but they will have a chance to find their rhythm when they take on Topsail this Thursday. West Bladen moves to an overall record of 2-0 and they’ll take on Willmington-Hoggard this Thursday for a challenging non-conference match-up