West Bladen’s Cornelius Esters coming around a screen.
Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal
BLADENBORO — The West Bladen Knights defeated the West Columbus Vikings for a 60-33 victory in a non-conference match-up on Tuesday. West Columbus dominated on the boards in the first quarter and were going toe-to-toe with the Knights on their home floor in the first eight minutes. West Bladen sophomore guard Jackson Pait hit a three and junior center Chase Williams spun his defender in the post to go ahead 12-7 as the first quarter wound down.
Williams got working early in the second quarter and extended the host lead to three points to begin the second quarter. West Columbus senior guard Unique Kelly responded with a tough finish in traffic but Pait would drain a floater on the other end to keep momentum with the Knights. A good defensive stand on the next possession allowed the Knights to pull away further after Cornelius Esters drained two shots from the charity stripe.
Esters then snatched a steal on the defensive side of the ball and grabbed an offensive board to keep possession alive but the Knights couldn’t capitalize on the second chance opportunity. Both teams traded empty possessions before Esters was able to find Williams inside for a tough finish to make the score 20-13 with less than five minutes remaining in the second quarter.
West Columbus called a timeout in an attempt to slow the game down but failed to shift momentum in their favor. West Bladen sophomore forward Tylik McCall received a pass from Williams before laying his basket in to extend the lead to nine. West Columbus tried to find some room to work inside but Williams’ massive 6-foot-7 frame clogged the lane. West Bladen senior guard Andre Moore splashed from behind the arc and Pait found a cutting Mcall for a lay-in to make the score 28-13.
West Columbus forward Tyler Watts-Brown finally ended his team’s scoring drought with a lay-up inside. Pait scored the Knights final basket of the first half as the host took a 15 point lead into the locker room. The Vikings got on the board first in the third quarter with a field goal from sophomore center Zion Eady and the Knights immediately responded with a flush from Williams on the other end.
West Columbus were able to get some buckets from Kelly and Watts-Brown but failed to find an answer on the defensive end as the host continued to pull away. Williams was tripled teamed down low before he found Pait at the three-point line for a deep shot from pro range to make the score 35-21. West Columbus went cold once more on offense and the host stayed hot from range.
Pait would drain another three-pointer on the catch and shoot to stretch the lead back to 15 points. West Columbus had two opportunities to score but missed both of them and Pait would eventually hit his third three-point shot of the quarter to make the score 41-23. West Columbus turned the ball over coming out of a timeout and junior guard Hezekiah Adams finished on the break for two.
West Columbus was able to scrape together some offense in the final minutes of the third quarter but the gap remained at double-digits. Williams grabbed an offensive board before finding McCall in the corner for a three-pointer for their first basket of the quarter. The Knights had a firm grasp on the game to finish on top with 27 points separating the two teams.
Williams led all scorers with 17 points and Pait finished the night with 16 points to his name. The Knights followed their victory up on Wednesday night against South Brunswick with a 57-26 victory away from home. West Bladen now move to an overall record of 11-1 and they’ll take on West Columbus on the road next Wednesday.