West Bladen’s Chase Williams goes up for a two-pointer.
Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal
BLADENBORO-The West Bladen Knights defeated the Dillon Christian Warriors for a 65-33 victory in the Bladen Off-Road Christmas Tournament. Dillon were able to take a brief lead in the first quarter as the host started their night slow on the offensive side of the ball but their opponents grew into the game as time dragged on. West Bladen junior center Chase Williams and senior guard Andre Moore splashed from distance to get the host rolling in the second quarter with a 17-10 lead.
Dillon failed to respond on their next possession to give their opponents another opportunity in front of their basket. Junior guard Hezekiah Adams penetrated the interior before dishing off a slick pass to Williams for a two-point finish. The Knights were quick to close down their opponents on defense to force them into bad shots and were able to extend their lead on the other end.
Moore drained another three-ball to put the Knights up by 13 points with the first half winding down. Dillion finally ended their scoreless drought with a two-point floater out the hands of Jackson Outlar. The Warriors played solid defense to force a miss from their opponents and they drained another two-pointer to cut the deficit.
The Knights didn’t go scoreless for long and sophomore guard Jackson Pait drained a baseline jumper to keep the gap at an 11-point difference. Williams would score five more points before the end of the first half and Moore drained a jumper to give the host a healthy 19 point lead going into the locker room.
West Bladen had full control of the game in the first half and were able to advance to the winners bracket of the tournament. Williams led all scorers with 24 points and Moore finished the night with 15 points to his name. West Bladen takes on Lumberton on Friday night for semifinal matchup and they’ll play one more tournament game on Saturday.
West Bladen moved to an overall record of 7-1 and they’ll play a non conference matchup against West Columbus at home on Tuesday night.
DAY ONE RESULTS FOR BLADEN OFF-ROAD:
St. Pauls(1-0) 66, Scotland(0-1) 36
North Brunswick(1-0) 85, Whiteville(0-1) 55
Lumberton(1-0) 80, West Columbus(0-1) 55