East Bladen huddles during a timeout in play.
Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal
WHITEVILLE — The Whiteville Wolfpack defeated the East Bladen Eagles for a 42-38 victory in a Waccamaw Conference clash on Friday. The Wolfpack clinched the game with seconds remaining to secure their fifth overall win of the season and their second straight conference victory.
Whiteville senior guard D.J. Shipman gathered his missed free throw and finished at the rim for the game decider in the final seconds of the fourth to surpass the visitors.
East Bladen sophomore forward Keyshawn Kemp led all scorers with 16 points and Whiteville senior forward Brycen Edwards dropped 14 points to lead his team in scoring. The visitors got rolling early with Kemp receiving a pass inside from junior guard Dominick Collins to start the night off with two. Whiteville gave their opponents some easy looks in transition but they were able to stay in the game thanks to Edwards having a hot-hand from behind the arc.
Edwards finished with six points in the quarter and the hosts were only down by three-points going into the second quarter of the game. The Eagles had a five point spurt in the opening minutes with a basket from Kemp and senior guard Lee Barnes drained his second three-pointer of the half. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they didn’t score for the next five minutes of the quarter and their opponents continued to make their shots.
The Wolfpack would eventually tie the game at 17-17 as the halftime buzzer approached and momentum started to swing in their favor. Whiteville senior guard Will Fisher and Barnes traded three-point baskets to start the third quarter off with a bang. Senior guard Amari Best followed with a couple of lay-ups inside to keep the host in the driver’s seat.
The Eagles failed to immediately answer on the offensive end and Edward’s made them pay by draining yet another three-ball. East Bladen was able to get back on track with a Ronnie Covington reverse lay-up to make the score 27-24 as the quarter began to dwindle down. Shipman had a quiet first half but got involved in the scoring by converting a 2-and-1 to keep the Wolfpack ahead.
The visitors failed to answer and Shipman added onto the lead at the free throw line to help usher in a 33-24 lead going into the final quarter of the game. The Eagles can usually rely on Collins to generate offense for them in crunchtime but foul trouble prevented him from finding a rhythm on Friday night. Luckily for the visitors, Kemp stepped up on the offensive side of the ball and he dropped five quick points to help his team claw back in the fourth quarter at 35-32.
Best nailed a mid-range jumper to stretch the lead back to five in the host’s favor and pressure was back on their opponents to answer. Whiteville stayed solid on the defensive-end of the ball and added two more points on their next possession with under three minutes left to play. Kemp returned fire with a three-ball from the corner and the Eagles were able to get a much needed stop on defense. Kemp would drain another three-point basket from the same exact spot to help pull the visitors within two points with 1:51 remaining.
East Bladen was able to force a turnover from their opponents and they had a chance to tie the game or take the lead but would turn the ball over themselves. Whiteville sit in fifth place in the standings as they move to 2-2 in Waccamaw Conference play. The Wolfpack will look to keep the winning run going when they take on South Columbus this Tuesday.
East Bladen now move to an overall record of 8-6 and they currently hold the third spot in the conference standings with a 3-2 record. The Eagles will take on South Columbus this Thursday for their next game.