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West Bladen Opens Basketball Playoffs at North Johnston … – BladenOnline.com
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By John Clark
West Bladen (18-7), the Southeastern Athletic Conference co-champions, received the No. 17 seed in the Class 2A East NCHSAA basketball playoffs and will travel to Kenly Tuesday night for an opening round game against #16 seed North Johnston (19-6), the 3rd place team from the Neuse 6 Conference.
Game time is 7 p.m. and tickets can only be purchased online via Ticket Spicket by clicking here. No cash sales at the door.
North Johnston lost twice to Eastern #2 seed Goldsboro, 3 times to #11 seed Princeton and dropped an overtime decision to Class 1A #15 seed Goldsboro Rosewood. The Panthers are led by 6-foot sophomore Marcel Freeman who averages 24.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game.
Other stand-out Panthers include: 6-1 senior Jaylen Sumler (11.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists); 5-9 junior Cory Barnes (7.5 points, 4.5 assists, 29 3-point baskets, 28% accuracy on 3-point attempts); 6-0 junior Ayden Pone (6.4 points); 6-2 senior Cadyn Lucas (3 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists); 6-2 senior Braeden Moore (3.6 points, 4 rebounds, 2.5 assists); 5-10 junior Cooper Gibson (2.5 points, 2.6 assists).
Coach Travis Pait’s Knights had their 7-game winning streak snapped in the semifinals of the SAC-7 tournament by eventual tournament champion St. Pauls. All of West Bladen’s 7 losses were to teams that qualified for the state playoffs.
Which team will win Tuesday’s NCHSAA playoff game?
— Bladen Online (@BladenOnline) February 21, 2023
Sophomore Chase Williams, a 6-7 center, tops the Knight scoring list averaging 14.6 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Williams has recorded 8 double-doubles. Sophomore Hezekiah Adams scores 13 points per game, and freshman Jackson Pait follows with a 12 point per game average. Both Adams and Pait have scored over 20 points twice this season.
Freshman Tylik McCall’s rebound basket with 1.4 seconds left in overtime was the game-winner against SAC-7 co-champion East Bladen, and McCall’s 3-point shot at the buzzer sent the Red Springs game to overtime where the Knights won. Junior Andre Moore scored all 12 of his points after halftime in that win.
Other key contributors for the Knights are seniors Gary Parker, Walter Bealon and Anthony Mitchell and junior Cornelius Esters.
It was a tough summer of 2022 for the Knights as starting wing Malachi Allen, a 6-6 junior, transferred to Westover where he is currently the 20-8 Wolverines 2nd leading scorer (11.3) and rebounder (6). Parker who was playing really well at the end of last season underwent knee surgery and missed the first 9 games of this season. He returned to play during the Christmas Tournament and racked up 10 points in the home win over Red Springs.
“I thought we were capable of winning this year,” said Coach Pait. “But I didn’t know if we were old enough. I thought we might be too young physically. After the loss at St. Pauls, we had a team meeting and talked about ‘just win the next play and see what happens.” After that meeting, the Knights started the 7-game winning streak with an overtime victory at Red Springs.
The winner of West Bladen/North Johnston will face the winner of the game between #1 Farmville Central and #32 Fairmont. Second-round games are scheduled for Thursday night.
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