By Sonny Jones
ELIZABETHTOWN — Tuesday was Senior Night at East Bladen. Lee Barnes, Rodney Lacewell and Peyton Tatum made sure they weren’t going to lose their final regular season home game on Patty Evers Court.
The trio combined to score 49 points as the Eagles doubled up Whiteville 72-36 in a Waccamaw Conference boys basketball game.
Barnes drilled eight of East Bladen’s 12 3-point field goals and led the Eagles in scoring with 26 points. Lacewell dominated inside, notching a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Tatum had three 3-pointers in the first half, had several blocked shots and finished with 11 points.
The Eagles finished their regular season with a 5-7 record in Waccamaw Conference games and are 10-11 overall. East Bladen could host a first-round conference tournament next Tuesday depending on the outcome of Friday’s South Columbus at Whiteville game.
Whiteville is 5-6 in the league, 8-13 overall. East Bladen and the Wolfpack split its two regular season meetings.
Will Fisher scored nine points to lead a Whiteville offense that had trouble making shots from start to finish.
A three-point play by Lacewell 45 seconds into the game followed by consecutive 3-pointers by Barnes staked East Bladen to a 9-0 lead before Whiteville called its first of two timeouts in the opening quarter.
Three consecutive baskets by Keshawn Kemp in the first two minutes of the second quarter put East Bladen ahead 23-4. A pair of Tatum 3-pointers in between a Barnes 3-pointer gave the Eagles a 37-9 advantage with 1:45 left until halftime.
An eight-point run late in the third quarter put East Bladen ahead 56-20. A pair of free throws by Kewone Maynor made it 72-32 and the final two minutes were played with a running clock because of the 40-point margin.
Whiteville 4 11 7 14 — 36
East Bladen 17 24 16 15 — 72
Whiteville (36) — Amari Best 5, Brycen Edwards 6, Dashaun Shipman 1, Will Fisher 9, Justin Ward 2, Corey Faison 5, A.J. Monroe, Rudy Jernigan, Marlon Herring 2, Kamari Smith 1, Teron Bowen 5.
East Bladen (72) — Dominick Collins 4, Chace Butler, Sherman Long 3, Shannon Hankins, Kewone Maynor 2, Peyton Tatum 11, Lee Barnes 26, Tevin McLean 4, Keshawn Kemp 10, Rodney Lacewell 12.
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