LAKE WACCAMAW – Donovan Worley caught a length of the court pass and flipped in the game-winning basket at the buzzer as East Columbus edged West Bladen 69-68 Saturday in a Three Rivers Conference Boys Basketball Play-in game.
Sophmore Tyre Boykin sank 2 free throws with 9/10th of a second left to vault the Knights in front 68-67, but Worley received the full-court pass in the lane and scored on a short jumper.
The Gators advance to a Monday night game at top-seeded Fairmont. The Knights conclude their season with a 7-17 record.
Knight senior Jonathan Robinson turned an assist from freshman Shyron Adams into a lay-up to start the game. Senior Jimmy Williams drove for a lay-up, and Adams stole the ball and dropped in a lay-up for an early 6-3 lead.
A Graylon Daniels 3-point shot put East ahead, but Knight junior Keshawn Lewis tied the game 8-8 with a lay-up. The Gators connected on their first 5 shots of the game and took a 16-8 lead on Tyree Burney’s driving lay-up.
Adams popped in a 10-footer, and Lewis hit a free throw, but the Gators padded their lead to 20-11 at the quarter break on a Daniels lay-up.
Junior Jaheim Lesane drove for a Knight lay-up, but the Gator lead grew to 24-13 on a Worley bank shot. Junior Jackson Norris canned an 8-footer, Williams banked in an elbow jumper, and senior Gerardo Reyes buried a 3-point shot to trim the margin to 26-20.
Williams hit a free throw, junior Drew Harris put back a rebound then turned a feed from Lewis into a lay-up. Norris made a free throw, and Williams nailed a 3-point shot to tie the game at 29.
Junior Kerron Baldwin-Washington fired in a 3-point shot, and Reyes cashed in 2 free throws to lift the Knights to a 34-31 halftime lead.
Adams hit a free throw to begin the second half, Reyes drained a 3-point shot and Boykin stole the ball and raced for a lay-up and a 40-33 Knight lead.
Trey Brown launched a pair of 3-point bombs to spark a 12-0 Gator run that put East Columbus on top 45-40, before Adams halted the run with a baseline drive.
Reyes hit a free throw, and Adams stole the ball and sprinted for another lay-up to keep West within 49-45. Robinson hurled in a jump-hook, Boykin drove for a lay-up then sent a pass to Lesane for a lay-up that tied the game 51-51. Worley’s lay-up put East on top 53-51 at the quarter break.
A Baldwin-Washington assist led to an Adams lay-up, Harris knocked down 2 free throws, and Baldwin-Washington banked in a short jumper to pull West within 58-57 with 4:38 remaining.
Williams banked in a 6-footer, and Lewis and Lesane made 2 free throws each to give the Knights a 63-60 lead with 2:42 on the clock. T. J. Barr’s 3-point shot pulled the Gators even 63-63.
Adams threw in a baseline jumper for a 65-63 Knight lead at the 1:45 mark. Reyes made a free throw to keep West up 66-64, before Brown’s drive resulted in a lay-up and a 3-point play that edged the Gators ahead 67-66 with 14 seconds left.
Adams led the Knights with 13 points. Williams finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Reyes also scored 10 points. Harris and Robinson grabbed 6 rebounds each.
Daniels topped East Columbus with 14 points. Burney followed with 12 points, and Barr and Brown totaled 11 points.
“The kids played hard and had a chance to win there at the end,” said Knight Coach Travis Pait. “This team has worked hard all season and has been through so much adversity this year with family sickness and health issues. I am so proud of them.”
WEST BLADEN (68) – Drew Harris 6, Jaheim Lesane 6, Kerron Baldwin-Washington 5, Jimmy Williams 10, Keshawn Lewis 5, Tyre Boykin 6, Shyron Adams 13, Trashawn Ballard, Gerardo Reyes 10, Jackson Norris 3, Trenton Lyons, Jonathan Robinson 4.