By John Clark
FAIRMONT — Fairmont closed the game with an 18-0 spurt to rally past West Bladen 47-40 in Southeastern Athletic Conference boys’ basketball action Tuesday night.
The loss ended West Bladen’s 17-game winning streak and dropped the Knights into a tie with Fairmont for 1st place in the SAC with 8-1 records. West Bladen, now 19-2, must defeat Red Springs Friday night to earn a share of the SAC championship. Fairmont improves to 18-4 and will visit Clinton – a team the Tornadoes pummeled 87-14 in their 1st meeting – Friday night.
The Knights entered the final period with a 36-31 lead. Junior Chase Williams dropped in a lay-up, and junior Hezekiah Adams stole the ball and dashed for a lay-up and a 40-31 lead with 7:31 remaining. West Bladen would not score again.
Junior Landon Cummings ignited the Tornado run with a pair of rebound baskets and a free throw. Junior Josiah Billings’ lay-up tied the game 40-40 at the 3:38 mark after Williams had been whistled for his 4th foul with 4:07 left.
Senior Isaac McKellar banked in an 8-footer to put Fairmont up 42-40 with 2:25 on the clock. McKellar netted 3 free throws in the final 1:14, and Cummings tacked on a dunk.
“We didn’t shoot the ball,” said Knight Coach Travis Pait. “We had chances, but we didn’t execute and we missed some huge box-outs in the back.”
The Knights were stone-cold behind the arc making only 2 of their 20 3-point attempts which dropped their overall shooting percentage to 27%. They made 11 of their 28 2-point attempts.
Adams recorded a double-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists to lead the Knights. Williams finished with 10 points and 8 rebounds. Sophomore Tylik McCall added 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Sophomore Jackson Pait followed with 5 points, and senior Andre Moore grabbed 5 rebounds.
Cummings led the Tornadoes with 18 points, and McKellar followed with 15 points.
Fairmont’s Ty’Rek Thompson’s corner jumper started the scoring, but the Knights answered with a 14-0 run. Pait drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing, Adams beat the Tornado press for a lay-up, and McCall nailed a corner 3-ball and a free throw. Adams stole the ball and sprinted for a lay-up. McCall drove for a lay-up, and an Adams free throw made it 14-2.
Five Cummings points rallied Fairmont to within 14-7, but Pait and junior Ty’Leak Ballard sank 2 free throws each, and Adams cashed in one for a 19-7 lead at the break.
Williams followed up his own miss to start the 2nd quarter. Adams sped end-to-end with a long rebound for a lay-up, and Williams spun to the hoop for a lay-up. McCall stretched the West lead to 27-11 with 2 free throws, but Williams went out with his 2nd foul at the 3:22 mark, and a trio of McKellar buckets keyed a 10-0 Fairmont spurt that cut the lead to 27-21 at halftime.
Williams spun to the rim for another lay-up, and Adams converted 2 free throws to keep West on top 31-23. A McKellar 10-footer and a pair of Cummings’ lay-ups whittled the lead to 31-29, but Adams scooted ahead for a lay-up then sent an assist to Williams for a lay-up. An Adams’ free throw made it 36-29, before Billings’ follow shot trimmed the margin to 36-31 at the break.
West Bladen 19 8 9 4 — 40
Fairmont 7 14 10 16 — 47
West Bladen (40) — Jackson Pait 5, Hezekiah Adams 14, Tylik McCall 9, Kendell Lessane, Andre Moore, Ty’Leak Ballard 2, Chase Williams 10.
Fairmont (47) — Gabriel Washington, Damajah McRae, Ty’Rek Thompson 4, Landon Cummings 18, Isaac McKellar 15, Naishon Davis 4, Xavier Johnson, Jalil Brown, Josiah Billings 6, Kaiden Filmore, Caleb Daniels.
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