By John Clark
DUNN – West Bladen’s Knights are Southeastern Athletic Conference co-champions! Sophomore Chase Williams dominated the paint in the 2nd half of a 41-30 Knight victory over Midway Friday night, scoring 10 of his 15 points and grabbing 18 of his 22 rebounds after halftime.
West Bladen has now won 7 games in a row and 8 of their last 9 to complete regular season play with a 9-3 SAC-7 record and 18-6 overall mark. The Knights are in a dead-even tie with rival East Bladen who defeated St Pauls 56-50 to also finish 9-3 in the SAC-7 and 17-5 overall. A coin flip will be held Saturday to determine who receives the No. 1 seed and a 1st round bye in the league tournament.
The Knights led 23-18 at halftime before Williams turned an assist from junior Andre Moore into a lay-up then sank 2 free throws. Sophomore Hezekiah Adams delivered a feed to Williams who hooked in a 4-footer and tacked on a free throw for a 30-18 lead.
The 6-7 Williams sent an assist to senior Gary Parker for a lay-up, and Moore nailed a 3-pointer from the corner to stretch the lead to 35-21, before Midway’s Mbagnick Dione beat the buzzer with a fade-away 3-ball to narrow the gap to 35-24.
Williams banked in a 6-footer off an assist from freshman Jackson Pait to start the final quarter. Adams sank 2 free throws, and Williams hit one, before Jack Hazelbeck’s 3-ball closed the gap to 40-30 with 55 seconds left. Adams added a free throw for the final margin.
Williams also blocked 3 shots and helped West Bladen outrebound Midway 27-12 in the 2nd half. “The big boy (Williams) can play,” said Knight Coach Travis Pait. “He is a skilled post player now, and he is getting some recruiting interest. Hezi (Adams) had some big spurts for us tonight, and everybody contributed.”
Adams racked up 14 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Freshman Tylik McCall pulled down 4 rebounds, and Pait had 2 steals but was held to only 3 points as the Raiders employed a box-and-1 and a triangle-and-2 against him. “Junk defenses usually don’t bother us, because we have other guys who can shoot the ball,” noted Coach Pait.
Davis Williams started the game with a 3-ball for Midway, but Pait drained a 3-point shot. Adams stole the ball and dashed for a lay-up then pulled up for a 15-footer and a 7-3 West lead. A trio of baskets from Jamir McCrae vaulted the Raiders ahead 11-10 despite an Adams free throw and another Chase Williams basket.
Adams nailed another 16-footer, and Parker swished a free throw, but a Hazelbeck 3-pointer game Midway a 14-13 lead at the break.
After a goal-tending call against Adams gave the Raiders their biggest lead at 16-13. Adams put back a rebound to ignite a 10-2 West run. McCall buried a corner 3-ball, Adams sank 2 free throws, and Chase Williams converted 3 of 4 foul shots to open up a 23-18 lead.
“I am really proud of this group,” said Coach Pait. “After the loss at St. Pauls we had a team meeting and talked about just winning the next play. I thought they were capable of this (winning the conference), but they are very young and I didn’t know if they were physical enough.” It is the 3rd conference championship (2012, 2015, 2023) for Coach Pait in his 12 years at West Bladen.
West Bladen 13 10 12 6 — 41
Midway 14 4 6 6 — 30
West Bladen (41) – Jackson Pait 3, Hezekiah Adams 14, Tylik McCall 3, Andre Moore 3, Gary Parker 3, Walter Bealon, Anthony Mitchell, Chase Williams 15.
Midway (30) – Jack Hazelbeck 6, Davis Williams 6, Trey Gregory 2, Jamir McCrae 11, Mbagnick Dione 3, Tripp Westbrook 2, Israel Cook, Josh Lupo, Anthony Graham.
About Author
