Senior Stefan McDonald and sophmore Shaquille Johnson combined for 31 points to lead West Bladen to a 44-38 victory Tuesday night at Union in the Four County Conference opener for both teams.
McDonald topped the Knight scoring with 16 points and made a some key plays in the second half. “Stefan and Sayaun (Dent) did what they do,” said West Bladen Coach Travis Pait. “Stefan made some big passes and made his free throws down the stretch.”
Johnson just missed a double-double with 15 points and 9 rebounds. “Shaq had another solid game for us,” noted Coach Pait. Dent finished with 11 points as the Knights placed 3 players in double-figures.
Johnson nailed a 3-point shot in the first quarter and threw in 9 points in the period as the Knights took a 13-8 lead. Dent pumped in 6 points in the second quarter as West Bladen maintained a 23-18 lead at halftime.
The Spartans rallied and edged ahead early in the third quarter. “They tried to slow it down and make the game ugly,” said Coach Pait. “Our kids didn’t panic and made some big plays to get us back on top.”
McDonald lobbed an ‘Alley-oop’ pass to Johnson for a basket to start the Knight comeback. McDonald racked up 6 points in the period as the Knights rallied back in front 36-28 at the quarter break.
“We got the lead up to 9 points early in the fourth quarter and had a chance to pull away,” noted Coach Pait. “But we couldn’t put them away. I am very happy with the win. We did what we wanted to do.”
The Knights were short-handed in the front-court as tall forward John Bowen missed the game with an injury and senior forward Da’quan Lennon also didn’t play.
“We were missing 2 of our top inside players,” said Pait. “Jonathan Russ came in and did a yeoman’s job for us. He rebounded and played good defense. Malique (McDowell) played good even though he didn’t score. Jimmy Williams did a good job defensively, and Will Lambeth gave us a good effort.”
Russ pulled down 5 rebounds for the Knights. West Bladen made 11 of 13 free throws in the game.
Senior Donta Chavious posted a game-high 17 points for the Spartans. Teammate Jawawn Newkirk followed with 9 points.
The Knights improved to 4-1 with the win and will host West Columbus Friday night.
West Bladen (44) – Jimmy Williams, Keshawn Lewis, Stefan McDonald 16, Sayaun Dent 11, Malique McDowell, Shaquille Johnson 15, Jonathan Robinson, Will Lambeth 2.
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