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Senior Stefan McDonald sank the winning free throw with six/tenths of a second on the clock to lift West Bladen to a 50-49 Four County Conference victory on Senior Night at East Bladen Thursday.
East Bladen senior basketball players Chris Cromartie, Dayvon Powell, Jermaine Robinson and Trevor Lloyd were honored in pre-game ceremonies.
The game was tied six times in the final five minutes. Junior Eian Hines made 2 free throws with 3:45 left to edge East ahead 42-40, but West junior Sayaun Dent drove for the tying lay-up.
McDonald scooped in a runner from the lane, and sophmore Shaquille Johnson hit a free throw to give the Knights a 45-42 lead with 2:01 on the clock.
Sophmore Sincere Smith drilled a 3-point shot from the top of the key to tie the game for East, and freshman Adonis Avery came up with a steal and pitched ahead to Eian Hines for a lay-up and a 47-45 Eagle lead with 1:03 remaining.
McDonald answered with an acrobatic driving scoop that tied the game with 46 seconds left. Smith buried 2 free throws for a 49-47 East lead, but McDonald canned 2 foul shots to tie the game 49-49 with 17 seconds left.
“Stefan hit 2 really big free throws just to tie the game,” said West Bladen Coach Travis Pait.
The Eagles launched a 3-point shot in the closing seconds, but Dent grabbed the rebound and sent the ball toward mid-court where McDonald was fouled in a scramble for the ball.
Dent led the West Bladen scoring with 16 points and 5 rebounds. McDonald followed with 15 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Shaquille Johnson finished with 7 points and a team-high 8 rebounds. Junior John Bowen and sophmore Jonathan Robinson had 4 rebounds each.
Eian Hines topped the Eagle offense with 10 points and 9 rebounds. Senior Jermaine Robinson also scored 10 points for East. Smith finished with 8 points and 5 rebounds. Junior Denzel Johnson posted 8 points, and Ethan Hines scored 7 points. Senior Dayvon Powell had 5 rebounds.
Two McDonald free throws, one by senior Malique McDowell and a rebound basket that turned into a 3-point play for Dent staked the Knights to an early 6-1 lead.
Ethan Hines answered with a pull-up jumper, and Jermaine Robinson nailed a 3-point shot to tie the game 6-6. Bowen responded with a corner 3-ball for West, and two Dent free throws put West up 11-6 at the quarter break.
Senior Will Lambeth buried a 3-pointer from the left corner for a 14-6 West lead. After two Ethan Hines free throws, McDonald hit a free throw and Dent scored on a follow shot to push the Knight lead to 17-8.
Smith bombed in a 3-point shot for East, but Shaquille Johnson slammed in a Knight dunk, and McDonald made a free throw for a 20-11 West Bladen lead.
Jermaine Robinson flipped in a leaner, Eian Hines put back a rebound and Denzel Johnson cashed in 2 free throws to slice the margin to 20-17. Jermaine Robinson buried a long 3-pointer to tie the game at 20.
Dent’s free throw edged West in front, but two foul shots by Avery put East Bladen up 22-21 at halftime.
Dent’s shot from the lane put the Knights in front to start the second half, but one free throw by Ethan Hines and two by Eian Hines pushed East ahead 25-23.
After a Dent follow shot tied the game at 25, Denzel Johnson drained back-to-back 3-point shots to give the Eagles a 31-25 lead.
McDonald pumped in a long 3-pointer for West, but Avery knocked down a 3-pointer to keep the Eagles on top 34-28.
A Shaquille Johnson lay-up and a reverse lay-up by Bowen trimmed the margin to 34-32. Eian Hines scored a transition lay-up for East, but Lambeth put back a rebound to keep West within 36-34 at the quarter break.
Ethan Hines popped in a pull-up 12-footer for East, but McDonald and Jonathan Robinson made a free throw each and Dent hit 2 foul shots to tie the game at 38.
An Eian Hines lay-up edged East ahead, but Dent posted up on the baseline and stretched in a lay-up to tie the game again 40-40.
The Knights struggled at the foul line making 17 of 38 attempts. If we had made any free throws, we would have won going away,” said Pait. “The kids played hard and we did a good job of cutting off the passing lanes on their drives. We gave up some 3-pointers because of it, but we decided what we wanted to stop.”
East Bladen made 14 of their 19 free throws in the game. “We passed the ball fairly well,” said Eagle Coach Ken Cross. “We had a couple of bad turnovers.”
The Eagles were short-handed inside as senior center Chris Cromartie missed the game with an eye injury that he suffered in practice. The situation became even more critical when Ethan Hines and Powell both fouled out with just under 5 minutes left. However, the Eagles were only out-rebounded by a 32-31 margin.
The Knights completed league play with a 9-5 record and now have an 18-6 record.
“With what we lost to graduation last year, if you had told me we would be 18-6 with the injuries that we have had, I would have took it,” said Coach Pait. “This was a big win for us. Coach Cross had them prepared and they played great and scrapped and fought.”
The Knights will host Midway Monday night at 7:00 in the first round of the conference tournament. East Bladen, 3-11 in league play and 6-16 overall, will travel to Wallace-Rose Hill on Tuesday night.
West Bladen (50) – Jimmy Williams 5, Keshawn Lewis, Stefan McDonald 14, Sayaun Dent 13, Malique McDowell, Shaquille Johnson 4, Jonathan Robinson 2, Will Lambeth 3, John Bowen 17.
East Bladen (49) –Jermaine Robinson 5, Dayvon Powell 2, Ethan Hines 10, Eian Hines 10, Chris Cromartie 6, Trevor Lloyd, Derrick Burney 1, Denzel Johnson 8, Sincere Smith 13, Demetrius Wooten.
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