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Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
Junior Sayaun Dent fired in 14 of his game-high 19 points in the second half as West Bladen rallied for a 62-58 Four County Conference boys basketball victory over visiting East Bladen Friday night.
After Shaquille Johnson’s follow shot tied the game 51-51, Dent drained his third 3-point basket of the night to put the Knights ahead to stay at 54-51 with 2:12 remaining.
Senior guard Stefan McDonald banked in a runner for a 56-51 Knight lead, and the Eagles’ Eian Hines and Dent traded 2 free throws each. East junior guard Denzel Johnson nailed his fifth 3-pointer of the game to pull the Eagles to within 58-56 with 1:02 on the clock.
West Bladen junior Kalvin Page drove for a lay-up and a 60-56 lead at the 42 second mark. McDonald sealed the verdict with 2 free throws for a 62-56 lead. Sophmore Sincere Smith flipped in a reverse follow shot at the buzzer for East.
Dent grabbed 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double. McDonald finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds. Shaquille Johnson followed with 8 points and 8 rebounds. Junior John Bowen scored all 7 of his points in the fourth quarter and corralled 7 rebounds.
Denzel Johnson topped the Eagle scoring with 15 points, and senior Jermaine Robinson nailed a pair of 3-pointers and totaled 12 points. Junior Ethan Hines threw in a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.
Twin brother Eian Hines added 8 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. Senior Dayvon Powell tallied 7 points.
The Knights outrebounded the Eagles 37-23 and made 14 of 22 free throws. East Bladen sank 9 of 10 free throws and bombed in nine 3-point shots. West Bladen connected on six of their eight 3-pointers in the second half.
Powell hit 2 free throws, and Johnson, Ethan Hines and Robinson delivered 3-point baskets in the first period as the Eagles jumped out to an 11-3 lead.
McDonald drilled in a 3-pointer, and sophmore Jimmy Williams drove for a lay-up as West narrowed the gap to 12-8. An Ethan Hines’ follow shot pushed the Eagle lead to 14-8 at the quarter break.
Another Denzel Johnson 3-ball and a pair of Robinson free throws extended the East lead to 19-8. Two free throws from West’s Will Lambeth and a driving lay-up by Shaquille Johnson sliced the lead to 19-13.
Eian Hines banked in a leaner, Robinson bombed in a long 3-pointer and senior Chris Cromartie put back a rebound for a 26-15 Eagle lead.
McDonald and Ethan Hines traded 3-point baskets, but a trio of Dent free throws and one by McDonald brought West to within 29-22 at halftime.
Shaquille Johnson started the second half with a lay-up, and Williams flipped in a runner to slice the East lead to 29-26. Powell banked in a runner, and senior Trevor Lloyd was credited with a basket as West tapped a rebound in for East that upped the Eagle lead to 33-27.
Dent, McDonald and freshman Keshawn Lewis pumped in successive 3-point shots to give the Knights their first lead of the night at 36-33 with 1:51 left in the quarter.
Eian Hines put back a rebound for East, but Dent answered with another 3-ball for a 39-35 lead at the quarter break. The Knights outscored the Eagles 17-6 in the third quarter.
“We came out in the third quarter, rushed some shots and took some bad ones,” said Eagle Coach Ken Cross. “We could have won if we had kept our composure.”
Powell converted 2 free throws, and Robinson stole the ball and sprinted for a dunk that tied the game 39-39.
A Denzel Johnson 3-pointer edged East ahead, but Dent drove for a lay-up and tied the game at 42 with a free throw. An Ethan Hines assist set up an Eian Hines lay-up, but Bowen banked in a 10-footer to tie the game again.
An Ethan Hines lay-up was answered by another Bowen 10-footer. Robinson banked in a runner, but Bowen knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner for a 49-48 West lead with 3:11 on the clock.
Denzel Johnson connected on another 3-ball to give the Eagles their final lead of the night at 51-49 with 2:53 on the clock.
“We changed our offense and went to a double low post in the second half,” said Knight Coach Travis Pait. “Coach (Jason) Hemingway suggested it, and I thought it really paid off for us.”
“I thought we played really good defense in the first half,” said Coach Pait. “They just made shots. Jonathan Robinson did a great job on defense. He gives us a big body in there and does a lot of good things for us.”
The Knights improved to 4-2 in the league and 13-3 overall. West Bladen will host Union Friday night. East Bladen is now 2-5 in the league and 5-10 overall. The Eagles host Midway Friday night.
East Bladen (58) –Jermaine Robinson 12, Dayvon Powell 7, Ethan Hines 10, Eian Hines 8, Chris Cromartie 2, Trevor Lloyd 2, Adonis Avery, Derrick Burney, Denzel Johnson 15, Sincere Smith 2.
West Bladen (62) – Kalvin Page 2, Jimmy Williams 4, Keshawn Lewis 3, Stefan McDonald 14, Sayaun Dent 19, Malique McDowell, Shaquille Johnson 8, Jonathan Robinson 1, Will Lambeth 4, John Bowen 7.
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