West Bladen’s Knights raced to leads of 19-9, 30-13 and 46-29 en route to a 72-61 non-conference boys basketball victory over visiting Purnell Swett Friday night.
Ten days earlier the Knights had survived a barrage of 11 Ram 3-point baskets to claim a 2-point victory at Pembroke. Friday night the Knights limited the Rams to only a pair of 3-point baskets in the first 3 periods.
“We worked hard on finding their 3-point shooters in transition,” said Knight Coach Travis Pait. “We did a good job at that for three quarters, but they made six of them in the fourth quarter.”
High-flying sophmore Shaquille Johnson slammed in 3 dunks and topped the Knight scoring with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals.
Senior guard Stefan McDonald finished with 15 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists. Junior forward Sayaun Dent followed with 13 points and filled the stat sheet with 9 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots.
Senior Daquan Lennon contributed 9 points and 5 rebounds off the Knight bench. “De-De (Lennon) did a great job for us,” noted Coach Pait. “He had to play almost the whole first half.”
Junior John Bowen added 8 points, 8 rebounds and 2 assists. Sophmore Jonathan Robinson chipped in with 4 rebounds as the Knights outrebounded the Rams 45-36.
“Jonathan did a good job against that big kid of theirs,” said Coach Pait. “He just transferred in from Lumberton, and Jonathan gave us a lot of minutes to match up with him.” The big transfer for the Rams was 6-6, 245-pound senior Austin Edwards who finished with 9 points.
Johnson nailed a 17-foot jumper to start the game, and freshman Keshawn Lewis added a transition lay-up. Dent hit 2 free throws, Bowen turned a McDonald assist into a lay-up, and sophmore Jimmy William canned a leaner from the baseline for a 10-4 Knight lead.
The Rams rallied to within 12-9, but Dent buried a 3-point shot, was fouled and tacked on the free throw for a 4-point play. McDonald drained a 3-pointer for a 19-9 West lead at the quarter break.
Bowen flipped in a follow shot, and McDonald drove for a lay-up. Johnson stole the ball and crammed in a dunk for a 25-11 Knight lead with 5:34 left in the half.
Two fouls sent McDonald to the bench for the final 5:45 of the half, but the Knight onslaught continued. A Bowen assist produced a Lennon lay-up, Bowen made a free throw and Lennon muscled in a follow for a 30-13 lead at the 4:22 mark.
Johnson cashed in 3 free thows, and senior Malique McDowell powered in a bank shot for a 35-18 lead. The margin at halftime was 35-20.
“Malique, Will Lambeth and Kalvin Page came in and did a yeoman’s job for us,” said Coach Pait. “We are pretty deep, but it is young depth – young in experience. Jimmy Williams played really good defense in the first half.”
Swett opened the second half with a 9-3 run that cut the Knight lead to 38-29, but Bowen dished a pass to McDonald for a lay-up, and Johnson stole the ball and raced for another lay-up.
McDonald beat the Ram press for a lay-up, then lobbed an ‘Alley-oop’ pass to Johnson for a lay-up and a 46-29 lead. Dent sent a pass to Johnson for another lay-up and a 48-33 West lead at the quarter break.
An Edwards 3-ball whittled the lead to 48-38, but McDonald dropped in 2 foul shots, Dent hit a free throw then drove for a lay-in and a 53-38 lead with 6:08 on the clock.
Robinson converted a McDonald pass into a lay-up, and Williams sprinted for a transition lay-up. Lennon turned a McDonald feed into a lay-up, then powered in a bank shot for the biggest Knight lead of the night at 61-43 with 4:28 left.
Swett rallied to within 65-55 with 1:56 remaining, but Dent swished 2 free throws, and Johnson hammered in another dunk off of a lob from McDonald. McDonald’s lay-up kept the lead at 71-58 with 49 seconds remaining.
“We are getting better,” said Coach Pait. “But we still have a long way to go.”
Senior guard Lamel Anderson led the Rams with 15 points, and Matthias Carter and junior Lucas Oxendine followed with 12 points each.
The Knights, now 3-1, will travel to Union Tuesday night to begin Four County Conference play.
West Bladen (61) – Kalvin Page, Jimmy Williams 4, Keshawn Lewis 2, Daquan Lennon 9, Stefan McDonald 15, Sayaun Dent 13, Malique McDowell 2, Shaquille Johnson 17, Jonathan Robinson 2, Will Lambeth, John Bowen 8.
Share on social media using Short Link: https://bladencounty.org/boys-basketball-…purnell-swett-61/
About Author
