DUBLIN – West Bladen’s Knights rallied from a 12-point deficit and defeated St. Pauls 80-77 in overtime Friday night in Three Rivers Conference boys basketball action.
Seniors Gerardo Reyes and Jonathan Robinson sank free throws, and junior Kerron Baldwin-Washington flew down the court for a lay-up and a 73-69 lead at the 2:32 mark of the overtime period.
Freshman Shyron Adams hit a free throw, and sophmore Tyre Boykin drove for a lay-up and a 76-71 Knight lead with 1:19 left. Emonta Smith’s lay-up pulled St. Pauls to within 76-75, but Boykin cashed in 2 free throws for a 78-75 West lead with 16 seconds remaining.
Anthony Campbell’s lay-up sliced the margin to 78-77 with 5 seconds on the clock, but Knight senior Jimmy Williams made 2 free throws with 4 seconds left to clinch the victory.
“This is a really good win against a really good team,” said Knight Coach Travis Pait. “Our guys just kept fighting and fighting. They played hard and worked hard. They deserved a win like this.”
The Bulldogs forged an early 13-4 lead, but Williams nailed a 3-point shot, junior Drew Harris flipped in a short jumper, sophmore Trashawn Ballard muscled in an 8-footer and Boykin drove for a lay-up that cut the lead to 15-13 at the quarter break.
Another Bulldog run pushed the margin back to 26-17, but Williams buried a 3-point shot and 2 free throws. Reyes canned 2 free throws to close the gap to 28-24.
A dunk and 5 more points from Bulldog star Romeo Jordan padded the lead to 35-26, before Robinson’s follow shot pulled West to within 35-28 at halftime.
Smith’s 3-point shot put St. Pauls up 38-28, before Williams and Adams knocked down 3-point shots to narrow the lead to 38-34. A driving lay-up by Boykin, another Adams 3-ball and a Robinson jump-hook brought the Knights to within 46-41.
Junior Keshawn Lewis fired in a 3-pointer then hurled in a runner to keep the margin at 51-46. Williams pulled up for a 14-footer that kept West Bladen within 54-48 at the third quarter break.
Three-point bombs from Smith and Jordan gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead at 60-48 with 6:48 remaining in regulation. Williams popped in a fade-away then drained a 3-point shot. Robinson and Adams hit free throws to whittle the lead to 60-55.
Adams bombed in another 3-pointer, and Reyes made a free throw to bring West within 60-59 with 3:42 left. Lewis pumped in a 10-footer, and Robinson muscled in a follow shot to tie the game 63-63.
A free throw each from Boykin and Williams and 2 free throws by Lewis tied the game 67-67. Adams stole the in-bounds pass and tossed in a lay-up to give the Knights their first lead at 69-67, but Jordan sent the game to overtime with a pair of free throws.
Williams led the Knights with 24 points. Boykin and Adams finished with 13 points each. Lewis tallied 9 points, and Robinson scored 8 points. Adams also collected 5 steals and 4 rebounds. Robinson finished with 6 rebounds and 3 steals, and Harris had 4 rebounds.
“Tyre did a great job for us when we spread the floor in the overtime,” said Coach Pait. “Jonathan did some good things for us, and Shyron started going after the ball on defense. That really changed the game for us.”
Jordan topped all scorers with 28 points for St. Pauls. Smith finished with 15 points, and Sean McNeil added 10.
West Bladen will travel to South Columbus Tuesday night.
WEST BLADEN (80) – Drew Harris 2, Jaheim Lesane 2, Kerron Baldwin-Washington 3, Jimmy Williams 24, Keshawn Lewis 9, Tyre Boykin 13, Shyron Adams 13, Trashawn Ballard 2, Gerardo Reyes 4, Jonathan Robinson 8.
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