West Bladen’s Knights rode a pair of second-half spurts to a 64-52 Four County Conference boys’ basketball victory at Midway Tuesday night that clinched at least a tie for the league championship for the Knights.
Coach Travis Pait’s Knights need only a win over rival East Bladen Thursday night to claim sole possession of the title. West Bladen improved to 10-3 in the league and 19-4 overall and leads Clinton by a game with one game left.
Midway guard Dariuss Perez had sliced the Knight lead to 35-29 with a 3-point shot midway the third quarter, but junior Stephon McDonald laid in a basket off an assist through traffic by senior Malcolm Vaught.
McDonald raced for another lay-up off of a feed from sophmore Sayaun Dent, then made an acrobatic catch and follow of a missed shot in transition to push the West lead to 41-29 at the 2:55 mark.
“Stephon had 2 really big plays for us.” said Coach Pait. “That putback was one of them. Stephon is really good at scoring in transition.”
Midway made 4 straight foul shots and closed the gap to 41-35, before West senior guard Rahu Purdie popped in a pull-up jumper. Midway’s Paris Smith beat the buzzer with a corner jumper to trim the margin to 43-37 at the break.
The Raiders narrowed the gap to 43-40 early in the fourth period, before Purdie pulled up in the lane, took a hit and buried the 12-foot jumper, then tacked on a free throw for a 46-40 lead.
Moments later McDonald scooped up a blocked shot and laid it in for a 48-40 lead. Purdie sank 2 foul shots to up the count to 50-40.
Senior center Brandon Council muscled in a follow shot to keep West up 52-43, before Vaught made 2 free throws, fed Dent for a lay-up, then assisted on a Purdie basket that stretched the West lead to 58-45 with 2:46 remaining.
Vaught and Council connected on 2 foul shots each in the final 2 minutes, and McDonald stole the ball and sprinted for another lay-up.
Purdie topped the West scoring with 16 points. Vaught followed with 13 points and 3 assists. McDonald dropped in 10 of his 12 points in the second half and grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds.
“Those three guards make plays,” said Coach Pait. “They played really well for us tonight.”
Council was the fourth Knight in double-figures with 10 points. “Brandon finished well around the basket,” said Coach Pait. Dent filled the stat lines with 9 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals.
Vaught nailed an early 3-point bomb, but Midway built a 7-4 lead before Dent flipped in a reverse lay-up. Purdie flew to the basket in transition for a lay-up, and Council tossed in a 10-foot turn-around.
McDonald hung in the air to bank in a transition bucket, and Vaught drilled a 3-point shot that edged West in front 15-11, but Midway rallied to tie 15-15 at the quarter break.
Purdie began the second period with a transition lay-up. Dent made 3 of 4 free throws and threw in a short jumper to give West a 22-17 lead, but Midway rallied back even at 22-22.
Council hurled in another turn-around to ignite an 8-0 run. Purdie hit 2 free throws, and junior Daquan Lennon’s pass set up senior Joseph Miller for a lay-up. Lennon kept his balance in transition for another lay-up that stretched the West lead to 30-22.
West led 30-24 at halftime, but Vaught drilled another 3-pointer for a 33-24 West lead to start the second half. Council’s lay-in kept the West margin at 35-26.
“I thought our help defense was atrocious in the first quarter,” said Coach Pait. “But we really guarded well in the second and third quarters, then kind of fell off again in the fourth.”
“We’ll take it,” concluded Coach Pait. “That’s a really good team over there. They play hard and keep coming at you.”
WB (64) – Justin Ruffin, Joseph Miller 2, Rahu Purdie 16, Malcolm Vaught 13, Stephon McDonald 12, Daquan Lennon 2, Brian Floyd, Sayaun Dent 9, Jonathan Robinson, Brandon Council 10.
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