A furious fourth quarter rally fell short Tuesday night as Wilmington Ashley held on for a 56-50 non-conference boys basketball victory over visiting East Bladen.
Ashley led 44-29 after 3 quarters, and Omar Sharaf’s 6-foot floater stretched that lead to 46-29 with 6:45 left to play.
Freshman Adonis Avery drained a 3-pointer from the left wing, and senior Jermaine Robinson bombed in a 3-ball from the right wing to narrow the gap to 47-35 with 5:05 remaining.
Senior Dayvon Powell muscled in a follow, and juniors Ethan Hines and Demetrius Wooten sank free throws to trim the margin to 48-39.
Junior Denzel Johnson drove for a lay-up, and Ethan Hines stole the ball and raced for another lay-up that pulled East to within 50-43 with 1:05 on the clock.
Wooten stole the ball and dropped in another lay-up that closed the gap to 51-45. After Ashley’s Qadhafi Turner hit 2 free throws, Johnson banked in a 3-point shot to whittle the lead to 53-48 with 12 seconds left.
Two more Turner free throws sealed the verdict 2 seconds later. Ethan Hines made 2 more free throws for East Bladen with 4 seconds remaining.
“You can’t just play hard for one quarter at the end,” said East Bladen Coach Ken Cross. “You have to start the game playing hard, you have to play the second quarter hard, and the third quarter hard.”
Robinson topped the East Bladen scoring with 13 points, and Johnson followed with 11 points. Avery buried a pair of 3-pointers for 6 points, and Ethan Hines and senior Chris Cromartie added 5 points each. Wooten led the fourth quarter rally with 4 steals.
Robinson scooped in a lay-up and nailed a 3-point shot to give the Eagles an early 5-2 lead.
Six-four Bryston Davis rallied Ashley with a lay-up and a 3-point shot. Six-eight center Ryan Keller added a lay-up, and 6-6 junior D. C. Russ popped in a turn-around for a 13-8 Screaming Eagle lead at the quarter break.
Another Davis 3-ball and a Daitreon Daye lay-up helped the home team extend their lead to 20-8. Johnson banked in a 3-pointer and hit another 3-pointer four minutes later for the only Eagle points during a 13-6 Ashley spurt that produced a 33-14 lead.
Cromartie powered in a lay-up and tacked on a free throw, and Eian Hines raced ahead for a transition lay-up that closed the gap to 33-19 at halftime.
Avery and Robinson threw in 3-point shots to begin the second half, and a pair of Robinson free throws kept East within 37-27.
Keller topped the Ashley scoring with 19 points, and Daye finished with 9 points. Turner and Davis added 8 points each.
East Bladen, now 1-3, will open Four County Conference play at Midway next Tuesday.
East Bladen (50) –Denzel Johnson 11, Jermaine Robinson 13, Demetrius Wooten 3, Dayvon Powell 2, Ethan Hines 5, Eian Hines 3, Sincere Smith 2, Derrick Burney, Chris Cromartie 5, Ty McMillian, Trevor Lloyd, Adonis Avery 6.
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