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By Sonny Jones

It’s always disappointing to the end of a season unless, of course, it ends in a championship. Those are few and far between.

With the East Bladen girls’ 72-60 loss at Elizabeth City Northeastern on Thursday night, the 2022-23 Bladen County high school basketball season has come to a close.

While players, coaches and supporters are disappointed, it’s worth noting the overall success for Bladen County teams this season.

• The four Bladen County varsity basketball teams went 64-37, which is the most combined wins since 65 wins in 2015-16. East Bladen boys went 19-7, East Bladen girls 19-8, West Bladen boys 18-8 and West Bladen girls 8-14.

• The squads combined for a 63.3 winning percentage this season, which is the highest since 2014-15 (68%) and the fourth best winning percentage since 2010-11.

• Three of the four teams posted winning records which, excluding the shortened 2020-21 COVID-19 season when a dozen games was the most played by any team, is the first time since 2013-14 that’s happened. All four Bladen varsity teams finished with winning records in 2013-14.

• The East Bladen and West Bladen boys shared the Southeastern Athletic Conference regular season championship this season. The East Bladen girls won the conference tournament.

Yes, it’s disappointing that no team is playing Saturday in the third round of the state tournament, but give credit to the players and coaches for one of the better Bladen County high school basketball seasons in several years.

• By the way, the worst season for the teams since 2010-11, not counting the COVID season, was the 47-55 combined record in 2017-18. The East Bladen girls went 27-2 and accounted for 57% of the victories.

• In other games involving SAC-7 teams, the Fairmont girls beat South Lenoir 60-19, the St. Pauls girls beat Roanoke Rapids 66-64 and the St. Pauls boys lost to Goldsboro 92-53.

TWITTER POLL

There’s hockey in Raleighwood tonight. Cast your vote.

Which team wins Friday’s NHL game in Raleigh?

— Bladen Online (@BladenOnline) February 24, 2023

Thursday’s result: Which team wins the East Bladen at Northeastern girls’ basketball game?
• 19 votes – East Bladen 68.4%, Northeastern 31.6%
• Outcome: Northeastern 71, East Bladen 60

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

• 1980 — The United States hockey team wins the gold medal with a 4-2 victory over Finland at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, N.Y.

POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY

• PGA: Honda Classic, 2 p.m., GOLF

• SOCCER: Wolverhampton at Fulham, 3 p.m., USA

• NHL: Ottawa at Carolina, 7 p.m., BALLY SPORTS

• WOMEN’S LACROSSE: North Carolina at Virginia Tech, 7 p.m., ACCN

• NBA: Miami at Milwaukee, 7:45 p.m., ESPN

• SOCCER: CONCACAF U-17 – United States vs. Canada, 7:50 p.m., FS2

• NBA: Oklahoma City at Phoenix, 10:05 p.m., ESPN

• LPGA: Honda Thailand, 10:30 p.m., GOLF

Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.