By Sonny Jones
Bladen County’s four high school basketball teams will recognize senior players tonight in ceremonies as part of the final regular season home games.
East Bladen will host Red Springs and West Bladen will host St. Pauls in Southeastern Athletic Conference games. The regular season ends Friday with both Bladen schools playing away.
Here are the seniors listed on the rosters for each team:
EAST BLADEN BOYS: Malcolm Bolden, NyQuan Richardson, Malaki Monroe, Cameron White, Yontee Dobson, Jacob Nixon, Zamar Lewis
WEST BLADEN BOYS: Gary Parker, Walter Bealon, Anthony Mitchell
EAST BLADEN GIRLS: AnnaGrey Heustess, Karli Priest, Maegan Burney, Brianna Phillips
WEST BLADEN GIRLS: Lainey Autry, Makayla Wright, Rylee Chadwick, Kirsten Warrick
Here’s hoping the players and their families enjoy the moment. Rest assured the wins and losses will fade away, but the memories you’ve made during your time playing sports in high school will last a lifetime. You’ll look back on them fondly.
SOUTHEASTERN BASKETBALL RACES
The St. Pauls boys control the race for the regular season title and Fairmont and St. Pauls are battling for the girls title. How it all plays out by late Friday night is anyone’s guess.
The final week is important race even with a conference tournament scheduled the following week. The regular season winner is deemed the conference champion and will get the highest seed for the state playoffs even if it doesn’t win the tournament.
In the boys race, St. Pauls is 8-2 while East Bladen, West Bladen and Red Springs are 7-3. St. Pauls can clinch the crown, but the Bulldogs won’t have an easy path with games at West Bladen and home against East Bladen.
Here’s the schedule:
Tuesday
Red Springs at East Bladen
St. Pauls at West Bladen
Friday
West Bladen at Midway
East Bladen at St. Pauls
Fairmont at Red Springs
Which team will win Tuesday’s game?
— Bladen Online (@BladenOnline) February 7, 2023
In the girls race, Fairmont is 10-1 and St. Pauls is 9-1. The teams split their regular season meetings and did not play each other in the Robeson Shootout holiday tournament. East Bladen and Red Springs are 6-4 and will play for third place tonight. Red Springs won an earlier meeting against the Eagles.
Here’s the schedule:
Tuesday
Red Springs at East Bladen
St. Pauls at West Bladen
Friday
East Bladen at St. Pauls
Fairmont at Red Springs
Which team will win Tuesday’s game?
— Bladen Online (@BladenOnline) February 7, 2023
Buckle up! It figures to be an intense and exciting week of high school basketball.
TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
• 2016 — Von Miller forces two fumbles to set up Denver’s two touchdowns and the Broncos defense frustrates Cam Newton all game to carry Peyton Manning to his second Super Bowl title with a 24-10 victory over the Carolina Panthers.
POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY
• BASKETBALL: North Carolina at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ESPN
• BASKETBALL: East Tennessee State at UNC Greensboro, 7 p.m., ESPNU
• NBA: Phoenix at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m., TNT
• BASKETBALL: N.C. State at Virginia, 9 p.m., ACCN
• NBA: Oklahoma City at L.A. Lakers, 10 p.m., TNT
Sonny Jones can be reached at wibbyj@gmail.com.
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