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By Sonny Jones

So, this is what happens in the Bladen County sports world when Friday falls on the 13th day of the month. This happened on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023.

• Neither the West Bladen nor Red Springs varsity boys basketball teams score in the second quarter. No points at all. Neither team was holding the ball. Red Springs led 10-9 at the end of the first quarter and at half.

• The Knights won the game 47-42 in overtime. The teams combined to score 23 points in the 3-minute extra session with West Bladen scoring 14 after no scoring in the 8-minute second quarter.

• The East Bladen varsity boys basketball team made only 5 of 20 free throw attempts in the fourth quarter yet still won, holding off Fairmont 55-52. The Eagles made only 11 of 35 free throws for the game.

• The East Bladen-Fairmont varsity boys game ended when a Golden Tornadoes 3-point attempt fell just short of the rim. The West Bladen-Red Springs varsity boys game was sent to overtime when the Red Devils’ Kaedon Porter sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

• The East Bladen varsity girls basketball team lost a conference game to a team other than St. Pauls for only the third time since Dec. 8, 2017 when Red Springs won 43-35 in a Three Rivers 1-A/2-A Conference contest. The Eagles also lost to conference foe Whiteville 62-59 on Jan. 23, 2020 during the COVID-shortened season.

• The St. Pauls varsity boys basketball team held Clinton to only 16 points in a 43-16 victory.

The next Friday the 13th is in October. It will be a high school football Friday night. Stay tuned.

The events of Friday the 13th must have carried over into Saturday. Saw Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen, while standing, catch a puck in his glove, toss the puck in the air to try to swat it down the ice. The puck glanced off the stick of a Pittsburgh player in front of the net, bounced over Andersen’s head and into the goal for the Penguins’ only goal in Carolina’s 2-1 win at PNC Arena. Bet Andersen doesn’t try that move again.

• Trevor Lawrence has cemented his legacy in Jacksonville Jaguars history after leading the team to a come-from-behind 31-30 playoff victory against the Los Angeles Charges on Saturday night. Lawrence threw four interceptions in the first half and three touchdowns in the second half. Jacksonville won it on the final play when Riley Patterson’s 36-yard field goal eased between the uprights.

• Three more NFL playoff games today. Can’t imagine the Bills, Vikings nor Bengals losing at home, but it’s the NFL, so there may be an upset brewing. Maybe Giants over Vikings.

TODAY IN SPORTS HISTORY

• 2018 – US Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Simone Biles says she is one of more than 130 women sexually abused by former team doctor Larry Nassar

POTATO PICKS TO WATCH TODAY

• SOCCER: Crystal Palace at Chelsea, 9 a.m., USA

• WOMEN’S HOCKEY: U-18 World Championships – United States vs. Finland, 10 a.m., NHLN

• NFL: Wild Card Playoff – Miami at Buffalo, 1 p.m., CBS

• BASKETBALL: South Florida at East Carolina, 1 p.m., ESPN2

• SOCCER: Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 1:30 p.m., ABC

• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: N.C. State at North Carolina, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

• WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Duke at Georgia Tech, 4 p.m., ACCN

• NFL: Wild Card Playoff – N.Y. Giants at Minnesota, 4:30 p.m., FOX

• PGA: Sony Open, 4 p.m., NBC and 6 p.m., GOLF