ELIZABETHTOWN – A second-half West Bladen rally came up short as Wallace-Rose Hill held on for a 56-46 girls basketball victory over the Lady Knights on the second night of the East Bladen Holiday Classic.
Shi Carlton’s transition lay-up with 4:44 left in the third quarter pushed the Lady Bulldog lead to 41-18.
Sophmore Kasee Singletary nailed a 3-point shot and a free throw, and junior Carley Dawson turned a steal into a lay-up then put back a rebound to pull West Bladen to within 43-26 at the quarter break.
Seniors Chasitty Lacey and Mikayla Winebarger scored on rebound baskets to begin the fourth period. Junior Conner Brisson hit a free throw then stole the ball and raced for a lay-up. Lacey bombed in a 3-point shot to slice the Wallace lead to 46-36 with 5:35 remaining.
Senior Patience Parker flipped in a runner for the only West basket during a 7-2 Lady Bulldog run that padded their lead to 53-38 with 3:34 on the clock.
Dawson powered in a trio of rebound baskets, and Brisson sprinted for a transition lay-up as the Lady Knights narrowed the gap to 54-46 with 1:49 left. The Knights then suffered a pair of empty possessions before Sara Carlton’s lay-up with 43 seconds left sealed the verdict.
“We just got too far behind too early,” said West Bladen Coach Brian McCleney. “That has been the story of our season – the same thing happened last night and against Whiteville. It is like battling out of quicksand.”
Senior Elizabeth Allbright posted a double-double for the Lady Knights with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Dawson matched Allbright’s 10 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and had 3 steals. Lacey also tallied 10 points and snared 5 rebounds.
Brisson finished with 5 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Singletary added 5 points and came up with 3 steals. Winebarger and Scjada Ellison pulled down 6 rebounds each. West Bladen outrebounded the Lady Bulldogs 49-39.
Allbright turned a feed from Singletary into a lay-up to start the game then banked in a 6-footer off of a pass from Winebarger for a 4-2 West lead. However the Lady Knight offense went scoreless for the final 4:57 of the period as Wallace built a 13-4 lead at the quarter break.
Lacey followed her own miss for a basket then banked in a 3-point shot to keep West within 21-9 midway the second quarter. Allbright sank two free throws, and Parker cut to the basket for a lay-up off of a feed from Dawson that trimmed the margin to 24-13. Wallace closed the half with an 11-0 run that pushed the lead to 35-13.
Allbright began the second half with a lay-up off of a Winebarger assist then muscled in a follow. Singletary netted a free throw to whittle the lead to 37-18.
“I have never questioned their effort,” said Coach McCleney about his team. “They play harder for 32 minutes than any team that I have ever coached. Having Lexie Corrothers out (back injury) and Indiyah Williams out (broken foot) has really hurt us.”
Sara Carlton and Sadejah Murphy shared scoring honors for Wallace-Rose Hill with 13 points each. Shi Carlton followed with 10 points.
WEST BLADEN (46) – Conner Brisson 5, Chasitty Lacey 10, Mikayla Winebarger 2, Kasee Singletary 5, Carley Dawson 10, Patience Parker 4, Seniah Johnson, Brigit Zuniga, Scjada Ellison, Elizabeth Allbright 10, Nyasia Ellison.
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