03/28/2024
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West Bladen made a run early and a run late, but Purnell Swett rode a 20-4 surge to a 24-13 lead and eventual 40-33 non-conference girls basketball victory over the Lady Knights in Pembroke Tuesday night.

It was the season opener for West Bladen, and turnovers plagued both teams. The Knights committed 32 turnovers, while Swett was charged with 28.

Junior Laikyn Pait provided most of the firepower for the Lady Knights with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. Junior Akira Grimes added 5 points and 3 rebounds, and junior Kassidy Anderson finished with 4 points.

Sophmore Elizabeth Allbright pulled down 5 rebounds for West Bladen, and junior Jenna Dove grabbed 4 rebounds. Junior Logan Autry collected 4 rebounds and 3 steals.

Dove dropped in a lay-up off of an Autry pass for the first Lady Knight basket, and Pait swiped a Swett outlet pass and gave West an early 4-2 lead with a lay-up.

Grimes nailed a 17-footer from the corner, and Pait bombed in a 3-pointer from the top of the key for a 9-4 West Bladen lead with 4:05 left in the period.

Leanna Bird flipped in a turn-around to pull the Lady Rams to within 9-8 at the quarter break.

An Allbright free throw tied the game a final time at 10-10, but Bird turned a rebound into a 3-point play then hit from the baseline for a 15-10 lead.

Freshman Erica McKoy banked in a runner to trim the margin to 15-12 seventeen seconds before halftime. Elizabeth Locklear’s bucket put the Lady Rams up 17-12 at intermission.

Swett began the second half with a 7-1 spurt to go up 24-13, but Anderson drained a 17-footer, and Autry and Pait sank 2 free throws each to narrow the gap to 24-19 with 1:26 left in the quarter.

However Locklear’s four points sparked an 8-0 Swett run that stretched the Lady Ram lead to 32-19 at the quarter break.

Free throws by Pait and McKoy and 2 more by Anderson kept West within 34-23. Pait flipped in a one-handed runner, buried a 3-pointer and hit 2 free throws to bring the Lady Knights to within 37-30 with 2:02 left.

Grimes delivered a 3-pointer from the left wing to trim the margin to 39-33 with 1:18 on the clock, but two missed free throws with 56 seconds remaining proved costly.

Bird’s 9 points and 7 more by Locklear led the balanced Swett attack. Nine different players scored for the Lady Rams, now 1-3.

West Bladen (33) – Alanna Ludlum, Kaylee Stevens, Josselin Perez, Erika McKoy 3, Kassidy Anderson, Logan Autry 2, Laikyn Pait 16, Jenna Dove 2, Elizabeth Allbright 1, Akira Grimes 5.

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