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Alanna Ludlum sparked a 7-0 closing run, and Laikyn Pait posted a double-double with 31 points and 15 rebounds as West Bladen’s Lady Knights won a triple overtime marathon over visiting Pender 62-56 Wednesday night in Four County Conference girls basketball action.
After Pender went ahead 56-55 in the third overtime, Ludlum, a junior guard, sank a free throw to tie the game 56-56. On the next West possession, Ludlum darted through a pair of defenders for the go-ahead lay-up.
Ludlum then stole the ball and made 2 more free throws to pad the lead to 60-56 with 1:17 left. Pait came up with another steal and hit 2 free throws for a 62-56 lead with 1:00 remaining.
“I have preached to the girls to fight to the end, and they did that tonight,” said West Bladen Coach Rick Rhoda. “Alanna was clutch. She has tremendous resolve, and I know I can depend on her.”
Pait’s 31 points was a career-high, and the junior forward also came up with 4 key steals. “I told Laikyn it was time for her to step up and take charge,” said Coach Rhoda. “She knocked down that first three-pointer and never looked back.”
That first Pait 3-pointer came 26 seconds into the game. Junior Logan Autry drove for a lay-up, and Pait popped in a baseline 10-footer. Junior Jerena Purdie added 2 free throws for a 9-3 Lady Knight lead.
Daje Lewis and Ratavia Merritt answered with 3-point baskets that ignited a 13-1 Pender run and put the visitors up 19-10 midway the second period.
Pait halted the Lady Patriot run with a 3-pointer from the top of the key. The 5-9 junior canned a 15-footer and delivered four straight free throws. Junior Akira Grimes hit a pair of free throws, but Pender still lead 26-21.
Pait drained another 3-point shot and tied the game 26-26 at halftime with a pair of free throws.
Pender went up 30-26 to begin the third quarter, but sophmore Elizabeth Allbright dished a pair of assists to Purdie at the low post for a pair of lay-ups that kept West within 32-30.
After two Pender free throws, Allbright muscled in a rebound and tacked on a free throw for a 3-point play. Pait banked in a 3-point shot from the right wing, and freshman Erika McKoy turned a steal into a lay-up and a 38-34 Lady Knight lead at the quarter break.
Pender trimmed the margin to 38-37, but Pait hit a free throw and flipped in a 6-footer for a 41-37 West lead midway the final quarter.
Another Pait foul shot kept the Lady Knights up 42-39, but a rebound basket by Kamaya Nixon and a Lewis free throw tied the game at 42-42. McKoy and Pender’s Lewis traded free throws and regulation ended in a 43-43 tie.
Pait sank a free throw, and Purdie put back a rebound for a 46-43 West lead in the first overtime. A pair of Pait free throws and one by McKoy upped the count to 49-45 with 57 seconds remaining. However Taylor Marshall’s follow shot and a steal and lay-up by Lewis pulled Pender even at 49-49 and sent the game to another extra period.
Merritt’s 3-ball vaulted Pender into a 53-49 lead in the second overtime, but Grimes nailed a 3-point shot from the right wing. “Akira gave us a lift with a couple of big steals and made a clutch 3-pointer,” said Coach Rhoda.
After a Grimes steal, junior Kaylee Stevens tied the game at 53 with a free throw. Autry put West up 54-53 with a foul shot, but Lewis made two free tosses for a 55-54 Pender lead. Ludlum connected on the tying free throw with 9 seconds left in the second overtime.
Purdie totaled 9 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the first overtime. “We only had 3 post players available for the game because Jenna (Dove) has an ankle injury,” said Coach Rhoda. “But Kassidy (Anderson) came in and played big for us. I am proud of her.”
Ludlum finished with 6 points, and Grimes followed with 5 points and 6 rebounds. Allbright collected 6 rebounds, and Autry had 4 rebounds and 3 steals.
Lewis led Pender with 16 points, and Merritt followed with 12 points.
The Lady Knights improved to 3-0 in the league and 5-7 overall. West Bladen will travel to Clinton Friday night.
West Bladen (62) – Alanna Ludlum 6, Kaylee Stevens 1, Erika McKoy 4, Patience Parker, Kassidy Anderson, Logan Autry 3, Laikyn Pait 31, Elizabeth Allbright 3, Akira Grimes 5, Jerena Purdie 9.
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