CLARKTON – A 12-2 closing run sealed the verdict Tuesday night as Bladenboro’s unbeaten Bulldogs clinched at least a tie for the Waccamaw Middle School Conference’s A League championship with a 37-23 boys’ basketball victory over Clarkton School of Discovery.
Claxton Tatum sank 2 free throws with 3:23 left to pull Clarkton to within 25-21. Moments later the Blue Devils missed another chance at the foul line to trim the margin even more.
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Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
Bladenboro’s Kendell Lesane muscled in a follow shot and tacked on the free throw to complete a 3-point play and pad the Bulldog lead to 28-21with 2:49 on the clock. After Dasheon Campbell made a Blue Devil free throw, Jackson Pait nailed a 15-footer that stretched the lead to 30-22.
Kyran McKoy hit a free throw for Clarkton, but Gavin Elks drained a 3-point shot that stretched the Bulldog lead to 33-23. Two Blue Devil turnovers led to a basket by Pait, and an Elks lay-up that pushed the final margin to 37-23.
Pait keyed the Bulldog attack with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. Teammate Hunter Hester worked the paint for 7 points and 8 rebounds. Elks followed with 6 points, and Lesane pulled down 8 rebounds to go with his 4 points and 2 steals. Tylik McCall added 7 rebounds and 2 assists.
Campbell topped the CSD scoring with 10 points and snared 5 rebounds, but center Keyshawn Kemp grabbed a whopping 16 rebounds and tallied 6 points.
Pait banked in a runner to start the game, and Hester dropped in a pair of lay-ups off of assists from McCall and Elks. Jackson Smith made a free throw to keep the Blue Devils within 6-1 at the quarter break.
Lesane and Hester sandwiched free throws around a Campbell lay-up. Kemp popped in a leaner to slice the lead to 8-5, but Pait drilled in a 3-pointer for an 11-5 Bladenboro halftime lead.
Pait flipped in a runner then connected on a trio of free throws to start the 2nd half. Elks canned a free throw for a 17-5 lead, before Isaiah Robinson drove for a lay-up, and Khalil McKoy made a free throw. Pait rattled in a 10-footer for a 19-8 lead.
Campbell drove for a pair of lay-ups and cashed in 2 free throws, but Hester banged in a follow shot to keep Bladenboro up 21-14 at the quarter break.
Pait extended the lead to 23-14 with a pair of free throws, but Kemp powered in a pair of rebound baskets, and Campbell added a free throw to trim the lead to 23-19. Elijah McCollum knocked down a pair of free throws to up the count to 25-19.
Coach Joe Gore’s Bulldogs, now 8-0, can win the Waccamaw’s A League title outright with a win at Nakina Wednesday. Clarkton, now 4-3, will travel to Williams Township Thursday.
Clarkton 1 4 9 9 – 23
Bladenboro 6 5 10 16 – 37
Bladenboro (37) – Jackson Pait 18, Kendell Lesane 4, Tylik McCall, Justin Spaulding, Gavin Elks 6, Elijah McCollum 2, Jonah Bryan, Hunter Hester 7, Weston Hilburn, Keonta Hill, Ayden Ross, Blake Britt, Joshua Martin, Sincere McKinley, Robert McKoy, Ashton Davis.
Clarkton (23) – Keyshawn Kemp 6, Dasheon Campbell 10, Jackson Smith 1, Khalil McKoy 1, Isaiah Robinson 2, Kyran McKoy 1, Hunter Wood, Christopher Callihan, Claxton Tatum 2.
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