By Sonny Jones
ELIZABETHTOWN — The opportunity was there. So were the shots and the effort.
In the end, however, the rally fell short as East Bladen couldn’t overcome the scoring prowess of North Lenoir’s Tre’Shad Lynch nor having to play without one of its top scorers and ballhandlers Malcolm Bolden.
Lynch scored 27 points as North Lenoir held off the Eagles 53-49 on Tuesday night in the opening round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2-A boys’ basketball playoffs.
Bolden was unavailable for unspecified reasons, although East Bladen coach Aking Elting said it was a school-related issue.
“We showed a lot of heart coming back and tied it up,” Elting said. “This was a tough, tough ending to the season.
The Eagles trailed 49-39 midway through the fourth quarter, but got dunks from Yontee Dobson and Zamar Lewis, a pair of lay-ups by Dominick Collins and a bucket from Jacob Nixon to tie it at 49-all with 40 seconds remaining.
However, as he had throughout the game, Lynch scored with 11 seconds remaining after North Lenoir ran time off the clock that gave the Hawks the lead for good.
East Bladen committed two of its 21 turnovers in the final seconds. North Lenoir sealed it with three free throws.
“Coming out in a man-to-man defense (in the fourth quarter) was a good idea,” Elting said, “but not having your best ballhandler hurts. We still had a chance to win, though.”
North Lenoir scored the final six points of the first quarter for a 12-7 lead. East Bladen never led the rest of the way, although the Eagles tied it at 21-all on Rodney Lacewell’s three-point play with a minute left before halftime and again at 49-all with 40 seconds remaining in the game.
Zyaire Rosber added 17 points for the Hawks.
North Lenoir (15-12) advances to play at Franklin Academy on Thursday in the second round. Franklin Academy defeated Eastern Wayne 54-50.
East Bladen finished 19-7 and shared the Southeastern Athletic Conference regular season championship with West Bladen.
Nixon, Dobson and Collins each scored 10 points to pace the Eagles’ offense. Lewis had 9 points and 15 rebounds. East Bladen shot only three free throws and made two.
“It was a great season,” Elting said. “I think our seniors set the foundation for our future. I think they showed a good example of how to come out and win with class. I’ve had these kids since they were young. Losing them is going to drive me crazy.”
Seniors on the East Bladen basketball team were Malaki Monroe, Cameron White, NyQuan Richardson, Dobson, Nixon, Lewis and Bolden.
North Lenoir 12 14 17 10 — 53
East Bladen 7 16 10 16 — 49
NORTH LENOIR (53) — Malik Fuller 1, Zyaire Rosber 17, Tre’Shad Lynch 27, Malachi Ramsey 6, Genesis Wiggins 3, James West, Keyon Dunn, Amari Jones.
EAST BLADEN (49) — Dominick Collins 10, Malaki Monroe, Lee Barnes, Yontee Dobson 10, Jacob Nixon 10, Zamar Lewis 9, Peyton Tatum 3, Rodney Lacewell 7.
About Author
