The NCHSAA State Basketball Playoffs continue Friday night as all 3 Bladen County teams claimed 1st round wins. The West Bladen boys will be at home, while the East Bladen girls travel to Siler City, and the East Bladen boys will visit Mount Olive.
No. 14 Fairmont (20-5) at No. 3 West Bladen (24-1)
Gametime 7 p.m.
The playoffs will provide the rubber match for 2 teams who are co-champions of the Southeastern Athletic Conference and who split their 2 regular season meetings – West Bladen won 66-35 at ‘The Castle’ and Fairmont claimed a 47-40 win in Fairmont.
Tuesday night West Bladen defeated No. 30 Eastern Wayne 57-44, while Fairmont outlasted No. 19 Granville Central 60-47. Junior Chase Williams led the Knights to Tuesday’s win with 21 points, 7 rebounds and 6 blocked shots. Junior Hezekiah Adams contributed 16 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. Sophomore Jackson Pait fired in a trio of 3-balls and totaled 12 points and 6 assists.
For the season Williams averages 17.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.3 blocks per game. Adams supplies 12.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3 steals and 2.3 assists. Pait contributes 11.1 points and 2.1 assists. Sophomore Tylik McCall averages 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds, and senior Andre Moore adds 3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists.
Junior Landon Cummings topped a balanced Tornado attack with 13 points Tuesday night in the win over Granville Central. Senior Issac McKellar and junior center Josiah Billings followed with 12 points each. Senior Gabriel Washington chipped in with 10 points.
Cummings keys the Fairmont attack averaging 12.8 points and 6 rebounds per game. McKellar contributes 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds, while Billings supplies 10.1 rebounds and 5.5 points per game. Senior Naishon Davis adds 9.5 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, and senior Ty’Rek Thompson tallies 4.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
No. 12 East Bladen (22-4) at No. 5 Chatham Charter (24-2)
Gametime 6 p.m. Chatham Charter will not take cash at the gate. Fans must buy tickets at GoFan. https://gofan.co/app/school/NC71948
East Bladen’s Lady Eagles, the Waccamaw Conference co-champions, will travel to Siler City Friday night to battle Chatham Charter, the Central Tar Heel Conference champions. East Bladen pounded No. 21 seed North Edgecombe 83-63 Tuesday night, while Chatham Charter defeated Pender 59-43.
Coach Patty Evers’ Lady Eagles have swept all 3 of their games with Pender this season by scores of 58-51, 67-41 and 74-56.
Junior guard Iveonna “NeNe” Ward poured in 40 points in the Lady Eagle win over North Edgecombe, and junior teammate Laila Smith blistered the nets with 26 points. Smith was also honored with a basketball after the game for scoring her 1,000th career point in the Waccamaw tournament championship game. Sophomore Ariel Cromartie added 10 points against North Edgecombe.
Ward leads the East Bladen attack averaging 19.6 points, 5.2 steals, 4.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Laila Smith averages 16.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 4.5 steals and 3.3 assists. Cromartie adds 9.1 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 steals. Sophomore Niyah Wooten contributes 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 steals, and sophomore Cabria Baldwin collects 3.4 rebounds and 2 steals per game.
Chatham Charter’s only losses were to West No.4 seed Albemarle 65-64 and 51-49 to conference foe Clover Garden School, the No.18 seed in the East, and a team they beat twice 64-38 and 56-35.
Meah Brooks, a 5-9 senior, leads the Chatham scoring list averaging 20.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, and 5-5 freshman Hannah Headen fires in 18.5 points. Senior Delana Loflin scores 10.6 points and dishes out 2.8 assists.
No. 25 East Bladen (11-12) at No. 9 North Duplin (16-9)
Gametime is 6 p.m. Admission $7. Cash only.
East Bladen’s Eagles visit Mount Olive Friday night to battle North Duplin, the Carolina Conference champions. Tuesday night after a 200-mile trip and a ferry ride the Eagles defeated No. 8 seed Ocracoke 52-39, while North Duplin defeated Tarboro 90-70.
Senior Rodney Lacewell posted a double-double of 11 points and 16 rebounds as the Eagles outrebounded the Dolphins 42-20. Point guard Dominick Collins dished out 8 assists and scored 11 points, and sophomore Keyshawn Kemp grabbed 10 rebounds and tallied 8 points. Senior Lee Barnes led the East scoring with 12 points. Junior Kewone Maynor pulled down 8 rebounds.
Junior Donovan Armwood led the balanced Rebel attack with 18 points. Senior Dujuan Armwood followed with 14 points and 7 rebounds. Micah Lesesane, a 6-3 junior, recorded a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Brady Byrd netted 13 points, and junior Tev Collins added 11 points.
The Rebels are currently on a 12-game winning streak after starting the season 4-9. Dujuan Armwood sparks the North attack averaging 15.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Lesesane contributes 11.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Donovan Armwood adds 10.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3 assists.
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