By John Clark
CLINTON –Freshman Josiah Sanders and senior Cameron Revels sparked a 12-2 run that rallied St. Pauls to a 49-44 victory over West Bladen Thursday night in the boys’ semi-finals of the Southeastern Athletic Conference tournament.
St. Pauls improved to 14-12 and will battle East Bladen – a 64-38 winner over Red Springs – in Friday night’s championship game. West Bladen, the SAC-7 regular season co-champions, saw their 7-game winning streak snapped and will now await Saturday’s release of the state playoff pairings.
Freshman Jackson Pait drained a 3-point shot, sophomore Chase Williams hit a free throw then buried a long 2-point shot to give the Knights a 35-29 lead with 24 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.
Sanders, a 6-6 post player, trimmed the margin to 35-31 with a follow shot as the quarter ended then began the final period with a driving lay-up. Sanders squeezed through some traffic to bang in a basket that resulted in a 3-point play and a 36-35 Bulldog lead.
Knight sophomore Hezekiah Adams turned a rebound basket into a 3-point play that sliced the margin to 41-40. Revels traded baskets with West freshman Tylik McCall to keep St. Pauls up 43-42, before Sanders dropped in another lay-up with 1:39 on the clock.
A lay-up and a follow shot by senior Elijah Blanding stretched the lead to 49-42, before Williams arched in a fade-away 12-footer with 11 seconds left.
“Five huge mental mistakes hurt us at the end,” said Knight Coach Travis Pait. “We let them have three 3-point baskets by not closing out on them, and we had 2 big turnovers when we were down.”
The 6-7 Williams keyed the Knight attack with 19 points and 4 rebounds. Pait threw in a trio of 3-balls and finished with 12 points. Adams added 6 points and 5 rebounds. For the game the tall Bulldogs – led by 6-9 Tyson Thompson’s 7 rebounds – outrebounded the Knights 31-19 and held a 17-9 rebound edge in the 2nd half.
Blanding led the St. Pauls scoring with 11 points. Senior Lukus Osborne followed with 10 points, and Sanders and Revels tallied 9 points each.
Five points each from Blanding and Osborne sparked the Bulldogs to an early 10-5 lead. Williams started the game with a 3-point play, turned a feed from Adams into a lay-up then spun to the rim for another bucket. Junior Andre Moore bombed in a 3-pointer, and Adams drove to the rim for a basket and eventual 3-point play that edged the Knights ahead 13-12.
Pait knocked down a 3-point shot to begin the 2nd period then fired a full-court pass to Williams for a lay-up and an 18-12 West lead. Osborne and Revels flipped in buckets for St. Pauls, but McCall sent an assist to senior Gary Parker for a lay-up. Thompson’s follow shot whittled the Knight lead to 20-18 at halftime.
Williams started the 2nd half with a free throw, but baskets from Marcus Galbreath and Blanding put the Bulldogs ahead 22-21. Pait was fouled on a 3-point attempt and swished all 3 free throws for a 24-22 West lead. Galbreath vaulted St. Pauls ahead 26-24 with a lay-up and a 12-footer.
Williams toed the 3-point line on a long 2-pointer to tie the game. Pait and Osborne traded 3-point baskets as the game remained tied 29-29.
St Pauls 12 6 13 18 — 49
West Bladen 13 7 15 9 — 44
ST. PAULS (49) – Jordan Cook, Cameron Revels 9, Lukus Osborne 10, Elijah Blanding 11, Kemarion Baldwin 2, Marcus Galbreath 6, Theo Setzer, Jamir McMillan, Josiah Sanders 9, Antigone McCollum, Tyson Thompson 2.
WEST BLADEN (44) – Jackson Pait 12, Hezekiah Adams 6, Tylik McCall 2, Andre Moore 3, Gary Parker 2, Anthony Mitchell, Chase Williams 19.
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