Sophomore Laikyn Pait came up with key plays early and late Tuesday night, and senior Delasia Richardson posted a double-double to lead West Bladen’s Lady Knights to a 42-31 Four County Conference victory over visiting Pender.
Pait topped the West Bladen scoring with 14 points. Richardson finished with 11 points and a game-high 17 rebounds as West Bladen dominated the backboards by a 51-32 margin.
Pait nailed her first two 3-point shots of the night, then made her first two foul shots to stake the Knights to an early 8-2 lead.
Senior guard Miriam Mendoza hit 2 free throws, and senior Delasia Richardson scooped up a loose ball and turned a lay-up into a 3-point play.
Sophomore Kassidy Anderson canned a free throw, and sophomore Akira Grimes made 2 foul shots to stretch the Lady Knight lead to 16-2. West led 16-3 at the quarter break.
Sophomore Alanna Ludlum drained a 17-footer to give the Lady Knights their biggest lead of the night at 18-3 with 7:12 on the first half clock.
Pender’s Daje Lewis bombed in a pair of 3-pointers and contributed 10 of her game-high 16 points to a 17-4 Pender rally that sliced the West lead to 22-20 at halftime.
Richardson dropped in lay-ups off of assists from Mendoza and senior Breanna Jackson for the other two West baskets of the second quarter.
Pait cut to the basket and dropped in a key lay-up off of a pass from Jackson to begin the second half. Sophomore Logan Autry fired in a 17-footer, and Jackson buried a 17-footer from the key to push the lead back to 28-22.
Grimes popped in a short jumper off of an Autry assist to put the Lady Knights up 30-24 at the quarter break.
Kourtney Messick’s lay-up pulled Pender to within 30-28 with 6:08 left to play. Richardson dropped in a free throw, then turned a Mendoza pass into a lay-up and a 33-28 Lady Knight lead at the 4:26 mark.
Pait’s follow-shot kept West ahead 35-29, but Lewis stole the ball and raced for a lay-up that narrowed the gap to 35-31 with 2:34 remaining.
The Lady Patriots missed two free throws with 1:46 left, before Pait drove across the lane and flipped in a 6-footer that put West up 37-31 with 1:06 left.
Richardson converted one of two free throws with 46 seconds on the clock, and Autry sank 4 straight foul shots in the final 28 seconds to close out the victory.
Autry totaled 6 points and 5 rebounds in the game. Jackson grabbed 14 rebounds, and Anderson and Mendoza also collected 5 rebounds each. Mendoza led the defense with 5 steals.
The Lady Knights are 8-3 in conference play and 12-9 overall. West Bladen travels to Clinton Friday night for a chance at pulling even with the second-place Lady Dark Horses.
WB (42) – Miriam Mendoza 2, Breanna Jackson 2, Alanna Ludlum 2, Kassidy Anderson 1, Akira Grimes 4, Delasia Richardson 11, Logan Autry 6, Laikyn Pait 14, Alex Perry, Jenna Dove, Kaylee Stevens.
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