Staff report
It seemed destined since December that West Bladen and Farmville Central would meet in the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A boys’ basketball playoffs.
Friday night, in Farmville, the Jaguars (23-4) will host West Bladen (26-1) in a fourth round game set to tip at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the East Regional championship game Thursday in Winston-Salem. The 2A state championship game will be played Saturday, March 15.
Tickets will be $8 at the door or $9 online at gofan.co.
The teams met in two intense non-conference games in December with each winning on its home court.
On December 10, West Bladen became the first 2A East team to beat the Jaguars since 2017 with a 66-62 victory at The Castle.
Knights center Chase Williams hd 25 points and 16 rebounds. Tylik McCall added 18 points. M.J. Williams scored a game-high 32 for Farmville Central.
On December 19, M.J. Williams scored 18 points in leading the Jaguars to a 66-58 win, handing West Bladen its lone loss this season. Chase Williams scored 35 points and had 11 rebounds for the Knights.
West Bladen has won 19 straight games since the loss in Farmville. The Knights are averaging 63 points per game and allowing a mere 33 points per game.
Williams averages 21.1 points per game for West Bladen and has 17 double-doubles this season. Jackson Pait averages 13 points per game and Hezekiah Adams averages 10.9 points per game.
Farmville Central averages 81 points per game and allowed 58 points per game. The Jaguars have won 16 straight and won the Eastern Plain 2A Conference title.
West Bladen is seeded No. 4 for the 2A East playoffs. The Knights have defeated No. 29 Ayden-Grifton 47-33, No. 20 Greene Central 58-47 and No. 5 Elizabeth City Northeastern 70-40.
Top-seeded Farmville Central have beaten No. 32 North Pitt 86-39, No. 16 Fairmont 80-50 and No. 8 Eastern Wayne 95-47.
Fairmont is the lone common opponent. West Bladen beat Fairmont in Southeastern Conference play 47-26 and 47-31.
The winner of Friday’s game will play the winner between No. 2 SouthWest Onslow and No. 3 Pittsboro Northwood for the East championship.
Author: Sonny Jones
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