Local roundup: Fairmont girls beat East Bladen

Jan. 14—ELIZABETHTOWN — The Fairmont girls basketball team earned a key Southeastern Athletic Conference win over East Bladen Friday, beating the Eagles 65-48.

Fairmont (13-3, 4-1 Southeastern) handed East Bladen (10-3, 3-1 Southeastern) its first conference loss to anyone other than St. Pauls since a Dec. 8, 2017 defeat at Red Springs.

Taniya Simms had 17 points and 22 rebounds for Fairmont, Amyrikal Vaught scored 17 points with 10 rebounds, Sydney Jacobs had 15 points with 13 rebounds, Paris Bethea totaled seven points with five assists and four steals and Niah Smith had six points, five assists and five steals.

Fairmont plays at Red Springs in the opener of Saturday's MLK Classic at noon.

West Bladen boys upset Red Springs in OT

The West Bladen boys basketball team dealt Red Springs its first Southeastern Athletic Conference loss with a 47-42 overtime win Friday at Raymond M. Ammons Gymnasium.

Red Springs (11-4, 3-1 Southeastern) forced overtime after a game-tying 3-point shot by Kaedon Porter at the buzzer to end regulation. The Red Devils went on an 11-5 run to tie the game at 30-30; after a Jackson Pait 3 for West Bladen (11-5, 2-2 Southeastern) with 15 seconds remaining, Porter answered at the other end as time expired.

West Bladen jumped out to a 42-37 lead with 1:34 left in overtime; Makhi Arthur hit a 3 for Red Springs to get within two, but the Knights scored the next five points to lead 47-40 with 14 seconds left.

Red Springs led 10-9 after the first quarter; both teams did not score in the second quarter and that remained the tally at halftime. The Knights outscored the Red Devils 16-9 in the third to take a 25-19 lead.

Porter scored 13 points for Red Springs and Jamey Tedder had eight points with seven rebounds. Sturdivant and Arthur each scored seven, with Sturdivant pulling 10 rebounds.

Chase Williams led West Bladen with 18 points and had eight rebounds; Hezekiah Adams scored 13 points and Pait had 10. Andre Moore had nine rebounds for the Knights.

The Red Devils boys host Lumberton in final game of Saturday's MLK Classic, with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m.

East Bladen holds on to beat Fairmont boys

The East Bladen boys basketball team defeated Fairmont 55-52 in Southeastern play Friday.

East Bladen (12-2, 4-0 Southeastern) led Fairmont (4-11, 2-3 Southeastern) 34-21 at halftime.

Xavier Johnson scored 15 points to lead Fairmont, Isaac McKellar and Tyrek Thompson each had eight and Tyrus Morris and Damajah McRae each scored six.

Lady Red Devils top Knights

The Red Springs girls basketball team defeated West Bladen 61-49 in a Southeastern Athletic Conference matchup Friday.

West Bladen (8-5, 1-3 Southeastern) led 14-10 after the first quarter and 36-34 at halftime. Red Springs (8-7, 2-2 Southeastern) outscored the Knights 14-8 in the third to take a 48-44 lead, then held a 13-5 advantage in the fourth.

Nakira Hunt scored 18 points for Red Springs, Sydney Bell had 17 points and Monica Washington had 11 points with 11 rebounds.

Rylee Chadwick scored 18 points and Lainey Autry had 12 for the Knights.

Red Springs' girls host Southern Lee to open the MLK Classic at noon Saturday.

Defense leads St. Pauls boys past Clinton

The St. Pauls boys basketball team was dominant on the defensive end Friday to earn a 43-16 conference win at Clinton.

St. Pauls (7-7, 2-2 Southeastern) outscored Clinton (3-11, 0-5 Southeastern) 17-2 in the first quarter and held a 19-9 lead at halftime. The Bulldogs led 38-14 at the end of the third quarter.

Cameron Revels scored 11 points to lead St. Pauls, Tyson Thompson had nine and Marcus Galbreath scored seven.

St. Pauls' boys face Richmond in the Red Springs MLK Classic at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Lady Bulldogs top Dark Horses

The St. Pauls girls basketball team earned a 71-30 win at Clinton Friday for its 42nd straight conference win.

Jakieya Thompson had 25 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and 10 steals for St. Pauls (9-3, 4-0 Southeastern), Jashontae Harris had 25 points, six rebounds and seven assists, Zykendria Cox scored 11 points and Aniyah Easterling had seven points, five rebounds and six steals.

After the Bulldogs' win and East Bladen's loss to Fairmont, St. Pauls sits in outright first place in the Southeastern.

St. Pauls will face Southern Lee in the Red Springs MLK Classic at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Rams sweep Douglas Byrd

The Purnell Swett boys basketball team scored at least 20 points in each quarter as it earned an 89-65 win over Douglas Byrd in United-8 Conference play Friday.

Purnell Swett (6-9, 4-2 United-8) led Douglas Byrd (0-14, 0-6 United-8) 20-18 after the first quarter, 40-31 at halftime and 64-46 at the end of the third quarter.

Connor Harris scored 21 points to lead the Rams, Daniel Hunt had 12 points, Marcus Lowry and Adarius Grissett each had nine and Collin Sampson added eight.

Jaquarius Modlin led Douglas Byrd with 16 points, Zack Colon had 15 and Darnell Hinson had 11.

In the girls game, Purnell Swett earned a 74-45 win to improve to 14-1 overall and 6-0 in the United-8.

Purnell Swett plays Tuesday at Lumberton.