DUNN –West Bladen used a strong first quarter and rode it to a 51-36 Four County Conference win on Friday over visiting Midway.
The Knights’ win — their 13th straight after two season-opening losses — improved West Bladen to 13-2 overall and 6-0 in the conference. Midway fell to 6-8, 2-4.
The Knights opened the game with a 16-6 run through the first quarter, fueled by a trapping defense along with a three-pointer by both Sayaun Dent and Scott Bowen.John Bowen also added a pair of buckets in the period.
The two teams settled into a back and forth struggle in the second, battling to a 12-12 knot in the quarter. John Bowen and Kalvin Page each buried a three-pointer for the Knights, who carried a 28-18 advantage into halftime.
West Bladen managed to eek out a 7-5 margin through a drought-infested third quarter and extended the lead to 35-23 before balanced scoring gave the Knights a 16-13 win in the fourth quarter that sealed the game.
Dent led all scorers with 16 points, while John Bowen added 12 points and Page contributed 10 points for West Bladen.
After a non-conference game at Fairmont on Monday, the Knights will go on the road Friday for a conference game at Union.