FAIRMONT — West Bladen High found itself in a quick hole Tuesday, then saw it get deeper in the second half en route to a 77-62 loss to Fairmont High.
The non-conference blemish gives the Knights a 1-2 record.
West Bladen battled early and, on the strength of a three-pointer from Malcolm Vaught, took a 9-8 lead over the Golden Tornadoes. But that’s about when things began to go sour.
Fairmont went on a 12-4 run to finish the first frame and took a 20-13 lead into the second stanza.
The Knights whittled the deficit to 22-17 early in the quarter, then pulled to with three at 33-30 midway through, but the two teams ended up trading 25 points each over the 8 minutes and the Tornadoes too a 45-38 lead into intermission.
Fairmont came out in the second half and reeled off a 15-4 spurt that extended its lead to 60-42. West Bladen, which was held basketless over 6 minutes, found itself trailing by a 64-47 margin to start the fourth quarter.
The Knights went on a scoring flurry to open the quarter, getting a three-pointer from Vaught, and sliced the Fairmont lead to 64-55 at about the 5-minute mark. But the Tornadoes used a 13-7 run to close out the game.
“I thought we played well for most of the game,” West Bladen coach Travis Pait said. “They have a really good team — probably one of the best 2-A teams in the area.
“Really, I’m excited about our team,” he added. “We’re getting better and I think we’re ahead of our expectations.”
A trio of Knights — Vaught, Devonte Smith and Nate Pryor — led West Bladen with 15 points each. Vaught nailed three three-pointers and Pryor pulled down 10 rebounds. Rahu Purdie added 10 points with two three-pointers and seven rebounds.
West Bladen will host West Columbus High on Friday.
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