HOPE MILLS — Hunter Hester and J.T. Hepler belted home runs and drove in two runs Wednesday as West Bladen opened its baseball season with a 12-10 victory against Gray’s Creek.

The West Bladen boys and East Bladen girls will host second round games Thursday in the N.C. High School Athletic Association basketball playoffs.

Four days ago the East Bladen boys’ basketball team was on top of the mountain after making a surprising run to the Carolina Conference tournament championship.

LOUISBURG — Louisburg Magnet closed the game with a 30-5 surge over the final 12 minutes to pull away from West Bladen and claim a 67-44 victory Tuesday night in the opening round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A girls basketball playoffs.

CLARKTON — Braylon Melvin made a buzzer-beating shot Tuesday lifting Bladenboro to a 36-34 win over Clarkton in a Bladen County middle school boys’ basketball game played inside Harold L. Ford Gymnasium.

Address: 10433 N. College St., Clarkton

In the Beginning … There Were Grunts

Bladen County’s critical role during the Revolutionary War as part of “the race to Wilmington” was commemorated Sunday, Feb. 22 at Harmony Hall Village Plantation outside of White Oak.