St. Pauls is 9-1 against West Bladen since January of 2020, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Tuesday. The St. Pauls Bulldogs will head out on the road to challenge the West Bladen Knights at 7:30 p.m. The squads are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: St. Pauls has struggled recently with six defeats in a row, while West Bladen will arrive with 11 straight victories.
St. Pauls pushed their score all the way to 58 on Friday, but even that wasn't enough to win. Their tough 80-58 loss to Fairmont might stick with them for a while. While losing is never fun, St. Pauls can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 395th, while Fairmont is ranked 151st).
Even though the team lost, they still had their share of impressive performances. One of the most dominant came from Jamarcus Smith, who scored 13 points along with five rebounds. He continues to roll, besting his previous point total in each of the last three games he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Tyson Thompson, who scored 14 points along with six rebounds and three blocks.
Meanwhile, West Bladen stacked an 11th blowout win onto their ever-increasing hoard on Friday. They blew past Midway 56-31. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest win West Bladen has posted since December 7, 2023.
West Bladen found their leader in underclassman Jackson Pait, who scored 25 points. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Pait has scored all season. Chase Williams was another key contributor, scoring ten points.
St. Pauls bumped their record down to 7-9 with that loss, which was their third straight on the road. As for West Bladen, their victory bumped their record up to 13-1.
Tuesday's contest will pit two of the most dominant players against one another: Thompson and Williams. Thompson has been dynamite this season: he has averaged 12.7 points, 3.1 blocks, and 8.3 rebounds. For his part, Williams has averaged 18.2 points.
St. Pauls didn't have too much breathing room in their match against West Bladen when the teams last played back in February of 2023, but they still walked away with a 49-44 victory. Will St. Pauls repeat their success, or does West Bladen have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
