ELIZABETHTOWN — On a night when East Bladen recognized its seniors, it was a junior who led the Lady Eagles to a 49-26 Four County Conference win over visiting Wallace-Rose Hill.

Shardajah Brown turned in a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds — and threw in a blocked shot along the way — to carry East Bladen, which improved to 17-4 overall and 9-2 in the conference.

“Shardajah had her best game ever; the best of her career,” said East Bladen coach Patty Evers.

The Lady Eagles couldn’t seem to miss early in the game. Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson buried her first shot from beyond the arc to open the first quarter and, before the period closed, Brown and Moore-Peterson combined for 14 points to lead East Bladen to a 20-7 lead. The Lady Eagles closed the quarter with an 11-0 run fueled by a three-pointer from Brown, two buckets by Moore-Peterson and baskets by Brown and Justyna Gargala.

The scoring went through a drought in the second stanza, but the hometown defense shined. East Bladen got baskets by Brown, Gargala and two buckets from Yolanda Coston to win the quarter 8-3 and take a 28-10 advantage into halftime.

The Lady Bulldogs couldn’t come with any answers for the second half, and East Bladen opened the third quarter with a 6-1 spurt on a basket from Coston and two buckets from Brown. After Wallace-Rose Hill found its first basket of the second half midway through the period, the Lady Eagles closed the quarter with a 6-4 edge on baskets by Emily Scott, Brown and Moore-Peterson to carry a 40-17 lead into the fourth quarter.

Evers, who had already begun clearing her bench, substituted freely through the final quarter, but gave her seniors one last moment of playing time before pulling them late in the quarter. The Lady Eagles dominated the period and were on a 9-3 run until the visitors closed the game with a 6-0 spurt — enough to knot the quarter at 9-9, but far short of threatening the lead.

“We were a lot more patient looking for our shots,” Evers said. “And the seniors did some good things in their last regular-season home game.”

In addition to Brown’s 17 points and 10 rebounds, Moore-Peterson contributed nine points; Scott had six points and 10 rebounds; Coston added six points, six steals and five boards; Ashley Hardin had eight rebounds and five assists; and Patience Ward had eight rebounds.

The Lady Eagles will go on the road Tuesday for a conference game at Union High at 6 p.m.

W. Curt Vincent can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.

W. Curt Vincent

cvincent@civitasmedia.com