WHITEVILLE — East Bladen got a double-double from Patience Ward and used an 18-point fourth quarter to rally past upset-minded Whiteville on Tuesday, 52-44.
The Three Rivers Conference win improved the Lady Eagles to 7-1 in the conference and 11-1 overall.
The Lady Wolfpack opened the game with a 14-9 run through the first quarter and, although East Bladen won the second stanza by a 12-9 margin, Whiteville still carried a 23-21 advantage into halftime.
The Lady Eagles began to take control in the second half, outscoring Whiteville by a 13-8 margin in the third quarter to take a 34-31 lead going into the fourth frame.
The offense began clicking for East Bladen over the final eight minutes, dropping in 18 points to seal the win as the defense held the Lady Wolfpack to 13 points down the stretch.
“Everybody played to their potential and did good things on both ends of the court,” said East Bladen coach Patty Evers. “Lorna (Mendell) and Shardajah (Brown) did a good job in the post defending and guards Erica (McKoy), Ja’Tyra (Moore-Peterson) and Patience worked the ball up the floor in transition to get us ahead.”
Ward led the Lady Eagles with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four steals, while Moore-Peterson contributed 14 points and six rebounds. McKoy added eight assists and had five rebounds for East Bladen, while Mendell turned in six rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
East Bladen will travel for a non-conference game Wednesday at Wallace-Rose Hill at 6 p.m., then travel to Tabor City for a conference tilt against South Columbus on Friday at 6 p.m.