ELIZABETHTOWN- The East Bladen Lady Eagles defeated the West Columbus Lady Vikings for a 59-8 victory last Friday in a Waccamaw Conference match-up. It was senior night for the Lady Eagle backcourt duo of Iveonna “NeNe” Ward and Laila Smith as they rose to the occasion to help their team cruise to a sixth straight victory. Smith started the game by winning the opening tip and a few moments later would pick out Niyah Wooten for the game’s first basket.

The Lady Vikings were smothered by their opponents full-court press and they turned the ball over for easy buckets in transition. Wooten received a pass from Ward to stretch the Lady Eagles lead to 4-0. West Columbus called their first timeout after 30 seconds into the first quarter but the onslaught would continue.

East Bladen junior forward Cabria Baldwin snatched a steal to ignite a fastbreak before connecting a pass with Wooten; Wooten then launched a pass down the court to Ward for the fastbreak score to push the host ahead by 6-0. Ward would make the first three-pointer of the game after junior forward Ariel Cromartie was able to salvage a second chance opportunity on a missed shot. The host score would quickly balloon 23-0 by the end of the first quarter and the beginning of the second quarter was much of the same from the Lady Eagles.

Ward poked the ball away from her opponent before securing the steal and feeding Smith on the fastbreak for two as the lead continued to swell. The Lady Vikings attempted to push the ball up the floor with pace but the referee’s whistle halted their motion to cite a violation. The host proceeded to move the ball around the perimeter and settled for the long-range bomb to no avail; fortunately for the host, Smith was able to secure the offensive board before finishing at the rim to extend the score to 29-0.

The one-way traffic had the visitors searching for answers as they struggled to break free from their opponents defense. Sophomore guard Tatum Allen splashed the second three-pointer of the game as the host lead stretched to 42 in a blink. West Columbus guard Iyana Lowery banked a three-pointer from the top of the key to finally break the visitors deadlock with under three minutes remaining in the first half. East Bladen sophomore forward Navaeh Brown provided the host with an immediate answer a few moments later as she drained a lay-up.

The Lady Eagles went into the halftime break with a 51-3 lead to give them enough cushion to see out the game. Ward finished the first half with 14 points, four assists and she bagged five steals. Smith finished the first half with 12 points and she bagged plenty of steals herself. East Bladen approved their record to 18-3 and they improved their conference record to 10-0 with two league games remaining. They can secure their second straight Waccamaw regular-season title with a victory over the Pender Lady Patriots this Monday on the road.

Pender suffered a 61-23 defeat against the Lady Eagles in their first match-up of the season as they failed to corral their opponents on defense. The Lady Patriots are currently fifth in the Waccamaw standings at 3-5 and they’ve lost their last two games. East Bladen will also be slated to take on West Bladen(5-13, 1-7) this Thursday for their final regular-season game of the season. The East Columbus Lady Gators remain in the chase for the regular-season conference title as they move to 8-2 after defeating Whiteville by a 14 point margin.

East Columbus will be depending on Pender to squeak out a result against East Bladen this Monday for a chance at a share of the trophy. The Lady Eagles will claim first-place outright with a victory on Monday and they’ll get dibs on the top seed once the 1A playoff brackets are drawn. East Columbus will play Heide Trask and West Columbus for their final two games of the season. Whiteville and Heide Trask will go into this final week deadlocked at 5-4 as they both sit in third-place with two games remaining.

Both teams are fighting for the conference’s top-seed as the 2A representative for this year’s postseason. Whiteville will host East Bladen this Tuesday and conclude their season against South Columbus on Friday evening. Heide Trask will start their week against East Columbus on Tuesday at home, then they will host West Columbus and then conclude their season against Pender on Friday.

EAST BLADEN GIRLS BASKETBALL 24/25:

Tatum Allen SO.

Cabria Baldwin JR.

Neveah Brown SO.

Ariel Cromartie JR.

Taylor Dowless SO.

Tyliah Freeman SO.

Nia McKoy JR.

Aaliyah Monroe SO.

Sana’a Singletary FR.

Laila Smith SR.

Iveonna “NeNe” Ward SR.

Niyah Wooten JR.