ELIZABETHTOWN-The East Bladen Lady Eagles defeated the West Bladen Lady Knights for a 68-21 victory in a non-conference clash last Thursday. The Lady Eagles finished their regular-season by delivering a strong showing over their cross-county rivals. East Bladen’s top-three scorers of senior guard Laila Smith, senior guard Iveonna “NeNe” Ward and junior forward Aerial Cromartie scored 34 of the Lady Eagles 48 points in the first half. Smith took the rock coast-to-coast after blocking a shot on defense and finishing through contact to put the host ahead 10-4 in the early stages of the opening quarter.

West Bladen found it difficult to get the ball across half-court as their opponents were active with their press and set traps for double-teams. Despite the visitors’ struggles, they were able to cash in on a couple of three-pointers that kept the game close for just a moment. Junior guard Micheala Hester drained a three from the wing to close the visitors deficit to six with the first quarter creeping to an end. The Lady Eagles would eventually respond with a Ward three-pointer to stretch the host lead to nine. West Bladen failed to find an adequate response and the hosts were able to end the quarter up by 15.

Cromartie was able to finish at the rim after a hard foul sent her crashing to the floor and she proceeded to extend the Lady Eagles lead to 30-11 at the beginning of the second quarter. Smith delivered a no-look pass to Ward in the interior for a two-point flush a few moments later as things quickly trended towards a one-sided contest. West Bladen suffered several turnovers as their opponents smothered them on defense and their few shot attempts failed to fall through the hoop.

Smith pro-hopped her way past defenders to drain a lay-up from in close to stretch the Lady Eagles lead to 41-11 with under three minutes remaining in the first half. The visitors went scoreless in the second quarter and the host took all the momentum with them into the halftime break. Smith went into the break with 18 points, while Ward and Cromartie had 13 points apiece in the first half of action. East Bladen kept the same energy going into the third quarter as Smith began the second half with a finish from inside the painted area.

West Bladen turned the ball over on their first possession of the quarter and Ward sprinted down the other end for an easy flush. The visitors elected to call a timeout after a minute played to calm things down but would suffer the same fate with a turnover in a vulnerable position on the floor. Ward launched a forward pass to Cromartie for an easy uncontested finish to make the game 54-11. Hester subsided the visitors cold-run with a three-pointer in the final seconds of the third quarter as they went into the final eight minutes behind by 44.

The victory marks the 27th straight win on the hardwood for the East Bladen Lady Eagles over their county rivals of West Bladen. Head Coach Patty Evers and the Lady Eagles secured their second straight Waccamaw Conference Regular-Season title a few days earlier against Pender in a 52-25 victory. East Bladen’s overall record moves to 21-3 and they finish conference action with a perfect 12-0 record. They also wrapped up their conference schedule against Whiteville for a 39 point victory on the road before their match-up with West Bladen last Thursday.

East Bladen will have the top-seed when the conference tournament tips off next week and they’ll have dibs on the first round bye. They’ll take on the first round winner of Whiteville-Pender for their next game this Wednesday.

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.