ELIZABETHTOWN – The seventh-seeded East Bladen Lady Eagles defeated the 23rd-seeded Columbia Wildcats for a 60-13 victory in the second round of the NCHSAA 1A East Regional last Friday. East Bladen’s Iveonna “NeNe” Ward led all scorers with 22 points and Laila Smith contributed 17 points in the second round victory. The Lady Eagles dominated the majority of the game and it was one-way traffic from the opening tip. Ward opened the scoring with an uncontested lay-up and Smith piled onto the lead a few moments later after the Lady Eagles forced a turnover on the inbounds pass.

The Wildcats struggled to move the ball down the floor and they suffered several turnovers throughout the evening. Junior guard Ariel Cromartie fed Smith underneath for a two-point basket to put the Lady Eagles ahead 7-0 with under four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Ward nailed her first three-pointer of the game from the top of the key after receiving a looping inbound pass from Niyah Wooten and a few moments later drained a two-point flush from in close to put the host ahead by double-digits.

Columbia scored a single free throw as they entered the second quarter behind 13-1 with plenty of time left to play. Smith opened the second quarter with a spin move inside and finished from in-close to extend the Lady Eagles lead. The Wildcats fell into their opponents trap once more to suffer yet another turnover and Ward made them pay with a three-pointer to stretch the deficit to 17. East Bladen got their next few buckets at the line going for a total of 9-for-10 in a minute span.

The visitors couldn’t get out of their own way and Smith would finish an easy lay-up in transition to make the game 29-1 with the first half coming to a close. Columbia got to the charity stripe and proceeded to go 50 percent on the attempts to bring their score tally to two points. Ward concluded the first half with a three-point dagger to take the Lady Eagles into the halftime break with a comfortable 44-2 lead.

East Bladen head coach Patty Evers let her second unit see out the rest of the game as they secured their 11th straight victory. The Lady Eagles won their first two games of the NCHSAA 1A East Regional by a combined score of 134-32. East Bladen’s third round game this Tuesday will be on the road to the number-two seeded Wilson Prep Lady Tigers. The Lady Tigers have an overall record of 25-1 this season and they scraped by with a ten point win over the 15th-seeded Neuse Charter Lady Cougars in their second round match-up last Friday.

The Lady Tigers were led by freshmen guard Paris Best with a 22 point performance in the second round. Best has averaged 17.6 ppg this season and she tops the scoring sheet of an explosive lineup. The winner of Tuesday game will face the winner of #3 Northside-Pinetown or #6 North Duplin in the fourth round this Friday. The number-one seeded Perquimans Lady Pirates will host the eighth-seeded Bear Grass Charter Bears on the other half of the NCHSAA 1A East Regional bracket. The fourth-seeded Wake Prep Academy Guardians will host the 12th-seeded Pamlico County Hurricanes in the other third round match-up for the Eastern half of the bracket.

The number-one seeded Bishop McGuinness Villains marched onto the next round after a 63-44 victory in the second round over Jackson Day in the NCHSAA 1A West Regional. They will host the ninth-seeded Queen’s Grant Stallions on one side of the bracket. The number-five seeded Mountain Heritage Lady Cougars will host the 13th-seeded Avery County Lady Vikings in the third round.

Defending state champions and this year’s number-two seed, the Cherokee Braves will host the seventh-seeded Christ the King Academy Crusaders in the third round this Tuesday. The number-three seeded Albemarle Bulldogs will host the sixth-seeded Uwharrie Charter Lady Eagles to fill out the other side of the West bracket.

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.