ELIZABETHTOWN – The East Bladen Lady Eagles have made it to the NCHSAA 1A Eastern Regional Final for the second straight year after defeating North Duplin in the Fourth Round last Friday night. They defeated the number-two seeded Wilson Prep Tigers by a 25 point margin last Tuesday night before going on the road to rout North Duplin. Senior guard Iveonna “NeNe” Ward dropped 25 points against the Tigers and followed it up by helping her team surmount a healthy first half lead in Friday’s game.
East Bladen have barely broken a sweat since the start of the playoffs as they’ve averaged 67.5 ppg and held their opponents to 30 ppg in the last four rounds. They’ve got plenty of big game experience over the years and the Lady Eagles are led by a head coach that’s familiar with what it takes to make long playoff runs in Head Coach Patty Evers. The seventh-seeded Lady Eagles moved to an overall record of 25-3, which equaled their win total from last season. Coach Evers and the Lady Eagles also have a chance to secure their fifth Eastern Regional Final Title in school history with a victory this Tuesday. The Waccamaw Conference Champs ran their half of the bracket but they will clash with the red-hot team on the opposite side of the bracket in the final.
East Bladen will take on the number-one seeded Perquimans Lady Pirates this Tuesday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Coliseum on the campus of Wake Forest. The number-one seeded Lady Pirates have won their last 11 games and they’ve been breezing through their competition this postseason. They defeated the number-four seeded Wake Prep Academy Guardians by a 39 point margin to book their trip to the NCHSAA 1A East Regional Final. This is the furthest Perquimans has made it in the postseason in recent years and they were booted out in the third round last season. The Lady Pirates have been making a statement this season by winning these last four rounds by a combined score of 274-91.
Senior guard Lailana Marie Harris is the Lady Pirates primary ball-handler, as well as her team’s leading scorer with 16.7 ppg this season. The NCHSAA 1A West Regional Final will be contested by number-one seeded Bishop McGuinness Villains and the number-two seeded Cherokee Lady Braves this Tuesday. Bishop McGuinness defeated fifth-seeded Mount Heritage for a 60-42 victory to book their trip to the final. The Villians will have a shot to avenge their loss against Cherokee from last season’s NCHSAA 1A Western Semi-Final and look to claim their third state title in the last four seasons.
Cherokee are the defending state champions and they’ve been cruising through their half of the bracket to earn an opportunity to repeat as 1A West Regional Champs. They defeated Bishop McGuinness by a six-point margin en route to their schools first ever state title. The Lady Braves have three players averaging over double-digit figures on the score sheet and they’ve been equally impressive on the defensive side of the ball by holding their postseason opponents to 33.8 ppg. The State Title game will be set for this Friday, with a time still to be determined after the conclusion of this Tuesday’s game.
Tuesday’s 1A Regional Championship Games:
2:00 PM — 1A West Boys: (5) Corvian Community vs. (3) Queen’s Grant
4:00 PM — 1A East Girls: (7) East Bladen vs. (1) Perquimans
6:00 PM — 1A East Boys: (2) Southern Wake Academy vs. (1) Washington County
8:00 PM — 1A West Girls: (2) Cherokee vs. (1) Bishop McGuinness