East Bladen’s Jakie Medina-Leal, left, and Iveonna “NeNe” Ward will play in the N.C. Coaches Association East-West All-Star games next week in Greensboro.
File photos
Two athletes who were selected conference player of the year in their respective sports will represent East Bladen High School in the N.C. Coaches Association East-West All-Star games next week.
Iveonna “NeNe” Ward will be a member of the East girls’ basketball team that is scheduled to play Monday, July 21 at 6:30 p.m. inside Novant Health Field House at Greensboro Coliseum. The boys’ game will follow.
Jakie Medina-Leal will represent the East in the girls’ soccer game set for Tuesday, July 22 at Jamieson Stadium in Greensboro. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. The boys’ game will follow.
Ward wasn’t selected to the original girls’ basketball team, but was named as a replacement for Ashanti Fox of Union Pines.
“I really thought it was a joke at first,” Ward said about the text from Coach Patty Evers telling her that she had been added to the East team. “It was just unreal and I’m really grateful.”
Ward led East Bladen to the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A Final Four in each of her final two seasons, including a berth in the state championship game last March that had the Eagles losing to Cherokee.
Playing point guard, Ward led the Eagles in scoring last season with a 19.4 average and made 76 3-point field goals while being named the Waccamaw Conference girls’ basketball player of the year. She averaged 20 points per game and made 58 3-pointers during her junior season. She scored 1,648 points and made 181 3-pointers in her four seasons as a varsity player. East Bladen had a 96-21 record during that time.
“I’m just going (to Greensboro) to have fun and to learn from this group of girls that I’ll be playing with,” Ward said. “This was not really expected, so, for this to happen, I’m just going to go up there and enjoy it.”
Medina-Leal was the Waccamaw Conference girls’ soccer player of the year last spring and was an all-conference selection all four of her seasons at East Bladen. She also was the first two-time N.C. Soccer Coaches Association all-state selection and was an all-region selection by the organization the past four seasons.
“I feel happy and thankful for having this opportunity,” Medina-Leal said. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to be high intensity, a higher level of soccer and I’ll need to work hard.”
Medina-Leal was an original selection to the East squad and learned about it during an East Bladen practice from Coach Jay Raynor prior to the end of the season.
In 68 games at East Bladen, Medina-Leal scored 79 goals and had 82 assists. The Eagles compiled a 60-12-5 record in her four seasons and qualified for the state playoffs each season.
“I feel proud of all the things that we accomplished as a team at East Bladen,” Medina-Leal said. “Knowing that we’re from a small town. I feel like we definitely made an impact. A lot of people have started to pay attention to us. I feel thankful for being able to achieve all of the stuff that I’ve gotten and, overall, proud of myself.”
Medina-Leal will be the second East Bladen girls’ soccer player to participate in the annual all-star game. Maya McDonald played in 2022.
Ward will be the fourth East Bladen girls’ basketball player to appear in the East-West game. Pam Hammond, who played at North Carolina, was on the 1981 team. Ann Hancock, currently the head coach at Wingate University, where she also played, and former head coach at UNC Wilmington, appeared in 1988. Courtney Melvin was named the game’s Most Valuable Player in 2011.
Sonny Jones can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @FOSonnyJones.