East Bladen girls, JV boys win; varsity boys lose

Three weeks ago the East Bladen girls basketball team scored the first 12 points against North Duplin, but lost by 10 points.

Thursday night, the Eagles led for almost the entire game in beating North Duplin 44-38 in a Carolina Conference game played on Patty Evers Court.

Sana’a Singletary scored 12 points and Ariel Cromartie added 10 as East Bladen (15-4, 6-2 Carolina) remained in a three-way battle atop the standings with East Columbus (10-4, 6-1 Carolina) and North Duplin (14-5, 7-2 Carolina).

Master sports schedule | Standings

In Thursday’s other games, the North Duplin varsity boys held off East Bladen 62-54 and the East Bladen junior varsity boys’ team won 31-25.

“The last time they had two players score 21 points so we tried to take them away,” East Bladen girls’ coach Patty Evers said. “We held (Lilly Fulghum) to zero points and she ended up fouling out early, which helped. They had (Abby Rose), she’s a baller. Even though we were guarding her she had 25 points.

“The girls played hard. They still got a lot to learn on defense. We missed a lot of layups, but we kept it close enough to pull it out in the end. We needed a win like that against a good team.”

The Eagles trailed briefly, 6-2, in the opening three minutes. A layup by Ellen Battle off a pass from Singletary gave East Bladen a 10-8 lead and the Eagles never trailed the rest of the way.

North Duplin remained within striking distance. East Bladen led 20-19 at half and built a 30-21 lead three minutes into the third quarter before the Rebels rallied and trailed 32-28 at the end of the third quarter.

The score remained tight throughout the fourth quarter until East Bladen made four free throws in the final 40 seconds for a 44-36 lead. North Duplin scored with eight seconds remaining.

VARSITY BOYS

Jae’lyn Ingram scored 25 points and North Duplin made seven of eight free throws in the final 43 seconds en route to a 62-54 victory against the Eagles.

Keyshawn Kemp scored 24 points for East Bladen (5-13, 5-3 Carolina).

North Duplin (9-9, 5-4 Carolina) outscored the Eagles 19-3 in the second quarter for a 30-16 halftime lead.

However, East Bladen chipped away in the third quarter, pulling with 41-32. A basket by Dashon Campbell and 3-point field goal by Kemp brought the Eagles within two, 45-43, with 4:49 remaining.

Kemp’s third 3-pointer of the fourth quarter pulled East Bladen within two points again at 51-49 with 2:50 remaining. Campbell’s free throw with 55 seconds left kept the Eagles within a possession at 55-52 before North Duplin sealed it at the free throw line.

JV BOYS

East Bladen used a 9-0 second quarter en route to a 31-25 victory against North Duplin. Tyrone Freeman scored eight points to lead the Eagles (8-10, 7-1 Carolina).

East Bladen is scheduled to host Lakewood on Tuesday. It will be Senior Night.

VARSITY BOYS: NORTH DUPLIN 62, EAST BLADEN 54

North Duplin (62) — Lucas Dail 2, Lucas Gregory 2, Jae’lyn Ingram 25, Quan Stevens 9, Messiah Cooper 4, Noah Price 11, Carrell Phillips 9.

East Bladen (54) — Keyshawn Kemp 24, Tevin McLean 2, Khalil McKoy, John Monroe 3, Jaden Lewis 4, Landyn Scott 8, Conner Hill 3, Dashon Campbell 10.

VARSITY GIRLS: EAST BLADEN 44, NORTH DUPLIN 38

North Duplin (38) — Abby Rose 25, Reagan Herring 4, Abigeal Brown 5, Maggie Brown 4.

East Bladen (44) — Kayla Hall 7, Aaliyah Monroe 5, Ellen Battle 8, Ariel Cromartie 10, Tyliah Freeman, Julia Flowers, Sana’a Singletary 12, Niyah Wooten 2.

JV BOYS: EAST BLADEN 31, NORTH DUPLIN 25

North Duplin (25) — Cole Grady 9, Kruz Ortiz 9, Levi Scott 3, Jason Grandy 2, Chasen Acoff 2.

East Bladen (31) — Omar Powell, Damian Maynor, Ishaq Algozy 1, John High, Prince Powell, Joel Lewis 6, Fox Sutton 3, Benjamin Lent 6, Lakota Schmale 7, Tyrone Freeman 8.

THURSDAY, JAN. 29

HIGH SCHOOL

Basketball

Varsity boys: North Duplin 62, East Bladen 54

Varsity girls: East Bladen 44, North Duplin 38

JV boys: East Bladen 31, North Duplin 25

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Basketball

Boys: Clarkton 45, Nakina 27

Boys: Tar Heel at Whiteville

Girls: Clarkton 23, Nakina 17

Girls: Whiteville 31, Tar Heel 16

RECREATION

Basketball

7-9-Year-Old Girls

Pirates 8, Bulldogs 7

10-12-Year-Old Girls

Sky 17, Sparks 0

10-12-Year-Old Boys

Mavericks 17, Heat 5

Pacers 30, Knicks 12

FRIDAY, JAN. 30

HIGH SCHOOL

Basketball

Whiteville at West Bladen, JV girls 4 p.m.; JV boys 5 p.m., Varsity girls 6 p.m., Varsity boys 7:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, JAN. 31

RECREATION

Basketball

Lil Knights at West Bladen High gym

College

Semifinals

Duke vs. N.C. State, 8:30 a.m.

Wake Forest vs. UNC, 9 a.m.

Championship

Winners, 9:40 a.m

NBA

Semifinals

Thunder vs. Knicks, 8:30 a.m.

Spurs vs. Lakers, 9 a.m.

Championship

Winners, 9:40 a.m.