ELIZABETHTOWN — Much like the familiar occupants of pews in a country church, sometimes things just get into place and all seems right with the world.
Scoop Campbell was back at the end of the bench, and the Lady Eagles’ defense he so enjoys watching was back baseline-to-baseline in front of him. East Bladen placed its grip on visiting Whiteville 69-60 Friday night, winning the girls high school basketball game as senior Patience Ward tossed in 37 points.
Ward scored 11 in the first quarter and 23 after intermission. It was hardly the look of a one-player show; the scores were on putbacks, assisted by teammates via steals in the press, and she was easily the most efficient of either team on shots inside 3 feet of the basket.
Ward signs with Wilmington’s Cape Fear Community College on Wednesday.
“I think we got our confidence back,” said sophomore Alexus Mitchell, who made all four of her free throws after intermission and scored 15 points.
Campbell is a 94-year-old hall of famer in the high school basketball hotbed of Indiana, a former referee and a grandfather to one of head coach Patty Evers’ former players. He’s had a spot at the end of the bench for about a decade, but lately had been recovering from a health setback while the head coach’s team has endured a few growing pains.
And there was that skid.
“We lost those three games in a row, which really did something to our confidence,” said junior Katie Evans. “The past games we’ve played, we haven’t really been the team that we should be. Tonight, we really came out and showed everybody who we really are, and how we really play.”
And they did it with multiple adversities.
East Bladen led 20-2 in the first quarter, 27-7 in the second but only 32-27 at intermission as I’Reonna Johnson bombed in 13 points in the second quarter. The Lady Wolfpack’s Trinity Smith warmed up, too. Whiteville had one possession within 34-33, then tumbled behind 57-39 climaxed by sophomore Maya McDonald scoring the first bucket of the final period.
Pivotal to the sequences was Evers putting junior Katie Evans on Johnson after halftime in a diamond-and-one scheme. Johnson made a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter and nothing else.
“Katie Evans did a super job,” Evers said. “I thought she did a great job on 21. We asked her to do that at halftime, and she did a good job. But then, it also created confidence off her defense because Katie went to the basket a couple of times. And we need to see that out of her.”
Even East Bladen’s “free throw defense” was excellent. Whiteville was a woeful 5-for-15 at the foul line; the Lady Eagles made 15 of 25. Smith’s 21 points led the guests, with Emily Hewett adding 17 and Johnson 16.
East Bladen moved to 7-1 in the Three Rivers Conference, still tied for second place, and 12-3 overall. The Lady Wolfpack went home 5-4 in the league, still in fourth place, and 8-7 overall.
“I’m real proud of them,” Evers said. “Alexus hit some big free throws. We missed nine free throws in the first half, and that’s been a constant problem. I thought we did better in the second half.”
Scoop was back, and so was the defense he and Evers love.
For a night, all was in place.
Scoop Campbell was back Friday night with the East Bladen girls team, smiling and enjoying the action from his customary spot at the end of head coach Patty Evers’ bench.
East Bladen’s Alexus Mitchell makes a pass around Trinity Smith on Friday night in front of a packed house. The Lady Eagles defeated Whiteville 69-60.
Junior Katie Evans earned praise for her defense Friday night, and on this occasion drove past Whiteville’s Tessa Nicholson.