A trio of Bladen County girls were recently named to the All-Southeastern Athletic Conference basketball team following the 2021-22 season.
EAST BLADEN
The Lady Eagles, who finished the season with a 26-4 record and marched to the East region semifinals before bowing out, placed both senior Maya McDonald and senior Alexus Mitchell on the All-SAC team
McDonald led East Bladen with 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four steal per game. She recorded seven double-doubles during the season and had a triple-double against Clinton when she scored 18 points, grabbed 14 boards and had 10 assists.
She may have been at her best in the playoffs, when she pulled down 24 rebounds against East Carteret and had a double-double against North Lenoir with 21 points and 10 boards.
McDonald was also recently named to the first team of District 2 by the N.C. Basketball Coaches Association.
Mitchell pumped in 11.3 points per game and contributed three assists and 3.3 steals per game for coach Patty Evers team. She also excelled during the playoffs — hitting 13 of 14 free-throws against North Lenoir for half of her 26 points, and sank five three-pointers against Clinton, then scored 16 against East Carteret.
WEST BLADEN
The Lady Knights had junior Makayla Wright named to the All-SAC team.
Wright, a standout for West Bladen at both ends of the floor, averaged seven points for the season but had some big games along the way.
She tallied 17 points, seven steals and six rebounds in a non-conference win against South Columbus, then poured in 21 points in a conference game against Clinton for coach Brian McCleney’s team.