ROCKY POINT — The East Bladen Lady Eagles defeated the Heide Trask Lady Titans for a 56-30 victory Wednesday in a Waccamaw Conference clash.
East Bladen junior guard Iveonna “NeNe” Ward went for 19 points and snatched 9 steals in a comfortable victory away from home. Heide Trask suffered a series of turnovers at the beginning of the game due to their opponents relentlessness in the full court press; they had 10 turnovers in the first quarter during the Lady Eagles 18-2 run in the opening minutes of the game.
The Lady Eagles backcourt of Laila Smith and Ward led the early first quarter surge to help put their team in the drivers seat for the rest of the game. Smith was the second-leading scorer on the night with 13 points, while also snatching five steals of her own in the win. Sophomore center Niyah Wooten was active on the boards for team-high 9 rebounds, while also snatching five steals, and added six points to the Lady Eagles tally.
East Bladen kept their foot on the gas through the second quarter and Ward continued her hot scoring streak by starting with a finish from in close. The Titans failed to adjust to the visitors intensity in the second quarter but were able to get a few shots to fall via senior guard Kenya Lewis. Lewis would finish with a team-high of 10 points and her teammate Layna Nixon scored 9 points in the defeat.
East Bladen would enter the halftime break with a 17-point gap and return in the third quarter with intentions to kill the game off. Ward would open the third quarter with three steals and three fastbreak lay-ups to help push the lead to insurmountable just a few minutes into the second half. The Lady Eagles bench also got involved in the scoring with freshmen Tatum Allen draining a three-pointer, freshmen Neveah Brown hit a free throw and sophomore Nia McKoy hit a shot from the mid-range as the visitors took a 45-20 lead into the final quarter.
East Bladen now move to 4-0 in Waccamaw Conference play and they’ve moved their overall record to 12-2 on the season. The Lady Eagles will host West Columbus this Friday for another conference clash as they hunt for their fourth straight victory. Whiteville fell to third in the standings after suffering their first loss in conference play against East Columbus on Wednesday evening. East Columbus leapfrogs Whiteville for second place after moving to 3-1 in Waccamaw Conference play.
OTHER SCORES WACCAMAW/SAC 6:
East Columbus(10-1, 3-1) 48, Whiteville(4-8, 2-1) 42
South Columbus(3-13, 2-2) 63, West CColumbus(0-7, 0-3) 14
Midway(7-4) 33, Rosewood(3-11) 19
Union(8-3) 49, Clinton(6-2) 47