East Bladen’s Cabria Baldwin(left) and Niyah Wooten(right) defending against West Bladen’s Holland Davis(center).
ELIZABETHTOWN — The East Bladen Lady Eagles defeated the West Bladen Lady Knights for a 54-34 victory on Tuesday in a non-conference match-up.
The Lady Eagles forced several turnovers off their opponents and converted their defensive pressure into easy buckets on the other end of the floor. East Bladen finished the game with 20 team steals and their junior point guard Iveonna “NeNe” Ward snagged nine steals by herself.
The first quarter concluded 13-6 as the host held firmly to the momentum and kept their foot on the gas for the remainder of the half.
Senior guard Zoe Smith would knock an open three-pointer from the wing to extend the Lady Eagles lead to 25-5 with under five minutes remaining in the second quarter.
The Lady Knights struggled to get out of their opponents full-court press and turnovers had them playing defense for much of the quarter.
They would defend well enough to force missed shots but their opponents never gave them second to breathe when attempting to push the ball up the floor.
East Bladen junior forward Laila Smith would go to the charity stripe to convert 1-of-2 free throws to keep the host lead at 19 points.
West Bladen sophomore guard Kali Allen would respond with a two-point jumper to make the score 26-9.
The Knights would get some stops on defense and were able to work their way out of the press to score their final basket of the half. Ward would be found in an open spot and she drained her three-pointer from behind the arc to conclude the first half at 21-12.
West Bladen started the third quarter with a turnover and the host went down to the other end to add three more points to their tally.
East Bladen kept their intensity on the press and they squeezed more turnovers out of their rivals. Ward would drain her second three of the quarter as the lead quickly jumped to 38-12 in the host favor.
She would get a steal and a fastbreak lay-in to fall after a series of empty possessions from both teams to push the score to 40-12. West Bladen senior Mallory Bryan ended her team’s ice-cold run with a lay-up and she snatched a steal to finish an easy bucket in transition to make the score 40-16. Smith was able to grab an offensive board on the other end of the floor but couldn’t finish the contested shot at the rim.
West Bladen junior center Alina Chavez caught the pass from a driving Kiera Lewis and finished for a two-point field goal. East Bladen would turn the ball over on the next possession and the visitors would get another basket to fall to cut the deficit. Sophomore Nia McKoy would end the host slight cold streak to put them up 44-22 with seconds remaining in the third quarter.
West Bladen sophomore Natalee Skyes drained a three-pointer to conclude the third quarter at 44-25. Ward finished the final quarter with eight points as the Lady Eagles preserved their 20 points cushion as the game drew to a close. Ward filled the stat sheet with 25 points, 9 steals, five rebounds, and two assists in the victory. Smith finished behind her with 11 points, five rebounds, three steals, and she had two assists. Sophomore Faith Wren and Bryan both finished as the joint-leading scorers for the Lady Knights with seven points apiece.
West Bladen fall to an overall record of 0-4 and they’ll take on the South Columbus Stallions this Thursday for their next game.