East Bladen’s Iveonna “NeNe” Ward(left) and Laila Smith(right) coming down the floor on offense. Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal

East Bladen’s Iveonna “NeNe” Ward(left) and Laila Smith(right) coming down the floor on offense.

Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal

EAST BLADEN

ELIZABETHTOWN — The East Bladen Lady Eagles defeated the West Brunswick Lady Trojans for a 51-36 victory in a non-conference match-up on Friday night.

The Lady Eagles were led by juniors Laila Smith and Iveonna “NeNe” Ward on the offensive end of the floor as they trounced the visiting Trojans. Both girls finished with 21 a piece to account for more than half of their teams points in the game to claim their third straight win in a week.

The Lady Trojans went shot-for-shot with their opponents in the first half but failed to match the Lady Eagles intensity in the second half. West Brunswick was led by their junior guard Brooklyn Coble with nine points and they had two other players on the scoresheet with eight points. The visitors were able to open the third quarter with a slight one point lead but their opponents quickly snatched back momentum after Smith sprinted coast-to-coast for an easy two-point finish.

Ward would add onto a growing lead with a free throw, a lay-up, and three point dagger to make the score 32-28. West Brunswick attempted to answer Ward’s three-pointer with a shot of their own but went without luck. Ward received the ball quickly and converted a lay-in while in transition to stretch the lead to six points.

West Brunswick failed to respond before the end of the third quarter and the hosts were able to take a 36-28 lead into the quarter. Smith and Ward handled the rest of the offensive duty in the fourth with all their team’s offense coming from them in the final minutes. East Bladen moved to an overall record of 5-1 on the season and they’ll take on South Columbus at home in their first Waccamaw Conference match-up of the season.

WEST BLADEN

TABOR CITY — The West Bladen Lady Knights claimed their first victory of the season against the South Columbus Stallions on Thursday in a non-conference match-up. Seniors Mallory Bryan and Kiera Lewis both led a fourth quarter comeback charge to seal a 32-29 victory.

Bryan led all scorers with 13 points and Lewis finished the night with eight points as the Lady Knights have now moved to an overall record of 1-4. West Bladen will take on Whiteville for their third straight trip on the road this Friday.

OTHER SCORES IN WACCAMAW/SAC 6:

Laney(5-0) 41, Pender(1-2) 31

Fairmont(6-1) 52, Northside-Jacksonville(0-7) 8