East Bladen huddles before the start of the game.
Alex Brooks | Bladen Journal
ELIZABETHTOWN — The East Bladen Lady Eagles defeated the Pender Lady Patriots for a convincing 67-41 victory on Friday night in a Waccamaw Conference clash. Friday’s win marks head coach Patty Evers 600th career win in charge of the East Bladen girls basketball program and the victory keeps her team tied for first place in the Waccamaw Conference with an 8-1 record.
Coach Evers started her career at Tar Heel before taking over for the Lady Eagles in 2001 when the two schools merged to one and she went 74-42 in her first five years in charge of the Panthers. Fast forward to 2024 and over 10 Eastern Regional Final appearances later, she has now moved her overall record to 600-145 with her team’s victory over Pender on Friday night.
The first matchup between the two teams finished in a tight seven-point victory in favor of the Lady Eagles but Friday’s game turned out much differently. East Bladen caught fire in the first quarter and rode momentum all the way to the end for a 26 point victory. The Lady Eagles had three players in double-digit scoring; junior guard Iveonna “NeNe” Ward led the host in scoring with 25 points, junior guard Laila Smith finished the night with 17 points and sophomore guard Ariel Cromartie finished the night with 12 points.
Smith also finished the night a rebound short of completing a double-double after snagging a team-leading nine boards. Pender’s senior guard Jamiah Johnson carried much of the offensive load for her team and she led all scorers with 26 points. The opening minutes of the first quarter was back-and-forth as the score was deadlocked at 5-5 until the Lady Eagles ignited from three-point range.
Ward drained a couple of shots from behind the arc and Cromartie nailed another three-pointer to widen the gap in favor of the host. The host failed to find a response and Ward would rip the ball away for an easy finish on the break as the first quarter concluded with the Lady Eagles up 17-5. Smith went into her bag of tricks to start the next quarter by converting a 2-and-one opportunity transition.
The Lady Patriots found it tough to move the ball around as their opponents squeezed them on the defensive side of the ball. The host lead quickly ballooned with Smith pulling the strings on offense as she bagged a couple of assists, drained some shots from three-point range, and finished some tough shots through contact at the rim.
East Bladen went into the halftime intermission ahead by 38-13 and their dominance carried into the start of the second half. Ward opened the third quarter with a three-point bomb to stretch the lead to 28 points. Senior forward Zoe Smith and Cromartie also splashed from distance as the host began to run away with the game.
Pender slides down to fourth place in conference action as they fall to 3-5 and they’ll take on Whiteville in back-to-back games this week. East Bladen will have three games remaining in the regular-season and they’ll take on West Columbus away from home for their next game this Tuesday.The East Columbus Gators stays atop the mountain with the Eagles after destroying the South Columbus Stallions on Friday night in a 58-14 victory away from home.
The Gators final three games of the regular-season will be against Whiteville, Heide Trask, and West Columbus. Head coach Patty Evers will look to keep building on her legacy as she looks to secure a 14th conference title.