[slideshow_deploy id=’119156′] East Bladen’s Lady Eagles will travel to Richlands Saturday to battle the Richlands Lady Wildcats in the third round of the NCHSAA Class 2A Girls Basketball State Play-offs.
Coach Michael Kelly’s Richlands team won the Coastal 8 1A/2A Conference championship with a 13-1 league record and 25-3 overall mark. The Lady Wildcats have won 17 games in a row and secured their third round berth with a 66-65 victory Thursday night over Farmville Central.
Richlands’ only three losses were to 2A East top seed Kinston 68-58, to Croatan 40-35 and at East No. 2 seed East Duplin 57-43.
Senior Corryn Barnes, a 5-9 forward, leads the Richlands offense averaging a double-double of 16.1 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. Barnes is also credited with 3.4 steals per game.
Junior Morgan Ervin, another 5-9 forward, racks up 13.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game. Five-seven sophmore Kiki Kornegay fills up the stat sheet with 11.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 5.5 steals per game.
Freshman guard Arianna Hamilton adds 7.3 points and 2.8 steals per game.
Coach Patty Evers’ East Bladen Lady Eagles won the Three Rivers Conference championship with a 17-1 record and have won 23 consecutive games to raise their record to 27-1. A 43-35 loss at Red Springs on Dec. 8 is the only blemish on the East Bladen schedule.
The Lady Eagles advanced to the third round with a 65-56 victory over Midway Thursday night. Junior Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson led the East Bladen scoring Thursday with 19 points and 13 rebounds, and sophmore Patience Ward collected 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Junior Erica McKoy scored 13 of her 17 points for East Bladen in the final quarter to keep the Lady Eagles on top.
Ward and Moore-Peterson both average 15.7 points per game to lead the East Bladen attack. Ward also contributes a team-high 8.9 rebounds and 4.5 steals per game.
Moore-Peterson cracked the 1,000-point mark in her Lady Eagle career this season and now has scored 1,176 points. She also averages 6.1 rebounds, 2.7 steals and a team-high 4.4 assists per game.
McKoy adds 12.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game to the East Bladen attack. Junior Ashley Hardin chips in with 6.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.9 steals per game, and senior Shardajah Brown adds 5.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
Gametime at Richlands Saturday is 6 p.m.
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