03/28/2024
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Bladen County SportsThe exploits of East Bladen’s Lady Eagles on the basketball court headlined the February sports scene in Bladen County. Coach Patty Evers’ team reeled off ten wins to raise their record to 30-0, were ranked No. 1 in the Class 2A rankings for the entire month, and senior star Lacey Suggs reached the 2,000-point mark for her career.

Suggs cracked that milestone in the first half of East Bladen’s 61-25 over West Bladen in the Four County Conference Tournament semi-finals. East Bladen defeated Clinton in the Four County title game 76-37 as Suggs posted a double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Emily Scott added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

In a regular-season win over Wallace-Rose Hill, Suggs recorded a triple-double of 25 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists. Fellow senior Abby Ward contributed 12 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds in that win.

After opening the play-offs with a 56-27 win over St. Pauls, East Bladen rolled past SouthWest Edgecombe 71-43 behind 33 points and 15 rebounds from Suggs.

In the third round the Lady Eagles rallied from an 18-4 deficit with a 27-1 blitz and claimed a 59-38 victory over Reidsville. Suggs racked up 31 points and 13 rebounds, and Ward collected 21 points and 8 steals in the win.

West Bladen’s Knights started the month with 6 straight wins. Junior Sayaun Dent scored 18 points in a 61-58 win over Pender, and Shaquille Johnson posted a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds in a 72-63 Senior Night victory over Clinton.

Coach Travis Pait’s Knights beat Midway 58-46 then edged East Bladen 50-49 on Stefan McDonald’s free throw in the final second. John Bowen led the Knights with 17 points, while Sincere Smith’s 13 points topped the Eagle scoring.

The Knights opened the Four County Tournament with a 60-56 win over Midway as McDonald scored 19 points and Dent added 17. Dent and McDonald pumped in 20 points each in the semi-finals as West Bladen knocked off top-seeded Heide Trask 73-68.

Clinton, a team West Bladen had beaten twice, defeated the Knights in the tourney championship game 71-59. The Knights then received the worst draw in the 2A East being placed in a bracket with Goldsboro, Fairmont and Kinston. West Bladen stayed close for a half at Goldsboro before being eliminated 88-69. The Knights finished with a 20-8 record.

West Bladen’s Lady Knights rebounded from a 55-31 loss to Midway to defeat the Lady Raiders 43-39 in the opening round of the Four County Conference Tournament. Junior Akira Grimes tossed in the go-ahead basket in the final minute and Grimes and junior Laikyn Pait led West Bladen with 11 points each. The Lady Knights finished with an 8-17 record after losing in the semi-finals to East Bladen.

East Bladen’s boys lost their second heart-breaker of the season 69-66 to Wallace-Rose Hill on a 3-point shot at the buzzer. The Eagles had led 40-15 late in the first half in that game.

Sincere Smith’s 13 points led the Eagles to a 55-38 win over Union, but East Bladen concluded the season with a 6-17 record after losing 62-56 at Wallace-Rose Hill in the first round of the conference tournament.

West Bladen grad D. J. Mason threw in 17 points as his Campbell Camels lost to UNC-Asheville. Mason later scored 14 points in an 89-85 overtime win over Gardner-Webb.

Another West Bladen grad, Rahu Purdie, rang up 14 points as his Lander Bearcats were edged 78-77 by UNC-Pembroke. Purdie delivered 19 points in an 85-81 Lander win over Flagler.

Bladenboro won the Bladen Five Conference Girls Tournament Championship with a 30-25 victory over Clarkton School of Discovery. Kasee Singletary topped the Lady Bulldog scoring with 13 points, while Khadijah Jones led all scorers with 18 points for Clarkton.

Jordan Robinson blistered the nets with six 3-point baskets to lead Elizabethtown to a 64-58 victory over Bladenboro in the Bladen Five Conference Boys Tournament Championship Game. Robinson totaled 18 points, and teammate Majuan McKoy posted a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. The Bulldogs’ ShyRon Adams poured in 29 points and totaled 14 rebounds.

Bladenboro native Abbey Walters batted 3-4 and drove in the winning run with a walk-off single in the first softball game of her UNC-Pembroke career. Later in the month Walters batted 5-7 in a double-header at Coker and batted 4-7 with 3 runs-batted-in at Chowan.

Another West Bladen grad Morgan Sweeney cracked 4 hits in 7 at-bats with a double and 4 runs-batted-in as her Newberry College team swept a double-header from Emmanuel, GA.

A third West Bladen grad and Bladenboro native Clint Allen batted 3-4 for Coker College’s baseball team in a 10-8 win over Erskine College.

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