By John Clark
East Bladen’s Lady Eagles (19-7), the Southeastern Athletic Conference tournament champions, will take the long road to their 2nd round game in the NCHSAA Class 2A Girls Basketball Playoffs Thursday as they travel 210 miles (3 hours, 44 minutes) to battle Northeastern High in Elizabeth City. Gametime will be 6 p.m.
Northeastern, the No. 3 seed in the Class 2A East, boasts a 25-1 record and won the championship of the Class 2A/3A Northeastern Coastal Conference. Northeastern’s only loss was to King’s Fork of Suffolk, VA. The green-clad Eagles from Elizabeth City have outscored their opponents by an average of 35 points. Northeastern scores 68 points per game, gives up 33 and defeated Princeton 69-45 in their playoff opener.
Jasmine Felton, a 5-11 junior, averages 30 points 13.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 7.1 steals per game to lead Northeastern. Teammate Aniyah Rainey, a 5-8 senior, averages 21.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5 assists and 7.4 steals. Those two provide the bulk of the Northeastern attack.
Which team will win Thursday’s NCHSAA basketball playoff game?
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Sophomore Laila Smith poured in 24 points, and sophomore Iveonna “NeNe” Ward netted 16 points Tuesday night in East Bladen’s 77-46 1st round win over Red Springs. The Lady Eagles blitzed Red Springs 43-19 in the 2nd half and fired in ten 3-point baskets – 4 by senior AnnaGrey Heustess.
Laila Smith leads the attack for the 14th seeded Eagles averaging 17 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Ward contributes 10.1 points, 3 assists, and 4.6 steals. Senior Maegan Burney adds 9.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 steals. Heustess averages 5.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.6 blocked shots. Senior Karli Priest chips in with 4.5 points per game.
East Bladen has made 130 3-point shots – an average of 5 per game. Ward has connected on 35 3-pointers. Heustess has bombed in 33 3-balls, and Priest has drained 30 3-pointers.
The winner of Thursday’s game advances to a 3rd round game Saturday night against the winner of #11 seed Fairmont and #27 seed South Lenoir.
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