ST. PAULS – East Bladen recovered from a sluggish start and pulled away in the second half to defeat St. Pauls 37-11 in non-conference girls basketball action Thursday night.
The Lady Eagles opened the game with a 6-minute scoring drought, but still only trailed 1-0 when sophmore Ashley Hardin put back a rebound for the first East Bladen basket with 1:59 left in the first period.
A minute later Hardin turned a pass from sophmore guard Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson into a lay-up and a 4-1 lead, but St. Pauls Judiah Simms-Moore tied the game with a 3-point shot.
Moore-Peterson drained a 3-point shot from the right corner to begin the second period. Hardin flipped in a runner, and junior Shardajah Brown sank 2 free throws then drilled a 3-point shot for a 14-6 East Bladen halftime lead.
Brown bombed in 2 more 3-point shots in the third quarter. Moore-Peterson dropped in a reverse lay-up, drilled in a 3-point shot and canned 2 free throws. Senior Emily Scott popped in a 12-footer from the baseline as the East lead grew to 31-8 at the quarter break.
Assists from Moore-Peterson led to lay-ups for freshman Patience Ward and Scott. Junior Kaley Smith buried a 16-footer from the left wing to close out the Lady Eagle scoring.
Brown connected on a trio of 3-point shots and topped the East Bladen scoring with 11 points. Moore-Peterson followed with 10 points, but dished out 3 assists. Hardin pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds and finished with 8 points.
Coach Patty Evers’ Lady Eagles improved to 5-1 and will host Midway Tuesday night in their Four County Conference opener.
EAST BLADEN (37) – Kaley Smith 2, Justyna Gargala, Shardajah Brown 11, Emily Scott 4, Anna Kate White, Patience Ward 2, Ashley Hardin 8, Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson 10, Yolanda Coston, Lorna Mendell.
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