ELIZABETHTOWN – Shardajah Brown and Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson fired in 13 points each to lead East Bladen to a 38-34 non-conference girls basketball victory over Fairmont Wednesday night.
Fairmont pulled to within 33-30 on Kiara Page’s 3-pointer with 2:27 left to play. Senior Emily Scott sank 3 of 4 free throws for East Bladen, and senior Yolanda Coston made one to stretch the Lady Eagle lead to 37-30 with 1:24 remaining.
Fairmont’s Kristy Moore converted 4 straight free throws to trim the margin to 37-34 with 17 seconds on the clock. Scott was fouled with 5 seconds left and hit a free throw to seal the verdict.
“A win is a win and we will take it,” said East Bladen Coach Patty Evers. “It’s a different brand of basketball from last year, but that happens when you lose 8 players. I am proud of them.”
Scott carried the workload in the first period for the Lady Eagles, grabbing 7 rebounds, netting 2 free throws and turning a Moore-Peterson pass into a lay-up. However Fairmont took a 7-5 lead at the quarter break when Taytonna Gaddy banked in a 12-footer.
Freshman Patience Ward popped in an 8-footer, Moore-Peterson pulled up to hit a 16-footer and Brown drained a 3-pointer from the corner to put East ahead 12-11.
Brown turned a feed from Moore-Peterson into a lay-up, then Scott hurled an outlet pass that produced a lay-up and a 3-point play for Moore-Peterson that vaulted East in front 17-15.
Freshman Lorna Mendell snapped a 17-17 tie with a free throw, and Moore-Peterson drilled a 3-pointer from the left of the key for a 21-17 Lady Eagle lead at halftime.
Brown canned a 17-footer to start the second half, but Fairmont reeled off 7 straight points to edge ahead 24-23. A foul on a 3-point attempt and a technical foul on the same play resulted in Moore-Peterson making 4 of 5 free throws that put the Lady Eagles ahead to stay at 27-24.
Brown knocked down a 15-footer and later hit a free throw to push the East Bladen lead to 30-24 at the quarter break.
Moore-Peterson, the Lady Eagle point guard fouled out at the 6:08 mark in the final period, but Brown nailed a big 3-point shot to pad the East Bladen lead to 33-27 with 3:58 left to play.
“We stalled it some there at the end,” said Coach Evers. “And we shot free throws better tonight (15-24).”
Scott finished with 8 points and 12 rebounds, and sophmore Ashley Hardin grabbed 9 rebounds. “They did a super job on the boards,” noted Coach Evers. Brown added 5 rebounds, and Moore-Peterson dished out 4 assists.
Moore led Fairmont with 11 points, and Page followed with 9 points.
The Lady Eagles evened their record at 1-1 and will host St Pauls Monday.
East Bladen (38) – Kaley Smith, Shardajah Brown 13, Emily Scott 8, Anna Kate White, Patience Ward 2, Ashley Hardin, Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson 13, Yolanda Coston 1, Lorna Mendell 1.
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