ELIZABETHTOWN – Senior Maya McDonald and junior Maegan Burney combined for 28 points as East Bladen grabbed leads of 23-4 and 45-9 en route to a 56-23 girls basketball victory over West Bladen Tuesday night in the Southeastern Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
McDonald delivered an assist to senior Alexus Mitchell for a 3-point play to start the game then canned 2 free throws and sent another feed to freshman Iveonna Ward for a lay-up and a 7-0 Lady Eagle lead.
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Photos by Duce Armstrong
Sophomore Brookee Singletary spun to the basket for a lay-up to put West on the board, but Ward banked in a runner and McDonald hit a free throw. Junior Lainey Autry drilled in a corner jumper to bring the Lady Knights to within 10-4 at the quarter break.
Ward turned a steal into a lay-up to begin the 2nd period, and Mitchell sank 4 free throws. McDonald stole the ball and raced for a 3-point play, and junior AnnaGrey Heustess buried a 3-point shot as the halftime lead grew to 23-4.
Mitchell racked up 4 assists in the 3rd quarter, and McDonald was credited with two as Burney netted 4 lay-ups, McDonald dropped in 2 lay-ups and Ward added a lay-up. McDonald bombed in a 3-ball, Mitchell converted 2 free throws and junior Brianna Phillips flipped in a lay-up for a 45-9 East lead.
Autry tallied a lay-up off of a feed from from freshman Holland Davis, and sophomore Megan Pait banked in a 3-point shot for the West points in the 3rd period.
Phillips and McDonald bombed in 3-point shots for East in the final quarter, and Laila Smith threw in a lay-up and a foul shot.
Junior Makayla Wright drove for a pair of lay-ups and banked in a 15-footer for West in the final period. Hannah Pait put back a rebound, Kiera Lewis drove for a lay-up and Kirsten Warrick buried a 3-point shot for the Lady Knights.
McDonald finished with 16 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals. Burney tossed in 12 points, and Mitchell followed with 9 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. Ward contributed 8 points and 3 steals.
Wright led the Lady Knights with 7 points, and Autry popped in 4 points. Sophomore Mallory Bryan grabbed 5 rebounds, and Megan Pait corralled 4 rebounds.
“We talked about our energy at halftime,” said East Bladen Coach Patty Evers. “We played a few different defenses but went back to our 3-2. We wanted to create turnovers and get Maegan going and we did that. Mimi (Ward) kept us in it in the first half and probably had her best game as a freshman for us.”
The Lady Knights were without Coach Brian McCleney due to virus protocols and have lost leading scorer Rylee Chadwick for the season due to a broken finger.
East Bladen remains unbeaten at 11-0 and will host West Columbus Thursday night. West Bladen, now 7-3, will travel to Fairmont Friday night.
West Bladen 4 0 5 14 – 23
East Bladen 10 13 22 11 – 56
WB (23) –Lainey Autry 4, Megan Pait 3, Holland Davis, Makayla Wright 7, Azillyah McDonald, Kirsten Warrick 3, Brookee Singletary 2, Kiera Lewis 2, Hannah Pait 2.
EB (56) – Iveonna Ward 8, Martha Simmons, Maya McDonald 16, Alexus Mitchell 9, AnnaGrey Heustess 3, Karli Priest, Zoe Smith, Maegan Burney 12, Laila Smith 3, Brianna Phillips 5.
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