Girls Basketball
East Bladen 57, Heide Trask 22
East Bladen’s unbeaten Lady Eagles rolled to leads of 27-0, 37-1 and 45-4 en route to a 57-22 victory over visiting Heide Trask Monday night in the opening round of the Four County Conference Tournament.
Coach Patty Evers’ Lady Eagles, the top-ranked Class 2A team in the state and the top seed in the Four County tourney, improved to 25-0 and will play the winner of Tuesday night’s Midway/West Bladen game in Wednesday’s 6 p.m. semi-final at Union High.
“We ran the floor really well,” said Coach Evers. “We looked for each other and knocked the shots down. The girls have put in a lot of extra time, and we are seeing the results of that.”
Senior Lacey Suggs fired in 17 of her game-high 21 points in the first half and added 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 assists. Senior Christiana Cromartie finished with 10 points, 5 blocked shots, 3 rebounds and 2 steals.
Senior guard Abby Ward recorded 9 points, 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 rebounds. Freshman Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson contributed 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals.
Senior Miller Heustess tallied 6 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds. Junior Emily Scott had 3 rebounds and 2 steals, and freshman Ashley Hardin grabbed 3 rebounds.
Heide Trask came in winless as the No. 8 seed in the league with an 0-24 record, but the undefeated Eagles didn’t slack off. “We played with a purpose,” said Coach Evers. “We stayed focused and kept our intensity.”
Heustess knocked down a corner jumper in the first 13 seconds. Suggs banked in a runner, tacked on a free throw and put back a rebound.
Abby Ward tossed in a short jumper, Suggs scored on another follow-shot, then dropped in a lay-up off of an Abby Ward steal and assist.
Moore-Peterson made a free throw, stole the ball and raced for a lay-up then passed inside to Cromartie for a lay-up. Abby Ward nailed a 3-point shot, and Cromartie drained a 17-footer.
Abby Ward stole the ball and sprinted for a lay-up, and Cromartie popped in a turn-around for a 27-0 lead. Alesha Ward’s free throw put Trask on the board with 17 seconds left in the first quarter.
Scott put back a rebound to begin the second quarter. Abby Ward stole the ball and pitched ahead to Suggs for a lay-up. Heustess canned a 14-footer, then stole the ball and passed ahead to Suggs for a lay-up.
Cromartie hit 2 free throws to push the lead to 37-1, and after Alesha Ward’s 3-point basket for Trask, Heustess turned a Suggs assist into a lay-up.
Cromartie found Suggs inside for a lay-up, Heustess assisted on an Abby Ward lay-up and Suggs drove the length of the court for the lay-up that stretched the lead to 45-4 and started the continuous running clock with 3:54 left in the first half.
East led 45-6 at halftime. Cromartie flipped in an 8-footer off of a Heustess assist. Suggs converted an Abby Ward assist into a lay-up, then sank 2 free thows. A Moore-Peterson assist led to a Danielle McDowell lay-up and a 53-12 Lady Eagle lead at the quarter break.
Shardajah Brown pumped in a 16-footer, and Hardin tossed in a runner from the baseline to account for the East Bladen points in the final period.
Alesha Ward led the Trask scoring with 12 points.
East Bladen (57) – Abby Ward 9, Lexie Mendell, Michelle Page, Shardajah Brown 2, Emily Scott 2, Lacey Suggs 21, Miller Heustess 6, Danielle McDowell 2, Christiana Cromartie 10, Ashley Hardin 2, Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson 2.
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