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Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
ELIZABETHTOWN – Sophmore Patience Ward and junior Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson posted double-doubles Friday as East Bladen celebrated Senior Night with a 68-36 Three Rivers Conference girls basketball victory over West Bladen.
Ward rang up a game-high 20 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had 6 steals. Moore-Peterson finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals. Junior Erica McKoy popped in 14 points for the winners.
Rebound baskets by junior Conner Brisson and senior Elizabeth Allbright staked the Lady Knights to an early 4-1 lead, but Moore-Peterson flipped in a runner, junior Ashley Hardin sank 2 free throws, and McKoy hit one for a 6-4 East lead.
Sophmore Kasee Singletary drove for a West lay-up that tied the game a final time at 6-6. However Ward tossed in a turn-around, made 2 free throws and turned a McKoy feed into a lay-up and a 12-6 Lady Eagle lead.
Singletary stole the ball and raced for a lay-up, but Ward banked in a runner, and Moore-Peterson buried 4 straight free throws for an 18-8 East lead at the quarter break.
Allbright turned a Carley Dawson assist into a lay-up, and Moore-Peterson and Dawson traded lay-ups to keep West within 21-12. Ward put back 3 rebound baskets, but Allbright answered with a pair of turn-around buckets to keep the margin at 28-16.
A Moore-Peterson assist resulted in a McKoy lay-up, before West senior Patience Parker pulled up for a 12-footer that kept the lead at 30-18. Moore-Peterson connected on a 10-footer and 2 free throws, and McKoy turned a 15-footer into a 3-point play and a 37-19 halftime lead.
Senior Shardajah Brown converted a Moore-Peterson pass into a lay-up, and McKoy and Parker traded bank shots. McKoy and Ward stretched the East lead to 45-22 with lay-ups.
After Allbright turned a Mikayla Winebarger assist into a lay-up, Moore-Peterson bombed in a 3-pointer then scored from the baseline. A McKoy driving lay-up pushed the lead to 52-24 at the quarter break.
McKoy scored on a runner, and Ward dropped in 4 free throws, before senior Kaley Smith drilled in a pair of 17-footers for a 62-25 East lead. Parker drove for a lay-up and hit 2 free throws, Allbright and Brisson banged in lay-ups to pull West within 62-33.
Brown cashed in 2 free throws, sophmore Abbie Cross nailed a 16-footer and sophmore Izzy Smith scored inside to round out the East scoring.
“I thought we played a complete game,” said Lady Eagle Coach Patty Evers. “We ran the floor and did a better job of rebounding. This is a good group and these seniors have given a lot to the program.”
Brown pulled down 9 rebounds, and Hardin finished with 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Sophmore Lorna Mendell blocked 3 shots.
Allbright led the Lady Knights with 12 points and 7 rebounds. Brisson finished with 5 points and 5 rebounds.
“Our girls played hard, but the best team on the floor won tonight,” said West Bladen Coach Brian McCleney. “They were playing for pride, and we didn’t play very well.”
The Lady Eagles ran their winning streak to 18 games and completed the regular season with a 22-1 overall mark and 17-1 league record.
East Bladen will host the winner of Saturday’s West Bladen/South Columbus game Monday at 6 p.m. in the Three Rivers Conference Tournament.
West Bladen will host South Columbus Saturday at 2 p.m. in a tournament play-in game.
Lady Eagle seniors Kaley Smith and Shardajah Brown were honored in Senior Night activities.
WEST BLADEN (36) – Conner Brisson 5, Mikayla Winebarger 2, Kasee Singletary 4, Lexie Corrothers, Carley Dawson 3, Patience Parker 9, Seniah Johnson, Brigit Zuniga, Chasitty Lacey 1, Elizabeth Allbright 12, Scjada Ellison, Nyasia Ellison, Jessica Labra.
EAST BLADEN (68) – Katie Evans, Erica McKoy 14, Kaley Smith 4, Izzy Smith 2, Shardajah Brown 5, Anna Kate White, Abbey Cross 2, Kabarah Moore, Patience Ward 20, Ashley Hardin 3, Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson 18, Lorna Mendell.
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