Senior Lacey Suggs keyed an 18-0 East Bladen blitz that began the second half and propelled the Lady Eagles to a 71-38 Four County Conference girls basketball victory over visiting Midway Thursday night.
Midway trailed only 29-20 at halftime, and three Lady Eagle starters – Suggs, Abby Ward and Christiana Cromartie – were saddled with 3 fouls each. However the Lady Raiders hopes for an upset were extinguished early in the second half.
Cromartie opened the third period with a lay-up, and Suggs banked in a runner and tacked on a free throw. Ward popped in a baseline 15-footer, then nailed a 17-footer from the top of the key.
Suggs hit a free throw, and Ward flipped in a runner. Suggs then raced to the basket for a trio of transition lay-ups. A Miller Heustess assist set up the third one that stretched the lead to 47-20.
Midway’s J. J. Sankey snapped the scoring drought with a steal and a lay-up, and Leah Williams’ lay-up made it 47-24.
Suggs powered in a lay-up off of a Ward assist, and Cromartie dropped in a pair of lay-ups off of assists from Suggs and Heustess as the East Bladen lead grew to 55-26 at the quarter break.
After a Taylor Faircloth 3-pointer for Midway, East junior Emily Scott sank 2 free throws, and Suggs put back a rebound, nailed a 3-point shot and canned 2 free throws for a 64-29 Lady Eagle lead.
A Suggs steal and assist produced a Ward lay-up, and Michelle Page turned a follow-shot into a 3-point play. Shardajah Brown pumped in a baseline jumper to end the Lady Eagle scoring.
Suggs led East Bladen with 28 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 5 steals and 2 blocked shots. Ward finished with 12 points, 7 steals and 4 assists.
Cromartie posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, blocked 7 shots, and had 2 steals and 2 assists.
“Chris had the best game of her career tonight,” said East Bladen Coach Patty Evers. “We came out in the second half and really pounded the ball inside, and it opened up the outside shot for us. I was really proud of the way we played in the second half.”
Freshman Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson added 8 points and 3 rebounds. Scott filled up the stat sheet with 6 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. Heustess grabbed 4 rebounds and had 3 assists.
Williams led Midway with 8 points, and Faircloth followed with 7.
Ward, Scott and Suggs tallied 4 points each in the first quarter as the Lady Eagles took a 15-6 lead.
Moore-Peterson drilled in a 3-pointer and scored 7 points in the second quarter. Suggs buried a 3-point shot and hit 2 free throws in the period.
The top-ranked Lady Eagles remained unbeaten at 8-0 in league play and 18-0 overall. East Bladen will travel to second-place Clinton, the No. 10 Class 2A team in the NC Preps poll, Tuesday night.
East Bladen (71) – Abby Ward 12, Lexie Mendell, Michelle Page 3, Shardajah Brown 2, Emily Scott 6, Lacey Suggs 28, Miller Heustess, Danielle McDowell, Christiana Cromartie 10, Ashley Hardin 2, Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson 8.
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