By John Clark
CREEDMOOR — Most of the pregame hype before Friday’s 4th round NCHSAA Class 1A playoff game concerned No. 1 seed Falls Academy’s high-scoring senior and Campbell signee Emerson Thompson. Thompson racked up 29 points and 16 rebounds Friday night, but East Bladen’s junior duo of Laila Smith and Iveonna “NeNe” Ward combined for 55 points as the Lady Eagles claimed a 68-58 victory.
Coach Patty Evers’ Lady Eagles improved to 25-4 and will now travel to Winston-Salem to play Waccamaw Conference foe East Columbus (25-1) for the Eastern 1A girls basketball championship. East Columbus, the No. 3 East seed, posted a 67-53 win at home Friday over Pamlico County. That Eastern championship game is slated for Monday at 2 p.m. inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Laila Smith poured in 31 points to cop game-high scoring honors, while Ward poured in 15 of her 24 points before halftime. Laila Smith grabbed 11 rebounds to complete her double-double and added 7 steals and 2 assists. Ward contributed 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
East Bladen sophomore Niyah Wooten pulled down 11 rebounds and totaled 6 points and 2 blocked shots. Sophomore Ariel Cromartie tossed in 7 points, and senior Zoe Smith collected 4 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots.
“Laila and NeNe did what they do,” said Evers. “Niyah, Cabria (Baldwin) and Zoe were all big for us. Zoe had some big rebounds late. Ariel and Cabria were taking turns guarding Thompson. We knew we would have to put 2 people on her, and we started doing that in the 2nd quarter. We just tried to stay between her and the basket. She is a great player. We haven’t seen anyone like her all season.”
Ward drove for a lay-up off the opening tap, but a pair of 3-pointers by junior Madisyn Shedd, and lay-up by freshman Destiny Williams staked the Lady Firebirds to an 8-2 lead. Ward drilled in a 3-pointer for East, but Shedd connected for her 3rd 3-ball as the game began at a frantic pace.
Cromartie made a free throw, Ward flipped in a runner, and Laila Smith stole the ball twice and raced for lay-ups and a 12-11 Lady Eagle lead. Falls freshman Camille Murray answered with a lay-up and a bank shot for a 15-12 lead, but Wooten drained a 16-footer off a Zoe Smith feed, and Laila Smith drove for a lay-up and a 3-point play that put East up 17-15. Thompson fired in a 3-ball from 5 feet behind the 3-point arc to edge Falls Lake ahead 18-17.
Laila Smith and Thompson exchanged lay-ups to begin the 2nd period. Laila Smith then dove on the floor near the sideline and hurled an assist from the floor to Cromartie for a lay-up. Wooten popped in a 15-footer for East, Ward and Falls freshman Khloe Massengill swapped rebound baskets, and Thompson scored on a follow to whittle the Lady Eagle lead to 25-24.
Ward canned a free throw, but Murray banked in an elbow jumper to knot the score, before Ward threw in a floater for a 28-26 lead. Two Williams foul shots and a pair of Thompson transition lay-ups vaulted the Lady Firebirds in front 32-28.
Ward cashed in 2 foul shots, Laila Smith scored in transition, and after a Williams steal and lay-up, Ward buried another 3-pointer. Laila Smith dashed end-to-end with a rebound for a lay-up and a 37-34 East halftime lead.
Thompson keyed an 8-0 run to start the 2nd half with an assist to Williams, a baseline jumper and an elbow jumper that put Falls Lake up 42-37. Cromartie nailed a corner jumper, and Laila Smith muscled in a pair of follow shots to inch East ahead 43-42. Thompson’s 16-footer gave the Lady Firebirds their final lead of the night at 44-43 at the 2:29 mark.
Wooten pumped in a baseline jumper for the 16th and final lead change in the game, and Ward hurled in an 8-footer from the lane. Thompson hooked in a runner, but Laila Smith’s baseline jumper gave the Lady Eagles a 49-46 lead at the break.
Laila Smith sank 2 free throws, delivered an assist to Cromartie for a lay-up and put back her own miss to grow the East lead to 55-46 with 5:36 remaining.
At that point the Lady Eagles pulled the ball out. “We wanted to make them come out and that opened up some driving lanes for us,” noted Evers.” Ward was fouled and netted a free throw. Thompson responded with a 3-point play, but Ward drove to the basket for a lay-up and a 58-49 lead.
Thompson swished a 3-pointer, but Laila Smith tossed in an 8-footer. Thompson trimmed the margin to 60-56 with an elbow jumper and a baseline jumper at the 2:13 mark. Laila Smith popped in an 8-footer, and Ward and Laila Smith connected on 2 free throws each for a 66-56 lead with 2:01 on the clock.
Thompson sent a feed to freshman Casey Sanders for a lay-up and her 5th assist of the game, but 2 free throws by Ward sealed the verdict with 29 seconds left.
Williams followed Thompson with 10 points for Falls Lake, and Shedd tallied 9 points on her trio of 1st period 3-pointers. “We were worried about #15 (Shedd) and #22 (Madison Oakley) hitting 3-pointers when we doubled Thompson,” said Evers. The trio of 3-balls by Shedd was the only Falls 3-pointers in the game besides the two by Thompson.
“This team has come a long way since that first game of the season,” concluded Evers. “They played hard tonight. I am proud of them.”
East Bladen 17 20 12 19 — 68
Falls Academy 18 16 12 12 — 58
East Bladen (68) — Iveonna “NeNe” Ward 24, Aaliyah Monroe, Ariel Cromartie 7, Cabria Baldwin, Zoe Smith, Laila Smith 31, Niyah Wooten 6.
Falls Academy (58) — Emerson Thompson 29, Madison Oakley, Casey Sanders 4, Madisyn Shedd 9, Destiny Williams 10, Lindsey Crabtree, Camille Murray 4, Khloe Massengill 2.
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