East Bladen’s unbeaten girls and West Bladen’s boys open play tonight in the opening round of the NCHSAA Class 2A State Basketball Play-offs.
No. 32 St Pauls Girls (9-15) at No. 1 East Bladen (27-0)
The unbeaten East Bladen Lady Eagles, the No. 1 seed in the Class 2A East, begin their quest for a state title tonight when they host No. 32 seed St. Pauls at 6 p.m.
The two teams met twice early in the season and East Bladen rolled to victories of 57-10 and 57-13.
Senior Lacey Suggs posted a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds in the first meeting and freshman Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson added 10 points for the Lady Eagles.
Suggs just missed a double-double in the second game with 22 points and 9 steals. That was pretty close to her average for the season of 22 points per game and 9 rebounds per game.
Senior guard Abby Ward recorded a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists in the second game with St. Pauls. Ward averages 9 points, 7 assists and 6 steals per game. Senior Christiana Cromartie also tallied 10 points and averages 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks per game.
Moore-Peterson has raised her season average to over 9 points per game.
Sophmore Destiny Hardin averages 12 points and 9 rebounds per game to lead the Lady Bulldogs. Seniors Mychela Thomas and Aquilla Rozier contribute 6 points per game for St. Pauls.
No. 23 West Bladen Boys (20-7) at No. 10 Goldsboro (22-3)
West Bladen’s Knights, the No. 23 seed in the 2A East, travel to No. 10 Goldsboro for a first round game.
West Bladen has been led in recent games by the duo senior guard Stefan McDonald (15.3 points per game) and junior Sayaun Dent (14 ppg). High-flying Shaquille Johnson led the Knight rebounding last week and also contributes 9.5 ppg. Junior John Bowen chips in with 10.4 ppg.
Goldsboro tied with Kinston for the top spot in the Eastern Carolina 2A Conference with a 9-1 league record. The Cougars won their first meeting with Kinston 73-64 but dropped the next two 80-70 and 65-60 in the Eastern Carolina tourney.
Senior guard Myron Carmon led the Goldsboro scoring with 16 points in Friday’s tournament loss to Kinston. Teammate Kisheem Faison added 13 points and senior Nakia Atkins followed with 10. Junior Jaylin Thomas finished with 8 points.
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