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Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
Senior Lacey Suggs racked up another double-double, and East Bladen pulled away in the second half to defeat Jacksonville Northside 48-31 and advance to Saturday’s NCHSAA Class 2A Eastern Regional Girls Basketball Championship Game in Fayetteville.
The top-seeded Lady Eagles improved to 31-0 and will play the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 3 seed North Pitt (27-1) and No. 7 seed High Point Andrews (23-6). Gametime and location will be announced later this week.
Suggs finished with 20 points, 15 rebounds, 5 steals and 5 assists, and senior teammate Abby Ward totaled 11 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals.
Two free throws each by Northside juniors Timia Grant and Kayla Stephens pulled the Lady Monarchs to within 21-19 with 5:42 left in the third quarter.
Suggs hit a free throw, and Ward flipped in a runner with 3:46 left in the period. Christiana Cromartie blocked a Lady Monarch shot, and Ward grabbed the ball and pitched ahead to Suggs for a lay-up. Cromartie drained a 17-footer from the left corner to stretch the East lead to 28-19 at the 1:28 mark.
Northside’s Kourtney Mitchell banked in a 4-footer to close the gap to 28-21 at the quarter break.
Freshman Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson nailed a pair of 3-point shots then turned a Suggs’ assist into a lay-up that grew the Lady Eagle lead to 36-21 with 4:57 remaining.
“That changed the game,” said Suggs about Moore-Peterson’s 3-point shots.
After a defensive stop, the Lady Eagles spread the floor and made Northside chase them. “They are a very good team, maybe the best that we have played this year,” said East Bladen Coach Patty Evers. “We knew they were capable of making runs, so we pulled the ball out.”
Moore-Peterson made a free throw, but Stephens tossed in a floater to snap a 6-minute scoring drought for the Lady Monarchs. Suggs and Ward sank 2 free throws each to pad the lead to 41-23 with 2:23 left.
Grant hit 2 free throws for Northside, but a Suggs assist led to a lay-up and 3-point play for Cromartie. Stephens threw in a leaner, and a Mitchell lay-up trimmed the margin to 45-29 with 1:26 on the clock.
Ward canned 2 free throws at the 1:21 mark, and Suggs made another 7 seconds later for a 48-29 East lead.
Moore-Peterson finished with 10 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. Cromartie grabbed 10 rebounds, blocked 6 shots and scored 5 points.
Junior Emily Scott also pulled down 10 rebounds and had 3 steals. Freshman Ashley Hardin collected 7 rebounds and 3 steals.
“Emily and Chris were huge for us on the boards,” said Coach Evers. “We knew (No.) 22 (Grant) was a heck of a post player. Our three post players (Scott, Cromartie and Hardin) really stepped up tonight.” The Eagles had over 50 rebounds as a team.
Stephens led the Northside scoring with 15 points. “She is one of the best guards in the state, and we were able to contain her,” continued Coach Evers.
Grant finished with 10 points for the Lady Monarchs who ended their season with a 24-4 record.
Points were at a premium in the first quarter as both teams struggled to score. Suggs put back her own miss for the first Eagle basket with 6:02 left in the period. After sinking a free throw, Suggs bolted end-to-end with a rebound and hooked in a lay-up for a 5-0 lead.
A pair of Stephens free throws accounted for the first Lady Monarch points with 1:18 left in the period. Ward answered with a runner, then buried a 3-point shot for a 10-2 lead at the quarter break.
“Defense is what we are all about, and it was big for us tonight,” said Coach Evers.
After a Moore-Peterson free throw, the Lady Monarchs pulled even with a 9-0 run that featured 3 baskets from Grant.
East Bladen had been limited to one free throw for the first 7 minutes of the second quarter, before Suggs spun across the lane for a lay-up, then stole the ball and sprinted end-to-end for a lay-up and a 15-11 East lead.
“We just kept shooting even though the shots weren’t falling,” said Suggs. “We backed off, regrouped and kept calm.”
A pair of Stephens free throws after time had expired in the half trimmed the margin to 15-13.
Suggs turned a Ward assist into a lay-up to begin the second half. Senior Miller Heustess canned a 14-foot jumper, and Suggs turned another steal into a lay-up and a 21-15 lead.
“Our goal every year is to make the regionals,” said Coach Evers. “This is the tenth trip in the last 15 years.”
East Bladen (48) – Abby Ward 11, Lexie Mendell, Michelle Page, Shardajah Brown, Emily Scott, Lacey Suggs 20, Miller Heustess 2, Danielle McDowell, Christiana Cromartie 5, Ashley Hardin, Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson 10.
Northside (31) – Kayla Stephens 15, Kourtney Mitchell 4, Tamia Grant 10, Erin Bowerman 2.
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