ELIZABETH CITY – Senior Aniyah Rainey and junior Jasmine Felton lit up the scoreboard with 58 points Thursday night to lead Northeastern’s Lady Eagles to a 72-60 victory over East Bladen in the 2nd round of the NCHSAA Class 2A girls’ basketball playoffs.
Northeastern, the No. 3 seed in the 2A East, improves to 26-1 and will host Fairmont – a 60-19 winner over South Lenoir – Saturday night. East Bladen’s Lady Eagles, the No. 14 seed and the Southeastern Athletic Conference tournament champions, conclude their season with a 19-8 record.
Rainey connected on 11 of 12 free throws and threw in 10 baskets for her 31 points. Felton rang up 9 baskets and made all 9 of her free throws to finish with 27 points.
Senior Maegan Burney fired in a trio of 3-point baskets, 7 other baskets and hit 3 free throws to lead East Bladen with 26 points. Sophomore Laila Smith powered in 4 baskets and sank 8 free throws to finish with 16 points, and senior AnnaGrey Heustess nailed a trio of 3 point shots and made a free throw for her 10 points.
Felton, Rainey and Sanai Alexander dropped in 2 baskets each in the opening period, and Felton canned 3 free throws as Northeastern edged ahead 15-13. Senior Karli Priest tossed in a basket and 2 free throws, Heustess buried a 3-point shot, and Burney, Laila Smith and sophomore Iveonna “NeNe” Ward flipped in a basket each to keep East close.
Fourteen points from Felton and 9 from Rainey keyed a 27-20 2nd quarter burst that stretched the home team’s lead to 42-33.Burney blistered the nets with a trio of 3-pointers and 3 other baskets to tally 16 points in the period. Heustess delivered another 3-ball, and freshman Cabria Baldwin netted 2 free throws.
Rainey took charge in the 3rd quarter with 10 points, and Felton tacked on 4 as the Northeastern lead grew to 58-44. Laila Smith pumped in 4 free throws and another basket for East. Heustess knocked down another 3-pointer and tacked on a free throw. Burney also hit a free throw.
Laila Smith and Burney racked up 8 points each in the final period – Smith on 2 baskets and 4 free throws; Burney on 3 baskets and 2 free throws. However, Rainey shot a perfect 8 for 8 at the foul line, Felton was 2 for 2 and Alexander dropped in 2 more baskets to finish with 8 points.
Northeastern made 20 of their 21 free throws – all of them by Rainey and Felton. East Bladen sank 16 of their 28 foul shots. Laila Smith posted another double-double for East with 16 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Burney connected on 10 of her 14 shots and made 7 of her 8 2-point attempts. She also snared 4 rebounds. Heustess had 5 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 4 assists to go with her 10 points. Priest grabbed 3 rebounds, and Ward dished out 2 assists.
It was the final game for 4 East Bladen seniors – AnnaGrey Heustess, Karli Priest, Maegan Burney and Brianna Phillips. In their 4 years at East Bladen, the Lady Eagles have posted a 75-19 record and made at least the 2nd round of the playoffs every season except for the shortened Covid year of 2020-21.
East Bladen 13 20 11 16 –60
Northeastern 15 27 16 14 – 72
East Bladen (60) – Iveonna “NeNe” Ward 2, Cabria Baldwin 2, AnnaGrey Heustess 10, Karli Priest 4, Zoe Smith, Maegan Burney 26, Laila Smith 16, Brianna Phillips.
Northeastern (72) – Azaria Gallop 4, Jariah Hinton, Aniyah Rainey 31, Cierra Jones, Sanai Alexander 8, Jasmine Felton 27, Gabriella Furges 2.
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