• No. 12 East Bladen (25-4) vs. No. 3 East Columbus (25-1)
• Gametime 2 p.m. at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum, 2825 University Pkwy, Winston-Salem.
• Admission $10 (Cash or Credit), Parking $10 per Vehicle. Kids 5-and-under admitted free.
Waccamaw Conference co-champions East Bladen and East Columbus are only 23 miles apart, but Monday they will both travel to Winston-Salem for their 4th meeting of the year that will decide the Eastern Regional 1A girls Championship. For Coach Patty Evers’ Lady Eagles, it will be a journey of 167 miles to Lawrence Joel.
To set up this Waccamaw showdown, East Bladen defeated No. 1 East seed Falls Lake Academy 68-58 Friday night behind 31 points and 11 rebounds from junior Laila Smith and 24 points and 5 rebounds from junior Iveonna “NeNe” Ward. Sophomore Niyah Wooten grabbed 11 rebounds.
East Columbus, the No. 3 East seed, defeated Pamlico County 77-63 as 5-11 sophomore Malia Graham racked up 31 points and 19 rebounds, and junior Malayah Hines scored 17 points.
In early January Laila Smith posted a double-double of 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Ward contributed 11 points in a 60-57 Lady Eagle home win over the Lady Gators. Malia Graham led East Columbus with 17 points and 6-foot senior Chynna Patrick tallied 11 points.
In the next meeting at Lake Waccamaw Malia Graham pumped in 18 points, and Hines and senior Kaley Mitchell netted 12 points each as the Lady Gators built a 12-point lead then held on for a 58-53 victory. Ward and Laila Smith fired in 21 points each for East Bladen.
In the Waccamaw tournament championship game, Laila Smith burnt the nets with 27 points, and Ward tossed in 11, but Malia Graham rang up 22 points, Patrick dropped in 12, and Hines flipped in 10 as East Columbus built a 17-point lead then held off a 12-2 Lady Eagle run for a 50-43 win.
Laila Smith and Ward have both reached the 1,000 points scored plateau in their East Bladen careers. Ward blistered the nets with 26 points in the 3rd round 76-44 victory over Vance Charter to reach that milestone. Laila Smith filled up the stat sheet with 20 points and 19 rebounds in the win at Vance and had scored her 1,000th point in the conference tournament championship.
In the Lady Eagles 2nd round 52-50 win over Chatham Charter, Ward and Laila Smith had identical statistical lines of 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 steals each.
Ward poured in 40 points in East Bladen’s 83-63 opening round playoff win over North Edgecombe, and Laila Smith blistered the nets with 26 points. Sophomore Ariel Cromartie added 10 points against North Edgecombe.
Ward leads the East Bladen attack averaging 20 points, 5.2 steals, 4.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Laila Smith averages 17.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.6 steals and 3.3 assists. Cromartie adds 9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.3 steals. Sophomore Niyah Wooten contributes 7.4 rebounds and 2.4 steals, and sophomore Cabria Baldwin collects 3.4 rebounds and 2 steals per game.
Patrick was the workhorse of East Columbus’ 54-47 3rd round overtime win over Gates County pounding the paint for 24 points and 16 rebounds. Malia Graham pulled down 16 rebounds to go with 6 points, and Destiny Mitchell collected 9 points and 9 rebounds.
In the Lady Gators 63-51 2nd round victory over North Duplin, Malia Graham poured in 33 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Kaley Mitchell recorded 14 points, and Destiny Mitchell netted 9.
Malia Graham led East Columbus with 30 points and 8 rebounds in a 64-22 romp past North Moore in the opening round. Kaley Mitchell chipped in with 15 points.
Malia Graham leads the East Columbus attack with 17.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game. Hines contributes 10.5 points, 4.6 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game. Destiny Mitchell averages 7.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.2 steals. Patrick adds 7.1 points and 8 rebounds, and Kaley Mitchell tallies 6.5 points per game.
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