East Bladen’s Iveonna “NeNe” Ward and Laila Smith have been named to the NC Basketball Coaches Association All-District 2 Girls Basketball Team. Ward was a First Team All-District selection, while Smith was named to the Third Team.
It was an amazing playoff run for the Lady Eagles and their dazzling junior duo. East Bladen finished 25-5 and reached the NCHSAA Eastern Regional Championship game where they lost to East Columbus – 3 of East Bladen’s 5 losses were to the Lady Gators.
During that run Smith scored the 1,000th point of her East Bladen career in the Waccamaw Conference Tournament Championship game, and Ward joined her in the 1,000 point club early in the Lady Eagles 3rd round win over Vance Charter.
Ward averaged 20 points, 5.2 steals, 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. The 5-7 guard scored in double figures in 26 games, blistered the nets with a career-high 40 points in a playoff win over North Edgecombe, scored 30 or more points in 3 games and tallied 20 or more points in 18 games.
Ward posted double-doubles with a season high 11 steals in a Waccamaw tournament semi-final against Pender and matched that total in the North Edgecombe win. She also snared a season-high 8 rebounds in that Pender game and dished out a season-high 8 assists in a home win over Whiteville.
Smith racked up 17.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.7 steals and 3.3 assists per game. The 5-10 forward scored in double-figures 26 times, poured in a career-high 36 points in the Eastern Championship game, scored 30 or more points twice, scored 20 or more points 14 times and recorded 14 double-doubles.
Smith grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds and dished out a season-high 7 assists in the win over North Edgecombe. She came up with a season-high 8 steals in the Waccamaw semifinal win over Pender.
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