By John Clark
CLINTON – Sophomore Laila Smith posted a double-double Friday night … in the 2nd half. Smith poured in 18 of her 25 points and grabbed 10 of her 16 rebounds after intermission to lead East Bladen’s Lady Eagles to a 56-49 victory over St. Pauls’ in the Southeastern Athletic Conference Tournament girls’ championship game.
It was the first victory over St. Pauls in the careers of 4 East Bladen seniors – AnnaGrey Heustess, Karli Priest, Maegan Burney and Brianna Phillips. St. Pauls had won the last 10 meetings, including 4 last season. East Bladen’s last win over St. Pauls was Feb. 5, 2019.
“It has been a long time coming,” said Lady Eagle Coach Patty Evers. “I am happy for these seniors. They deserved it.”
Laila Smith hooked in a driving 4-footer with 3 seconds left in the 3rd period to snap a 34-34 tie and was fouled. Heustess snatched her missed free throw and banked in a follow shot for a 38-34 East lead at the break.
Burney sank 2 free throws, and Laila Smith turned a Heustess assist into a lay-up and a 42-34 lead with 5:37 remaining. Heustess dropped in a lay-up off a Priest assist, but St. Pauls junior Jashonte Harris trimmed the margin to 44-39 with a 3-ball. Sophomore Iveonna “NeNe” Ward converted an assist from Laila Smith into a lay-up and a 46-39 lead at the 3:11 mark.
Harris sandwiched a pair of floaters around a Laila Smith free throw to cut the East lead to 47-43 with 2:27 on the clock. Laila Smith answered with a pair of lay-ups – one off a Heustess assist – to pad the lead to 51-43 with 1:32 left. Heustess fired a long pass to Burney for a lay-up, and Priest swished 2 free throws for a 55-45 lead with 38 seconds left. Junior Zoe Smith tacked on a free throw for the final point.
Burney followed Laila Smith on the East scoring list with 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Heustess finished with 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 3 4th quarter assists. Ward contributed 6 points and 5 rebounds, and Priest added 5 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
Ward raced for a lay-up off the game’s opening tap, then delivered an assist to Laila Smith for a lay-up. Harris’ 4-point play tied the score. Burney buried a pair of 3-point shots, Ward made 2 free throws, and Laila Smith hit one as the East lead grew to 13-4. Harris responded with a 3-ball, but a Zoe Smith free throw kept the Lady Eagles up 14-7 at the break.
Priest sent an assist to Laila Smith for a lay-up then tossed in 2 free throws in the 2nd period. Heustess drained a 3-point shot, and Laila Smith popped in an 8-footer to boost the Lady Eagle lead to 23-12. However Harris led a 3-point barrage that keyed a 13-1 St. Pauls run and edged the Lady Bulldogs in front 25-24 at halftime. A Priest free throw accounted for the only East point during the spurt.
“We started strong, but then we got frustrated,” said Evers. “Harris is good and we couldn’t defend her so went to a box-and-one in the 2nd half. We got the ball inside which worked to our advantage and we made the free throws down the stretch.”
Laila Smith attacked the basket for 2 lay-ups and made 5 of 7 free throws in the 3rd quarter. Zoe Smith netted a free throw to knot the score 34-34 with 48 seconds remaining in the period.
Harris drilled in five 3-point shots and topped all scorers with 27 points. Tyasia Baldwin and center Zakoreya Davis tallied 6 points each.
East Bladen improved to 18-7 with the win, and St. Pauls fell to 18-5. Both teams will await the release of the playoff brackets Saturday afternoon to determine their play-off games for Tuesday.
East Bladen 14 10 14 18 — 56
St Pauls 7 18 9 15 — 49
EAST BLADEN (56) – Iveonna “NeNe” Ward 6, Cabria Baldwin, AnnaGrey Heustess 7, Karli Priest 5, Zoe Smith 3, Maegan Burney 10, Laila Smith 25.
ST. PAULS (49) – Aniya Easterling 4, Geomara Iglesias, Tyasia Baldwin 6, Jashonte Harris 27, Juliana Bell 2, Zykendria Cox 4, Zakoreya Davis 6.
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