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Photos by Kenneth Armstrong
When the top seed plays the 32nd seed, it’s not expected to be a close game. The undefeated East Bladen girls made sure it wasn’t.
The Eagles scored the first nine points of the game and the final 11 points of the half, which ended with Emily Scott’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer, in a dominating 56-27 victory against St. Pauls on Tuesday in the opening round of the 2-A state basketball playoffs.
Lacey Suggs scored 24 points, Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson had 13 and Christiana Cromartie added 10 as East Bladen improved to 28-0 and will host SouthWest Edgecombe in the second round scheduled Thursday. No. 16-seeded SouthWest Edgecombe defeated No. 17 Warren County 51-45 on Tuesday. SouthWest Edgecombe has a 12-11 record.
Destiny Hardin scored 12 to lead St. Pauls, which ended its season at 9-16. The Bulldogs had lost to East Bladen twice during the regular season by scores of 57-10 and 57-13.
East Bladen played Tuesday’s game without starting point guard Abby Ward, who was at home sick.
While East Bladen coach Patty Evers admitted missing their floor leader — “I though we did a good job without Abby being on the floor.” — the Eagles wasted no time in taking control. East Bladen forced three turnovers in the first 30 seconds and six in the opening two minutes in scoring the first nine points.
The spree began when Suggs made a free throw only 10 seconds into the game. Scott then scored off a pass from Moore-Peterson following a steal by Suggs. Moore-Peterson then stole the ball and went in for the layup that made it 5-0. Suggs followed with a basket and two free throws before Hardin scored for St. Pauls.
“That’s what we wanted to do,” Evers said. “We wanted to score quick points, get up and get a lead.
“We were just trying to get out of here healthy. I’m really proud of them. Lacey led us tonight. Chris had a great game defensively. We look forward to getting Abby back.”
St. Pauls went on an 8-2 run during a five-minute span that stretched into the second quarter that cut it to 20-12, but the Eagles countered by scoring 16 of the last 18 points of the half for a 36-14 lead. Moore-Peterson had seven points during the run, including a 3-pointer.
East Bladen put it away quickly in the third quarter, using three free throws by Suggs and two buckets by Cromartie that made it 43-16 with 5:34 remaining.
“We hit some shots in the second half that helped us,” Evers said. “We were able to get the outlet and run and score on the break. We wanted to pull the ball out in the fourth quarter and get time off the clock and get out of here healthy.
“Survive and advance,” Evers said.
On both counts, East Bladen did just that Tuesday night.
EAST BLADEN (56) – Lacey Suggs 24, Ja’Tyra Moore-Peterson 13, Christiana Cromartie 10, Emily Scott 5, Miller Heustess 2, Ashley Hardin 1, Michelle Page 1..
ST. PAULS (27) – Destiny Hardin 12, Nicole White 5, Alyssa Emanuel 4, Aquilla Rozier 3, Shay Anderson 2, KeNija McGougan 1.
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