Basketball Recap: North Duplin Falls Short of East Bladen in the Playoffs

Rebels

Previous 5 Games

03/07/25 vs East Bladen	45-68
03/04/25 @ Northside - Pinetown	58-45
02/28/25 vs Gates County	58-45
02/25/25 vs Weldon	59-20
02/22/25 vs Lakewood	57-47

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact North Duplin can now relate to. They came up short against the East Bladen Eagles on Friday, falling 68-45. The Rebels' loss signaled the end of their ten-game winning streak.

Despite the loss, North Duplin still got an impressive performance from Tateyawna Faison, who dropped a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Faison's evening made it three games in a row in which she has scored at least 15 points. Addy Higginbotham was another key player, putting up four points in addition to ten boards and eight assists.

East Bladen had a senior duo take command as Laila Smith almost dropped a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds and NeNe Ward went 11-for-15 to rack up 25 points along with eight boards and seven steals. That makes it three consecutive games in which Ward has scored at least a third of East Bladen's points. Another player making a difference was Ariel Cromartie, who posted eight points in addition to six assists and five steals.

North Duplin's defeat dropped their record down to 24-5. As for East Bladen, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 16 of their last 17 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 25-3 record this season.

As of now, neither North Duplin nor East Bladen have any future games scheduled.