East Bladen has gone 10-0 against Pender recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Thursday. The East Bladen Eagles will head out to face off against the Pender Patriots at 6:00 p.m. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
East Bladen is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They breezed by Whiteville to the tune of 70-32 on Friday. The Eagles have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won 11 contests by 22 points or more this season.
| 01/17/25 vs Whiteville | 6 |
| 01/14/25 @ Topsail | 8 |
| 01/07/25 vs Heide Trask | 5 |
| 01/03/25 vs Pender | 4 |
| 12/28/24 @ Cardinal Gibbons | 8 |
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead East Bladen to victory, but perhaps none more so than NeNe Ward, who went 8 of 15 en route to 22 points in addition to eight boards and six steals. Ward is on a roll when it comes to steals, as she's now grabbed four or more in the last five games she's played. Laila Smith was another key player, dropping a double-double on 14 points and 11 rebounds.
East Bladen smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 20 offensive rebounds. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least 12 offensive boards in seven consecutive games.
Meanwhile, you can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Pender's strategy against West Columbus on Friday. Given that consistent dominance, it should come as no surprise that Pender blew West Columbus out of the water with a 57-8 final score. With the Patriots ahead 32-4 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
East Bladen pushed their record up to 13-3 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. Those victories came thanks to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 26.0 points per game. As for Pender, with the win, they broke their four-game losing streak and moved their record to 2-6.
Everything came up roses for East Bladen against Pender in their previous matchup on January 3rd, as the team secured a 61-23 victory. In that contest, East Bladen amassed a halftime lead of 38-9, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Thursday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
