Waccamaw All-Conference: Girls Basketball

BLADEN COUNTY-The East Bladen Lady Eagles had four of their own selected to the All-Conference Team for stellar seasons in the Waccamaw Conference–senior guard Zoe Smith, junior guard Laila Smith, junior guard Ivonna “NeNe” Ward and sophomore guard Ariel Cromartie. The Waccamaw Player of the Year award was split between Ward and Whiteville junior guard Elayzia Dawson. Ward is a dynamic guard and she displayed her talent on a nightly basis for the Lady Eagles.

Ward averaged 20 ppg to lead her team in scoring this season, as well as averaged 3.2 assists a game, and she led her team with over 157 steals on the defensive side of the ball. Whiteville missed out on the playoffs this season but Dawson’s ability to score the basketball was crucial for them during hard-fought games. She averaged 16.1 ppg, while also leading her team in assists and steals for a stellar junior season.

East Bladen’s Zoe Smith was the sole senior on the team and she provided support from the bench as the Lady Eagle’s sixth man. Laila Smith averaged 17.9 ppg, as well as led her team with 3.3 assists per game and she averaged a team leading 8.8 rebounds a game this season for the Lady Eagles. Cromartie was a sniper from three-point range and she finished the season as the Lady Eagles third leading scorer.

The Waccamaw Coach of the Year award is shared by East Bladen head coach Patty Evers and East Columbus head coach Latoya Brown. Coach Evers and the Lady Eagles dominated the Waccamaw Conference this season with an 11-1 record to finish tied for first in the conference standings alongside East Columbus.

East Bladen posted a 25-5 overall record and claimed Runner-up’s in the Eastern Regional Final, just one game shy of the 1A state title game. East Bladen ran through a gauntlet of tough opponents in the playoffs and won most of their playoff games on the road; they defeated the number-one seeded Falls Lakes Firebirds to book their ticket to the Eastern Final against East Columbus.

Coach Evers also claimed her 600th career win over the season as another successful season gets added to the history books. Coach Brown and the East Columbus Gators were the Lady Eagles’ Achilles heel this season as they beat them three straight times on three separate occasions, while suffering a three point defeat in their first meeting of the season.

East Columbus finished the year with an overall record of 26-2 as they claimed the Waccamaw regular-season title, the conference tournament title and they were crowned the 1A Eastern Regional Champions. Coach Brown helped lead the Gators to their first ever state title game in school history and they did it as the number-three seed in the East.

East Columbus had three of their own selected to the All-Conference team–senior guard Destiney Mitchell, junior guard Maylayah Hines and sophomore forward Malia Graham. Mitchell took up a leadership role during the season and was an important piece to the Gators winning machine. Hines is a dynamic guard as she averaged 10.9 ppg, as well as lead the Gators with 4.7 assist per game and she snagged 3.3 steals per game this season.

Graham had a breakout season in her sophomore year as she averaged a double-double for the Gators. She averaged 17.9 ppg on 56 percent shooting and she was collecting a little over 10 rebounds a game. South Columbus had two of their own selected to the All-Conference team in Jakiyah Graham and Karys Townsend. Whiteville’s Serenity Harvey and Gabby Inman joined Dawson on the All-Conference list.

Pender’s Linde Cline and Jamiah Johnson were also selected to the All-Conference team. Heide Trask had a sole representative in Kenya Lewis and West Columbus’ Dalijanae Willis was the sole-representative to round-off the All-Conference selections.

Honorable mentions: East Bladen’s Cabria Baldwin and Niyah Wooten, East Columbus’ Kaley Mitchel and Chyna Patrick, Whiteville’s Ceonna Dennis, Heide Trask Layna Nixon, Penders Shamiyah Johnson, and West Columbus’ Tierra Brady.