East Bladen Punches Ticket to 1A State Championship with 77-63 Comeback Win Over Perquimans
- Austin Smith
- Mar 12
- 3 min read
Winston Salem, NC - For the second straight year, the East Bladen Lady Eagles found themselves in the Final Four, but this time, they refused to let history repeat itself.
East Bladen punched their ticket to the 1A State Championship
After falling short in last year’s semifinal, East Bladen made a statement on Tuesday night, overcoming adversity and roaring back in the second half to defeat Perquimans and advance to the 1A State Championship Game.
The Lady Eagles controlled the first half, carrying a 34-25 lead into the break, but the game quickly turned in the third quarter.
Perquimans, refusing to go down without a fight, went on a furious run and took a 43-36 lead with 3:45 left in the third.
For a moment, East Bladen’s season—and their championship dreams—seemed to be slipping away.
But great teams find a way to respond.
Down seven, East Bladen flipped the switch and delivered a stunning 17-0 run to close the third quarter.
They turned defense into offense, forcing turnovers and converting fast-break opportunities as they completely shut down Perquimans.
Once they regained control, the Lady Eagles never looked back, outscoring Perquimans 24-20 in the final period to secure the victory.
“We had a 14-point lead, and then they came back to go up by 4 or 5 (7 point lead), so we had to regroup,” said head coach Patty Evers. “Our two seniors, NeNe Ward and Laila Smith, have led us all year long. They make the other players better. When the going got tough today, their leadership showed.”
After last year’s Final Four heartbreak, East Bladen entered this game with a different mindset.
“It was huge,” Evers said when asked how last year’s experience helped. “Last year, we had the information, but we didn’t know where to park, we didn’t know the area or the coliseum. But this year, as I mentioned to my principal this morning, it was like business as usual. I’m just going to school today. I know the team feeds off of me at times, so I had to try not to be nervous myself. We pulled up, walked in, knew where the locker room was, and it just flowed. I thought it gave us an advantage, even if we started off a bit slow.”
When asked what she told her team after they fell behind, Evers was direct:
“Nothing we were calling on defense was working—because they weren’t working,” she said. “I felt we were reaching with our hands and not playing defense with our feet. NeNe (Ward) was out there with 4 fouls almost the entire second half, playing smart, so everyone else needed to step up. We tried going to a man defense… that didn’t work. So we went back to what we do best, and then everyone locked back in. The entire starting lineup had a steal during that stretch.”
Ward, who led all scorers with 30 points, six three-pointers, and three steals, credited last year’s experience for her composure.
“I really did feel more confident,” Ward said. “Last year, things didn’t end how we wanted them to. We came back with the mentality that we didn’t want it to happen again. We took the energy from our coach and just led with it.”
Smith, who delivered a strong 27-point, 11-rebound performance, echoed that sentiment.
“We felt the hurt, and we didn’t want to feel it again,” Smith said. “Even though we started out slow, with a couple of threes from her (NeNe), and coach made me mad, so I had to step up.”
East Bladen - 19 15 19 24 - 77
Perquimans - 13 12 18 20 - 63
East Bladen (77) - Nene Ward 30, Nevaeh Brown, Aaliyah Monroe 4, Ariel Cromartie 14, Cabria Baldwin, Tyliah Freeman, Tatum Allen, Taylor Dowless, Laila Smith 27, Niyah Wooten 2.
Perquimans (63) - Lailana Marie-Harris 12, Indya Long, Kaydee Hunter 21, Crisha Sellers 12, Krista Linton, Aryah Brown 44, Heather Smith, Lovely Hunter, Terahji Lee, Asia Fletcher.
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