For the East Burke High School girls basketball team, much of its record book has been rewritten over the past three seasons.
That was on full display on Friday evening.
The Lady Cavaliers (30-1) earned a trip to the NCHSAA 2A West Regional finals with a 78-45 victory over Forest Hills (26-4) in the 2A West Regional semifinals at home in Icard.
During the game, senior point guard Braelyn Stilwell, the team’s driving force the past three winters, became the program’s all-time leading scorer.
East Burke girls basketball coach Crystal Bartlett (right) presents the game ball to senior point guard Braelyn Stilwell following a win over Forest Hills on Friday in Icard. Stilwell became the program's all-time leading scorer during the game.
East Burke’s lead over the Lady Yellow Jackets was 19-11 after a quarter, 42-15 by halftime and 60-29 after three periods before putting away the game at 78-45.
In the regional final, the No. 2 Cavaliers will play No. 1 West seed North Wilkes (29-1) in Thursday’s 2A West Regional finals at Wake Forest University’s Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum after North Wilkes defeated T.W. Andrews (25-2) by a 58-55 final score on Friday.
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Last year, East Burke beat Lincoln Charter in the regional finals before falling to North Pitt in the 2A championship game.
The Lady Cavaliers put in the hard work this year to earn another visit to regionals.
“This group of girls has reinvented themselves,†said East Burke head coach Crystal Bartlett. “They had a lot of pressure from expectations based on last year’s team and have excelled together. We are excited for another opportunity to go to the Final Four.â€
In Friday’s win, Stilwell poured in a team-high 27 points and became the program’s all-time leading scorer in the third quarter.
“Being East Burke’s all-time leading scorer now is such an amazing accomplishment that I have earned,†Stilwell said. “It is so special to me and means so much to have been able to do this during my last game on the East Burke court with such an amazing fan base there watching and commemorating with me.
“I am just so thankful to not only all of my teammates through these years for pushing me to my full potential, but also to the community for the crazy amount of support I have gotten over the course of the past four years. Overall, it’s just such a surreal feeling and a wonderful way to end my last home game at East Burke.â€
In addition to Stilwell, Kara Brinkley (19 points) and Anna Coble (11) also reached double digits in Friday’s victory. Also scoring were Addi Brittain (six points), Maci McNeil (four), Addison Sisk (four), Arieanna Williamson (four) and Journi McDowell (two).
The winner of Thursday’s East Burke-North Wilkes contest will advance to the NCHSAA 2A state championship game on Saturday, also at LJVM, to play the victor between No. 2 East seed Seaforth (28-2) and No. 12 East seed Southeast Alamance (27-3).
