By DAN BISER

LAKE WACCAMAW – Four in a row!

With a ball-hawking defense that super-charged a 22-2 four-minute run in the opening quarter, the undefeated Whiteville Lady Wolfpack ran to a 87-59 victory Friday night over the host East Columbus Lady Gators for their fourth consecutive Waccamaw Conference Basketball Tournament championship.

Whiteville, now 22-0 and the state’s top-ranked 2A girls team, was led by senior All-Stater Shannon McCallum’s 21 points. Sophomore forward Paige McCallum had 19 points, junior point guard Talena Faison finished with 13 and senior center Portia Baldwin chalked up 12.

Whiteville set the tone early when it converted five straight steals into quick field goals in the first quarter surge. The Lady Wolfpack led 29-6 at the end of first quarter and 49-22 at the half.

“We knew in a game like this that we would have to establish ourselves early,” said WHS coach Keith Jordan. “East Columbus is having a great season and they were playing on their home floor. We knew that if we didn’t get off to strong start that it would be to their advantage.”

East Columbus coach Karlyn Stephens said that her team came out flat and became impatient during the early WHS run.

“We just didn’t play smart at first and gave up too much too early,” said Stephens, whose team will carry a 19-6 record and a top seed into this week’s state 1A playoffs. “Even though we got down, our girls still gave a good effort.”

ECHS placed runner-up to Whiteville in the conference’s regular-season standings with three of the Lady Gator losses coming against the Whiteville squad and two others coming against Southeastern Conference champion East Bladen.

East Columbus put together a 11-2 run early in he second quarter to cut the core to 35-17, but that was as close as the Lady Gators got.

ECHS center Angelica Moore scored 22 points while Taquanna Bress had 13 points (all in the final quarter). Candra Powell and T.T. Bennett each scored 10.

EAST COLUMBUS (22): Moore 22, Powell 10, Bress 13, Young 1, Bennett 10, Lennon 3.

WHITEVILLE (87): Gore 1, Smith 6, Ka. Jordan 4, Faison 13, S. McCallum 19, Geathers 4, O. Williams 2, P. McCallum 19, Burroughs 4, Baldwin 12.