The girls game was almost as exciting as the unbeaten Lady Wolfpack held off a huge ECHS upset bid 68-60.

Whiteville coach Keith Jordan was the first to state that his team had been “outplayed and outhustled” most of the way.

“They took us out of our game at both ends of the floor,” said Jordan, who had to rely on the 27-point effort of senior All-Stater Shannon McCallum to pull out the win. “We came out flat and had a hard time reacting to what they were doing. They are a very well coached team.”

Whiteville, which improved to 14-0 for the season and 6-0 in the conference, led 17-13 after one quarter and 29-26 at the half. East Columbus stayed within 10 points throughout the second half behind the play of senior forward Candra Powell and freshman guard T.T. Bennett, who each had 19 points.

Paige McCallum added 12 points for Whiteville, which got a pair of big steals by guard Talena Faison in the game’s final moments to help seal the win.

ECHS coach Karlyn Stephens, a former all-conference player at Whiteville High, said she was pleased with her team’s effort.

“We didn’t win but our girls played hard,” she said. “They were upbeat the whole game. We made some mistakes and got a little impatient toward the end but it was an outstanding effort. I don’t think I could be prouder.”

The East Columbus girls are now 4-3 in conference play and 12-5 overall.

Whiteville will play host to South Columbus tonight and will travel to meet Pender Tuesday.

East Columbus will entertain North Brunswick on Tuesday.

GIRLS GAME

EAST COLUMBUS (60): Bennett 19, Powell 19, Bress 7, Young 4, Malpass 2, Moore 9

WHITEVILLE (68): Smith 1, McLean 2, Faison 7, S. McCallum 27, Geathers 2, Kerry Jordan 5, Karena Jordan 2, P. McCallum 12, Baldwin 7, Burroughs 2,

BOYS GAME

EAST COLUMBUS (67): Moore 25. Patrick 2, Hampton 16, Spears 4, Baldwin 2, Freeman 12, Waddell 6.

WHITEVILLE (66): Williams 27, Abdullah 9, Reeves 8, Jordan 12, Mahoney 3, Grant 5, Anders 2.