Any drama there was for Thursday night’s showdown between the top two girls basketball teams in the Southeastern District was gone in a hurry.

No. 1 and home-standing Western Branch led No. 2 Nansemond River 29-5 11 minutes into the game and didn’t slow down in going on to a 72-37 win. It was Western Branch’s (18-2, 15-1) second 30-plus-point rout over the Lady Warriors (14-5, 13-3) this season.

The Lady Bruins scored the first 10 points of the game, in the opening 4:27 of play, and that was actually before their shooting got really hot.

Meanwhile, Western Branch’s defense hounded the Lady Warriors into hurried shots. WB forced only three NR turnovers in the first period but the Lady Warriors were 0-for-10 from the field.

The Lady Bruins dominated the boards as well, so one missed shot and back on defense was the pattern nearly every time the Lady Warriors had the ball.

The Lady Bruins warmed up from beyond the arc with four different players hitting from long range in the first half.

Western Branch led 29-5 before Jenel Cannon made a jumper for NR’s first field goal of the game with 4:57 showing in the first half. Western Branch led 44-12 at halftime and by as much as 56-15 in the third quarter.

The Lady Bruins held NR junior center Delisha Sharpe, who’s recorded a number of double-doubles this season, to five points and nine rebounds.

Kiara Washington led the Lady Warriors with nine points, all coming on three-pointers. Ashante Humphries scored seven points.

Six players did all the Lady Bruin scoring but all six scored at least seven points each.

Sophomore guard Shanese Harris had 17 points, seven rebounds, five steals and five assists for WB and sophomore forward Dalishia Griffin had 16 points and 11 rebounds.

The Lady Warriors remain in good shape to finish second in the Southeastern. The district runner-up gets to host its district tournament quarterfinal game. A win for Nansemond River in that contest qualifies it for the Eastern Region Tournament.

Nansemond River faced Great Bridge Friday evening and concludes its regular season Tuesday by hosting Deep Creek.