SILER CITY — Jordan-Matthews had three starters in double figures Wednesday night, which proved to be quite helpful as the Jets withstood a second-half rally by Eastern Randolph and pulled away down the stretch to secure a 66-56 PAC 7 2A Conference triumph Wednesday night on John Phillips Court.
Behind four points from Avery Jones, the Wildcats surged to a 12-6 advantage with just over two minutes left in the initial period prior to Camden Fuquay’s put-back in the paint and an Xavier Woods layup that sliced the margin to two after one quarter.
Woods’ driving basket off the left baseline with 6:10 to go in the second stanza gave Jordan-Matthews the lead for good at 14-12, and following Braxton Luther’s three-pointer from the right wing that drew Eastern Randolph within 22-20 with 1:24 remaining until halftime, J-M used back-to-back Moore hoops and Waden’s lane drive to forge an eight-point advantage at the break.
The Jets proceeded to expand their lead to 45-31 on Chandler Matthews’ three-pointer from the left corner with 2:28 to go in the third period before two Jalen Jones treys sandwiched around a layup by Jordan-Matthews’ Samuel Murchison got the Wildcats within 10 entering the fourth quarter.
Three-pointers by Avery Jones, Luther and Jalen Jones early in the final frame ignited an 11-3 Eastern Randolph run that pulled the visitors within 50-48 with 3:33 left on the clock, but Jordan-Matthews would go on to seal the win by converting 14-of-20 free throw attempts in the time remaining.
Led by Caleel Waden’s 21 points, Jordan-Matthews put three starters in double figures and outscored Eastern Randolph 18-8 in a decisive second quarter, then withstood a second-half Wildcats’ rally that trimmed a 14-point deficit to two before pulling away down the stretch to secure a Claiming its fifth victory in the last six meetings with its rival from Ramseur, J-M gained a split in the season series and raised its overall record to 6-14, while Eastern Randolph stumbled to 7-12 for the year, with the outcome leaving both teams 2-6 in the league standings.
Camden Fuquay chipped in 11 points and Seth Moore added 10 for the Jets, who shot 23-of-45 (51 percent) from the floor while turning the ball over 11 times.
Braxton Luther topped the Wildcats with 13 points as Eastern Randolph connected on 22-of-51 (43 percent) of its field goal attempts while committing 15 turnovers. Both teams collected a total of 27 rebounds.