Following a pair of early ties, Ellia Wright’s three-pointer from the left wing with 58 seconds to go in the first quarter gave Jordan-Matthews the lead for good and the Lady Jets went on to earn a 53-34 triumph over Eastern Randolph in consolation round play of the 28th annual The Courier-Tribune Christmas Invitational Tournament Friday afternoon at Asheboro High School.
Snapping a four-game losing skid, J-M climbed to 4-6 overall with its third win over the Lady Wildcats in five tourney meetings and will next face Wheatmore Saturday afternoon in a clash for fifth-place hon-ors, while Eastern Randolph dropped to 2-7 for the year and will play Trinity for seventh place earlier in the day.
Jocelyn Mitchell notched 19 points and Wright collected 13 points off the bench for Jordan-Matthews, which connected on 33% (16-of-48) of its field goal attempts and commanded a 41-21 rebounding advantage while turning the ball over 22 times.
Courtnee Carter registered 14 points to lead the Lady Wildcats, who shot 27% (14-of-51) from the floor while committing 19 turnovers.
“I applaud our effort this afternoon, as we came out with a whole different attitude than the one we had against Southwestern Randolph last night,” said Lady Jets’ coach Mel Dark.
“While our shooting percentage wasn’t great, we showed a desire to compete and win. Rebounding and boxing out is a want-to, and we have to do that consistently to be successful.”
“We’re also doing a better job learning when to push the ball and when to slow down, and that comes with maturity on the court.”
Eastern Randolph coach Lynda Hooker-Ravenell commented the reality is her team needs a bonafide point guard.
“Our biggest hurt is we don’t have a ball handler who can take charge and lead,” explained Hooker-Ravenell.
“I think this outing was an eye-opener for us. We have good numbers personnel-wise this year but we lack role players with certain talents.”
“It’s been said insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. While the effort is there, we’re not getting the full picture and completing the puzzle.”
“Right now this is a developmental time for us, and I consider this a learning year in progress.”
Wright’s trey with just under a minute left in the opening stanza put J-M ahead 11-8, and Jordan-Matthews proceeded to stretch its advantage to five on Jasmine Scotton’s layup with 11 seconds remaining in the first period.
The Lady Jets managed to extend their lead to 23-12 on Avery Headen’s free throw with 1:44 to go until halftime before Carter tallied four straight points to offset a Mitchell layup and draw the Lady Wildcats within nine at the break.
After Aniyah King’s lane drive with 4:07 left in the third frame trimmed the gap to 28-25, Mitchell accounted for six points during an 8-0 quarter-ending Jordan-Matthews’ burst that pushed the Lady Jets’ advantage back out to 11.
Eastern Randolph could never reduce its deficit under double digits in the time remaining while J-M closed the contest on another 8-0 run, with Wright’s backcourt steal and layup with 4.5 seconds to go accounting for the final margin besides giving the winners their biggest lead of the afternoon.
ER 8 8 9 9 – 34
J-M 13 12 11 17 – 53 Eastern Randolph (2-7) – Carter 5 1-2 14 Rush 1 0-0 2 Jordan 2 0-0 4 King 3 0-0 6 Whitaker 1 0-0 2 Snider 0 0-0 0 ABrooks 0 2-2 2 Faulkner 0 0-0 0 Moore 0 0-0 0 Abrams 0 0-0 0 Presnell 0 0-0 0 Brower 1 0-0 2 Christian 1 0-0 2. Totals 14 3-4 34.
Jordan-Matthews (4-6) – Mitchell 6 5-6 19 Wiley 0 0-0 0 Scotton 2 1-3 5 TBrooks 1 0-0 3 Headen 1 5-7 8 Ray 1 1-1 3 Glover 1 0-0 2 Wright 4 4-5 13 Artis 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 16-22 53.
Halftime-Jordan-Matthews, 25-16. Three-point goals-Eastern Randolph 3-7 (Carter 3-4, Whitaker 0-1, Faulkner 0-2); Jordan-Matthews 5-13 (Mitchell 2-5, Wright 1-1, TBrooks 1-3, Headen 1-4). Fouled out-Carter. Rebounds-Eastern Randolph 21 (Jordan 7); Jordan-Matthews 41 (Scotton, Mitchell 9). Turnovers-Eastern Randolph 19; Jordan-Matthews 22. Total fouls-Eastern Randolph 18; Jordan-Matthews 10.
