SILER CITY — Jocelyn Mitchell’s hot first quarter helped the Jordan-Matthews Lady Jets to a 41-34 victory Wednesday night over Eastern Randolph, a trumph in which they never trailed.
Back-to-back Mitchell rebound hoops in the first two-and-a-half minutes of play got the Lady Jets (8-12 overall, 4-4 PAC 7 2A) off to a 4-0 start, and after the Lady Wildcats (5-14, 2-6) pulled within 12-9 on Tehya Jordan’s jumper from the right side with 2:08 to go in the initial frame, Avery Headen buried a trey from the right wing to give J-M a six-point advantage at the end of the first period. Mitchell scored 8 of her team-best 14 points in the opening frame.
Ellia Wright’s three-pointer from behind the top of the key with 4:26 left in the second quarter extended Jordan-Matthews’ lead to 24-11 before Eastern Randolph closed out the stanza with a 6-3 spurt to narrow the difference to 10 at intermission.
A pair of Jasmine Scotton buckets and two Mitchell free throws to begin the third period allowed the Lady Jets to stretch their advantage to 33-17. But the Lady Wildcats showed a bit of life, with a Jordan trey and jumper in the lane sparking a 7-2 quarter-ending run to bring the Lady Wildcats within 11 heading into the final eight minutes.
Eastern Randolph managed to trim the margin to six on three occasions in the fourth stanza, the last time at 38-32 following two Courtnee Carter foul shots with 1:20 to go in the contest, but could draw no closer in the time remaining as J-M used a Seniah Wiley layup and Headen charity toss to offset a layup by the Lady Wildcats’ Alexus Christian just before the final horn.
Jordan-Matthews earned a season split and claimed its 14th victory in the last 17 meetings with the visitors from Ramseur since 2010 with the win. The Lady Jets connected on 31 percent (16-of-52) of its field goal attempts and held a 35-31 advantage on the boards while turning the ball over 20 times.
Tehya Jordan fired in a trio of three-pointers and finished with a game-high 19 points for Eastern Randolph, which shot 29 percent (11-of-38) from the floor and committed 27 turnovers.