By Charles Prince

The North Jefferson News



MORRIS — The Mortimer Jordan girls were struggling. The Lady Blue Devils trailed the Lady Eagles from Sumiton Christian by five points entering the fourth quarter. Then everything changed when starting point guard Ashlee Porter entered the game for the first time since the first quarter.

After Porter came back, the Lady Devils went on a 19-6 run to cruise to a 51-43 win.

“When Ashlee came back in, it gave us all five starters on the floor again,” Mortimer Jordan head coach Marty Caldwell said. “When she came back she made the passes to set up the baskets we needed and our girls picked it up and played their hearts out in the fourth quarter.”

Porter had left the game in the first half after suffering a mild concussion.

The point guard picked up six assists in the final quarter, collected two steals and scored four points of her own to the comeback win.

With the Lady Devils trailing 43-37, Porter found Ashley Merritt open in the corner for a 3-point basket to cut the lead to three.

Then on the next Jordan possession, Porter found Brianna Nation open for a 3-pointer to tie the game.

After a Peyton Davis blocked shot, Porter picked up the loose ball and went in for a lay up to give the Lady Devils the lead for good.

A nice lob pass to Davis on the next trip down floor was part of a 14-0 run over the final 4:20 of play to close out the game.

The win improved Jordan’s record to 18-5.

Davis led the offense as she scored 15, followed by Merritt with 13, Nation with seven, Porter with six, Consuela Austin and Shea Bowman scored four each and Elisabeth Naramore scored two.

Mortimer Jordan boys 85,

Sumiton Christian boys 61

The Blue Devils improved to 12-11 on senior night as coach Mike Dutton’s team opened the game with by scoring 48 points in the first half to build a 19-point lead.

“We played really well for the majority of the game,” Dutton said. “We came out strong and played about as well as we have lately. I was really pleased with the effort from our guys.”

The Blue Devils had three double-digit scorers on Tuesday night as junior shooting guard Nathan McIntosh led Jordan with 20 points.

Josh Vaughn had 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Joey Payton had 16 points and eight rebounds.

Senior point guard Brent Nation had six points and six assists.

“This was a great team effort,” Dutton said. “We’re getting better, but we’ve got a tough week ahead of us with three games this weekend.”