By Charles Prince

The North Jefferson News



The Mortimer Jordan Lady Blue Devils made history Thursday night when they beat West End, 54-38, to advance to the Northwest Regionals next week. According to head coach Marty Caldwell, it marks the first time in the school’s history that the girls team has advanced to regional play.

“I’m been told they lost in the sub-regionals in 2002 and this is the first time the Jordan girls have qualified for the regionals,” Caldwell said. “I know the school won a state title back in the 1920s, but the playoff setup was different back then.”

The Lady Devils lead 27-19 at the half as Peyton Davis scored 11 of her 12 points before the intermission.

Ashlee Porter scored a game-high 17 points to led the offense, Brianna Nation had nine points, Shea Bowman had seven, Ashley Merritt had five, Haley McCleney had and Consuela Austin scored two points each.

Davis had a game-high 18 rebounds as well as four blocked shots. Porter was also strong on the boards with 10 rebounds.

“I really didn’t think we’d make it this far when the season began,” Merritt said. “We were such a young team, but throughout the season we could see we were getting better and I don’t think we’re surprised at all now about getting to the regionals.”

“We’ve excited to be part of a team that makes history at our school,” Davis said. “I’m really excited too that we’ll keep everyone on this team together next year.”

The Blue Devils (25-6) will face the No. 7-ranked Brewer Lady Patriots (25-2) Feb. 20 at 9 a.m. at Wallace State College in Hanceville in the Northwest Regional.

“Wether they’re 25-2 or 2-25, it doesn’t matter to us, we’re going to play hard and play our game,” Porter said. “Coach Caldwell tells us, it’s who plays the best for 32 minutes, not who has the best record.”

Talladega girls 67, Gardendale girls 38

No. 2-ranked Talladega never trailed and raced to a 39-19 lead at halftime, as they shut down the Lady Tigers outside game.

Taylor Powell led Gardendale (18-12) with 15 points, while senior guard Kristian Moody was held to only six points, Kaitlyn Plan an Bekah Myers had four points each.

Despite the loss, Gardendale head coach Tom Hannah was pleased with his Lady Rockets.

“We had a great year,” he said. “When I got here three years ago, there were only five girls left and we won six games, last year we won 12 games and this year we won 18. We’ve made progress. These girls have really worked hard and we’ve had success this season. This has been my favorite year to coach. I love working with these girls.

“These ladies have accomplished a lot. They had a chance to win 20 games, they had a chance to win an area title and they got to the sub-regionals. I’m very proud of this team and they way they worked in practice and played this year.”