Gardendale defends well at Mortimer Jordan

Published 11:25 am Saturday, December 3, 2016

KIMBERLY—No one exactly broke the scorers table on Friday night, but a balanced attack was good enough to push Class 6A Gardendale past 5A Mortimer Jordan, 53-39.

It was a late second-quarter push that gave the visitors a cushion they would enjoy for the remainder of the evening. The Blue Devils were dominating the boards, but Gardendale senior Luke Pennington found his touch in the closing minutes of the first half. First, he touched in an offensive putback in transition for a 24-18 lead with two minutes remaining. Moments later he stretched the lead to nine with a deep step back from the top of the key.

First-year Mortimer Jordan coach Josh Golden was then called for a technical foul, resulting in a Pennington free throw and a 10-point deficit at the break.

Pennington’s outburst shifted momentum to the visitors, as they coasted to a non-area win. He finished the contest with nine points, matching fellow senior Marque Burton on the stat line.

Burton provided strong minutes off the bench. He lifted the Rockets’ offense in the first halt with a pair of triples from the corner. Both shots went up fast and neither touched anything but the net.

Gardendale stretched things out a little in the third frame. Senior Jacoby Bradford got it started with a 15-foot jumper before Burton, Demetrius King, Omari Hood and Shamarius Cook followed suit with baskets of their own. The Rockets led 44-30 going into the final eight minutes.

After struggling early on, head coach Ryan Griffin was pleased with his team’s rebounding in the second half.

“I think we wore them down, did a better job boxing out in the second half and I think that’s where the improvement came from, it wasn’t anything I did,” said Griffin.

For Gardendale, Darryl Miles came through with eight points to go with Bradford’s seven. King also finished with seven points.

“If feels good. Especially to win by that margin,” said King of the rivalry win.

For Mortimer Jordan, Justin Anderson led the way with 16 points. Justin Thomas went up for eight rebounds. The Blue Devils went 4-of-25 from behind the arc.

Erik Harris is the Sports Editor of The North Jefferson News. Email him at njnsports@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jeharris2.