Mortimer Jordan guard Anna Boger and her Blue Devils went past Lincoln on Monday night, 44-36.

KIMBERLY—The challenge was tall and strong and able on both ends of the floor, but the Mortimer Jordan girls basketball team found a way on Monday night in the opening round of the state playoffs.

Led by veteran point guard Kaylan Hines, the Blue Devils outlasted visiting Lincoln, 44-36 to advance into next week’s Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State University. They will face the winner of Scottsboro (15-16) at Boaz (21-9) on Tuesday at 9 a.m.

For Mortimer Jordan (24-7), points were hard to come by on Monday night. Especially in the paint, where Lincoln center Amaz Carmichael (6-foot-3) ate up shots on the defensive end and poured in points on the offensive side. Carmichael finished the game with 17 points and 16 rebounds.

“That girl [Carmichael] is a really tough matchup. She played well under the basket: good hands,” said Mortimer Jordan head coach Kelly Robinson.

As strong as she was under the basket, Carmichael was unable to help her backcourt against an active group of Mortimer Jordan guards.

“We tried to create some steals. We felt like our guard play was better than theirs and that really was the difference,” said Robinson.

The Blue Devils stretched into a full-court trap and forced Lincoln’s girls to do something they weren’t comfortable doing: handle the basketball. Forced turnovers led to bursts of offense for the home team throughout the night.

That final burst came in the fourth quarter when Mortimer Jordan extended a 34-31 lead. Senior Abigail Crane lit the fuse with a midrange pull-up from the elbow. Alyssa King came back with a kiss off the glass before Hines stole the ball and lobbed it in for an easy 2. Just like that, the Blue Devils led 42-33 with less than four minutes to play.

They wouldn’t make another shot from the floor, but a few free throws down the stretch sealed the deal.

Early on Mortimer Jordan struggled to score, as the opening quarter ended at 2-for-18 from the field. Both of those makes came from Hines, who knocked down a triple and rolled in an offensive put-back at the horn. The game was even at 9-all heading to the second frame.

The Blue Devils held a 25-18 edge at the break.

Robinson later said reaching the regional tournament has been his team’s goal from the start.

“I’m excited for them right now. We want to win, but we are where we wanted to be next week and we have to get better this week in practice,” said Robinson. “We are going up there to win.”

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