PINSON—It was a one-sided affair on Tuesday night in Mike Dutton Gymnasium.

The Pinson Valley Indians ran circles around the Cullman Bearcats, securing their second straight Northeast Regional berth with a 109-59 victory. The Tribe (23-10) sits opposite tenth-ranked Parker in the Class 6A bracket. The two are scheduled to take the floor at Jacksonville State University on Friday at 1:30 p.m.

To get there, Pinson Valley sophomore Colby Jones did some of his best work on the Bearcats (18-14) Tuesday night. He led all scorers with 30 points, despite attempting only one shot in the fourth quarter, as his team ran away with a 50-point victory. Twenty-three of those points came in the first half, which ended with his fadeaway 3-pointer at the buzzer. Pinson Valley went to the break with a 51-31 advantage.

“Colby had a good night. He started off hot. He had 23 at halftime and I wasn’t going to tell him to stop shooting, but to score that many points having played 15 guys, that just says a lot about our bench,” said Pinson Valley head coach Cedric Lane.

Two of his bench players provided instant offense on the perimeter. Senior Jerell Willie sank four triples to go with three more from junior Micah Mitchell in the closing minutes. Willie ended the evening with 12 points. Mitchell scored nine. Also for the Indians, Orion Morris (18) and Geordon Pollard (12) reached double figures in the scorebook.

As for his upcoming bout with Parker, Lane finds confidence from his team’s past experiences in Pete Mathews Coliseum.

“It feels great to be back down there, but this is our second go around and these guys are experienced, so I think we bring a lot more to the table now with basically the same team as last year with added experience. I like my chances,” said Lane.

In the Class 5A playoff bracket, Mortimer Jordan went on the road for a 53-48 win over seventh-ranked Guntersville (19-12). The Blue Devils (19-12) are scheduled to play No. 10 Etowah in the Northeast Regional at Jacksonville State University Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

“It was one of our goals since the beginning of the year. We talked about making it to that regional [all season],” said Mortimer Jordan head coach Josh Golden. “Now that we’re there, we would like to go win a couple.”

Senior point guard Justin Anderson had a lot to do with the road win. He scored 28 points to go with seven points apiece from JuJu Washington and Ronnie Wright. 

“Going on the road and winning this game I think will give them a lot of confidence to know that we can compete with anybody that we play from here on out,” said Golden.  

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