Jordan Clark was nearly unstoppable in the first half.
South Jones cruised past its county rivals Northeast Jones 66-41 Monday night at South Jones’ gymnasium in part to the junior guard’s 20-point first half performance.
“We got off to a kind of sluggish start,” said South Jones girls basketball coach Sherri Cooley. “Northeast Jones came after us like I knew they would. They always play a good game against us. They play scrappy, and they have some nice shooters.
“I knew that if we didn’t come out focused that Northeast Jones would jump on us. And that is what they did. But once we settled down and Jordan got going and got a rhythm in her shot, we pulled away in the first half.”
Clark sat out the entire third quarter and finished with a game-high 24 points, including two 3-point baskets.
Northeast Jones gained the advantage early, starting the game on an 8-2 run. South Jones answered with an even more impressive 11-0 run before Northeast Jones called a timeout with 2:20 left in the first quarter as an attempt to thaw out its county rivals hot run. Clark’s fast-break layup gave South Jones its first lead of the game in the 11-0 run.
South Jones never surrendered its lead from that point on despite several close attempts by Northeast Jones in the first half. The Lady Braves broke away even further in the second half, outscoring Northeast Jones 15-6 in the third period.
Senior forward and JCJC commit Endia Holliday, and junior guard Kelsi Jackson also finished with double digits. Holliday had 17 points, while Jackson had 16. Holliday tied with freshman guard/forward Mackenzie Thomas with 10 rebounds in the contest.
South Jones will finish the last week before Christmas break with a contest against Bay Springs on Tuesday night. Cooley said a strong finish this week is key.
“Its very important that we finish strong,” Cooley said. “We’re trying to get better defensively, and that is what we are focusing on right now. And I think we are doing a pretty good job of getting there. We are still missing some assignments, but we have improved since the beginning of the season. I am pleased with that.”
Northeast Jones junior guard Gabby Bunch led Northeast Jones with 13 points.
South Jones improves to 11-1 on the season. Northeast Jones falls to 3-7.
