HANCEVILLE– The Mortimer Jordan Blue Devils were on fire from three-point land in the first quarter of their matchup against the Hanceville Bulldogs on Thursday afternoon. Their first nine points came by way of the three, but Hanceville kept pace with quick drives to the bucket and transition shots. The two teams kept pace the entire quarter and played to a 15-15 stalemate after one.
Mortimer Jordan continued to shoot well in the second, pulling ahead by as much as 13 early in the frame. Hanceville settled in at the midway point of the quarter, trading baskets with the Blue Devils but found themselves down 11 at the half.
The third was chock-full of fast-paced play, with each team streaking up and down the floor, but it was the Blue Devils that extended their advantage by one, 48-36, heading to the fourth.
Hanceville cut deeply into the Blue Devil lead thanks to a quarter opening 7-0 run that pulled them to within five. Mortimer Jordan pushed it back seven before Hanceville rattled off another four points to briefly cut the deficit to three. A foul on a three-point shot put the Blue Devils at the line. All three free throws sank and the lead was pushed back six with 1:59 left to play.
The next few possessions were spent trading baskets before Isaac Weissend drilled a three from the right wing to pull Hanceville to within just a pair of points. The very next possession he hit another from the exact same spot to give Hanceville their first lead of the game, 56-55, with 26.5 left in regulation.
Justin Anderson was fouled on the Mortimer Jordan end and he sank both shots from the charity stripe to give the lead back to the Blue Devils with just 3.9 seconds for a shot. Jose Orozco's half-court shot missed it's mark and Mortimer Jordan took the game 57-56.
