Portsmouth's trio of Sydnee Jordan, Jennifer Bendolph and Brittany Stanley were happy to oblige on Thursday. After the Trojans struggled on Monday against South Point, Portsmouth used a 24-point performance from Jordan and 16 from Bendolph to pick up a 56-45 victory over Rock Hill.
After leading 44-32 at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Redwomen scored six straight points to cut the lead to 44-38. However, Jordan hit back-to-back 3-pointers to bring the lead back to 12 at 50-38.
“In this game, I really had to step it up,” said Jordan, who hit six 3s on the evening. “The shots just came, and I just wanted to win. I felt that the 3s (in the fourth quarter) were important, but anyone on the team could have made those. I just happened to have the open shots and put them in.”
“I had to step up, help my team, and show people what we are all about,” said Bendolph. “We are not about getting beat really bad. We are about working hard, getting after it and making things happen.”
With Jordan and Bendolph handling the bulk of the scoring, Stanley was a force on the boards and on defense, grabbing 14 rebounds and getting two blocks.
“That's one way that I can help my team, is to hit the boards and get the rebounds,” said Stanley. “It was a complete physical struggle the whole time between the two teams. We just kept going back and forth down low, and we were playing physical.”
The Trojans were down 9-3 early in the first quarter, but tied the score at 11 near the midway point. The teams would trade scores through the rest of the way, Portsmouth leading 17-16 entering the second. Rock Hill would score just five points in the quarter, and the Trojans would keep the lead near double digits the rest of the way.
After the game, Portsmouth coach Joe Albrecht applauded the performances of his upperclassmen.
“Brittany knows what her job is, and she has got to rebound and she has got to be strong offensively,” he said. “She showed up tonight. Brittany did a nice job tonight and I was proud of her.
“We expected between Sydnee and Jennifer to come up with 40 a night. Going into the season, we expect that. We have got to get more scoring from our off-guards, but they played great defense. (Janae) LaGrange, (Cassie) Taylor and (Maggee) Colley played great defense. We tried to confuse them tonight. We were in and out of different sets, and we probably ran eight different defenses tonight.”
For the Redwomen, Bobbi Harper led the way with 14 points and Brooke Long added nine. Yet, the team struggled at the free-throw line, making just four on the evening.
“Bobbi is a four-year starter for us, and she never quits, and she showed it tonight,” said Rock Hill coach Matt Fulks. “We will go back to the grindstone and see what happens.”
JOSH HICKLE can be reached at (740) 353-3101, ext. 241.
Rock Hill 16 5 11 13 - 45
Portsmouth 17 14 13 12 - 56
Rock Hill - Harper 6 0 14, Long 3 1 9, Bridges 3 1 7, Skaggs 3 1 7, Dickess 2 0 4, Hartwig 1 0 3, Daniels 0 1 1. Totals 18 4 45.
Portsmouth - Jordan 7 4 24, Bendolph 7 2 16, Colley 2 1 5, LaGrange 2 1 5, Stanley 2 0 4, Taylor 1 0 2. Totals 21 8 56.
3-pointers - Rock Hill 5 (Harper 2, Long 2, Hartwig), Portsmouth 6 (Jordan 6).
Records - Portsmouth 1-1, Rock Hill 0-1.
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