WEDDINGTON — Porter Ridge High scored 41 points in the first half and cruised to a 68-48 road win over Weddington on Tuesday, putting the Pirates in position to secure no worse than second place in the final Southern Carolina 4A Conference girls basketball standings if they win their final two league games.
The Pirates improved to 6-2 in the SCC and 13-9 overall with their second straight win. They trail only Marvin Ridge in the standings.
Porter Ridge will host Sun Valley on Friday, Feb. 3, and Piedmont on Feb. 10.
Pirates coach Morgan Brown is pushing her team to play at their highest level down the stretch. She saw some opportunity for improvement in Tuesday’s 20-point win.
“Defensively, I feel like we gave up too many second chance points,” Brown said. “Right now we have to get better on defense, but we are starting to play more as a team. We got off in transition pretty well and I think we are our best in transition.”
Sophomore Sidney Blackwell, a 5-foot-9 guard, leads Porter Ridge in scoring at 16 points per game. Like her coach, Blackwell believes the team could have been better. “We got the win but I feel like we could have played better on defense and rebounding,” she said. “I think on offense we were getting good shots.”
Senior guard J’yana Salton ranks second on the team in scoring (14 ppg) and assists (3 per game). “We started out strong, we executed our plays pretty well tonight,” she said. “I think our transition was pretty hefty.”
The Pirates have good size, especially on the perimeter. Miley Malcolm, a 6-foot freshman, tops the team in assists at more than five per game. She’s focused on what’s next, which is Friday’s home game against Sun Valley. A win for the Pirates on Friday would guarantee them a winning season, second place in the SCC and a trip to the playoffs.
“I think we should come out ready to win,” Malcolm said. “It’s a big game for us. They are going to come out ready to try to beat us …”
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