ASHEBORO Asheboro High School turned up the tempo in the second quarter against Jordan-Matthews in the third-place game of The Courier-Tribune Christmas Invitational, and changed the tide of the game in its favor while doing so. The Blue Comets stifling defense and up-and-down offense fueled them to the 85-53 win over the Jets.

We had something to prove after last night, AHS coach Brian Nance said of his teams two-point loss to Randleman in the semifinals.

In the second quarter, the Blue Comets used a 16-0 run to take a 30-21 lead to start the frame. The Jets went almost five minutes without scoring to start the second quarter. Emanuel Jones and Tazmine Dunn scored all but two of the points during the run and came up with most of the steals on the defensive end that allowed for the AHS offense to explode in the second quarter.

Things unraveled for us when the tempo picked up, J-M coach P.J. Lowman said.

The Blue Comets defense was the main reason they were able to take the lead as their halfcourt defense forced turnovers that led to run-out scores.

We played hard, and our defense created opportunities for us tonight, Nance said.

After being held scoreless in the semifinal game against Randleman, Dunn had 14 points in the second quarter alone. He finished with 23 to lead all scorers and had big plays on both sides of the ball to give the Jets problems.

He creates a lot of problems for teams on offense and defense, Nance said of his junior guard. Tonight we saw that when he is in the game, we are a different team.

Jones played most of the game as aggressive as he was in the fourth quarter of the loss to Randleman, finishing with 17 points.

Hes grown up a lot this year, Nance said. I think he is realizing hes a good athlete if he keeps his mind positive.

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Blue Comets regroup to thrash Jets