High school basketball: West Jordan's Jordan Loveridge lights up Cottonwood for 40 points

MURRAY — Two weeks ago, Jordan Loveridge scored a school-record 39 points in a win over Skyline.

On Tuesday night, he broke his own record.

The West Jordan junior poured in a career-high 40 points as the Jaguars improved to 6-1 this preseason with a 67-54 victory over Cottonwood.

He opened the game with a 3-pointer and never looked back, scoring 14 points in the fourth quarter as the Jaguars methodically pulled away for the victory.

"He was really good, no question about that," said West Jordan coach Scott Briggs.

Loveridge took advantage of foul trouble to Cottonwood center Daniel Kristensen, who eventually fouled out late in the fourth quarter. Regardless of who was guarding him, Loveridge dominated. Not even clanking a dunk off the front of the rim in the second half rattled the focused junior.

"I just had to work hard inside because they have good bigs, and I knew my teammates would find me if I got in the right position," said Loveridge.

Despite Loveridge going off, Cottonwood kept it close most of the game. Down 28-19 early in the third quarter, the Colts battled back to level the score at 35-35 late in the quarter as Hunter Hanks, Parker Swope and Zach Watts combined to knock down four straight 3-pointers.

Loveridge responded by scoring five straight points to put the Jaguars back in front.

Trailing by seven early in the fourth quarter, the Colts used a mini run to claw to within 50-48 with 4:40 remaining.

Once again, Loveridge came to the rescue, scoring 13 of his team's final 18 points.

"When a kid has a night like he did tonight it's good our guys are willing to keep going at him," said Briggs.

Asked if he ever envisioned scoring 39 or 40 points in a high school game, Loveridge simply said never.

"I just try and go out and see what happens," he said.

Loveridge upped his season average to 27.4 points, and he leads all scorers in 5A with region play just a few weeks away.

On a night when Loveridge stole the show, Jaxon Knighton chipped in with 11 points for the Jaguars.

Zach Watts finished with 13 points to lead Cottonwood, which struggled from the field most of the night, shooting just 33 percent compared to 44 for West Jordan.

The loss dropped the Colts to 3-3 on the season.

email: jedward@desnews.com