By By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
Whether she’s driving in the paint or riding one of her horses, Jordan Cantrell goes full throttle.
The Terra Ceia High School junior is excelling on the basketball court and in horse riding circles, as she’s taken several ribbons while competing in eventing. Though her two passions keep her busy, Cantrell wouldn’t have it any other way.
Eventing is called the triathlon of equestrian sports as it incorporates the disciplines of dressage, cross-country and show-jumping. Cantrell, who owns horses named Duchess and Rodney, has been riding horses since she was a little girl.
While her father and basketball coach, Rod Cantrell, said that Jordan may actually like horses more than basketball, she’s accomplished at both.
There’s no horsing around when Cantrell is on the basketball court.
Cantrell is averaging 20.4 points, 5.3 assists, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 steals per game. She leads the state in scoring (326 points) and assists (85) while she’s second in steals (65).
The straight-A student set some lofty goals at the start of the season.
Cantrell gets most of her points in the paint as she goes hard to the basket. It doesn’t matter if defenders are in her way.
While Cantrell drove to the paint at ease, she also drilled a personal-best four 3-pointers on her way to a career-high 38 points in a win over Northside during the 28th annual Washington Daily News’ Holiday Invitational.
Despite the best scoring output of her high school career, Cantrell wasn’t all smiles after the game.
Cantrell scored 12 points for the Knights in her team’s 43-33 loss to Cape Hatteras in the championship game of the WDN Holiday Invitational. Despite banging heads with a Cape Hatteras player, which left Cantrell bloodied and a bit dizzy, she played most of the game.
She’s an amazing talent,” Cape Hatteras coach Earl Fountain said of Cantrell. “She’s hard to shut down. We kept trying to put fresh people on her, but she just gets up and down the floor. She’s an amazing basketball player.”
Cantrell showed off her skills last year en route to winning several honors. She was a N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association all-stater, named the Tarheel Independent Conference Player of the Year and voted to the WDN All-Area First Team. She averaged 17.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a sophomore.
The Terra Ceia star said that earning state honors last year doesn’t put any added pressure on her this year.
Cantrell, who hopes to play at the college level, is hoping her team can improve on its 7-9 record. The Knights faced some tough, state-ranked teams earlier in the season.
No matter who they play, the Knights, who play host to Albemarle on Jan. 4, can count on Cantrell giving it her all.
It’s that drive that keeps Cantrell charging, and from horsing around.