Beating up on Porters Chapel Academy is becoming a tradition for the Govero family.

Anna Grace Govero finished with 13 points, five assists and three steals, and Mt. Salus forced 27 turnovers in beating PCA 51-17 on Thursday night.

Govero is the younger sister of Mary Kathryn Govero, who is now a starter at Mississippi State and the team’s second-leading scorer. In 2006, Mary Kathryn scored 51 points in a regular-season game against Porters Chapel and went on to lead Mt. Salus to the MAIS Class A championship.

Mt. Salus coach Rod Norris thinks Anna Grace, in time, can be as potent as her big sister.

“She has a better supporting cast around her than Mary Kathryn did,” Norris said. “I thought we played well tonight. PCA gave us a great game, they played hard.”

PCA (1-12, 1-8 District 5-A) faded after a competitive start. It trailed 7-4 after a basket by Claire Mims, a freshman guard, two minutes into the game. Then Mt. Salus’ pressure took over and forced 10 turnovers.

Govero led a decisive 15-2 run to put Mt. Salus up 22-6. She scored nine points and dished three assists in the six-minute spurt.

Neither team could score for the first three minutes of the second quarter until a Govero basket at the 4:51 mark. The hoop was answered by one from Mims to make it 24-8. Mt. Salus went on an 11-2 run to close the half, capped by Desharra Jackson’s 3-pointer at the horn for a 35-10 cushion.

PCA could not score in the third quarter. They missed all seven shots and turned it over nine times.

Mims finished with eight points and five rebounds for PCA. Jackson finished with 11 points and Allie Sandifer scored 10 for Mt. Salus (8-4, 4-1).

“That was a good team,” Creel said of Mt. Salus. “They were very physical. My young guards stepped up. They kept trying and did the best they could.”