GREYHOUND HOOPS
HAMPTON - One could forgive Greyhounds head coach Buck Harris for not thinking that his team is in the midst of “deja vu all over again.”
At this time a season ago, Jones County won a close region tournament game to qualify for the state tournament and came away seeking more after a pair of losses in the semifinal and third-place game.
Last week in Dutchtown provided a similar story. Facing the tall order of the tournament’s top seed and one the state’s top-ranked teams in Dutchtown, the Greyhounds kept themselves in contention for a half before the Bulldogs wore JCHS down in the second half of a 57-36 win during a night in which the rim was unkind to the shots taken by the Greyhounds, who were paced by the ten points of Jaden Stanley and Kaden Douglas.
“I hate to reminisce on what we did last year. JHistory can repeat itself, but we’ve got to be better than we were (Thursday),” Harris said. “I thought the effort was there, but you have to make the shots against good teams. We had good looks.”
The Bulldogs jumped on top early, leading 7-0 before the Greyhounds countered, being down 12-10 through a quarter and tied it with 4:29 left in the second quarter when Jakeylan Wilburn hit one of his two three-point shots in the second quarter. After the Bulldogs countered with three of their own, Wilburn hit another three to tie it at 16 before an 8-0 run by Dutchtown to end the half. Dutchtown would limit Jones County’s ability to be explosive in the second half, leading 36-23 through three quarters thanks in part to the Greyhounds being held to just one third-quarter field goal. Dutchtown inched away as a result, pulling away in the third quarter.
Jones County, now with a record of 18-9, dropped Friday’s third-place game to Warner Robins 61-44, slotting them fourth for next week’s opening round of the state tournament.
That’s the same seed that it was in last year going into the postseason that ended with a final four berth. The Greyhounds will face the top seed from GHSA Region 3-AAAAA next Tuesday or Wednesday. Northgate and McIntosh were tied for first in that region as this week began.
“It’s good to know you’re in in, but I thought we had a chance to solidify ourselves and have a chance play for a region championship (Thursday),” Harris said.
“We just didn’t do enough on the offensive end to get stops and score.”
