The later things got in last week’s region tournament at Woodland for the Lady Greyhounds, the hotter the spotlight grew.
Going unbeaten against every region team in the regular season was one thing, but left to do was completing the job and capturing a region tournament crown, something not done since around the 2005 and 2006 seasons.
It was not easy, but the job was indeed finished on Friday with Jones County holding off Stockbridge in the final seconds to win 41-40, sparking a celebration on the court and in the locker room in addition to getting a police escort when the Lady Greyhounds arrived back to campus.
“It meant the world. It was mentally and physically exhausting,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Takeo Gray said. “I’ve played and coached a lot of basketball, but I never have been that mentally and physically exhausted in my life, and the girls were just the same.”
He said a good part of had to do with a Stockbridge team that held Jones County to a lower than usual first-half output.
“Give Stockbridge credit, they were ready to play and pushed us to the limit,” Gray said. “But the girls, they pulled through.”
Jones County advanced to Friday’s tournament championship with a 56-47 semifinal win against Union Grove, leading 31-22 at halftime. It turned out to be the first of two steps in finishing off a region championship.
“If we said we didn’t feel any pressure, we’d be telling a fib,” Gray said. “It was almost like you were supposed to win.”
In addition to a firstplace trophy, there’s another spoil of victory for Jones County. As the region’s top seed, the Lady Hounds have home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the state tournament. If Jones County advances to the quarterfinals, it would host against a lower seed. If the quarterfinal is against another No. 1 seed, home court would be determined by a universal coin toss.
Jones County hosted Cedar Shoals in Tuesday’s first round with that game’s winner facing Perry or Northview on Friday. Kell, the secondranked team in the state, would be the quarterfinal opponent should it win its first two rounds.
