With four region games left to go in the regular season, momentum is everything for the Greyhounds. A win of any type moves things in the right direction, maximizing chances of getting a late-season win to improve position for next month’s region tournament.
Jones County got just that Saturday night at home against Lamar County, beating the Trojans 82-71 to snap a five-game losing streak.
“That was a huge confidence builder. We played to the best of our ability in parts of that game,” Greyhounds head coach Dylan Dupree said. “Now, our seniors see when they play together and are aggressive, good things can happen. Now, we’ll use that and look at that on film.”
JCHS hosts its final regular-season game on Friday when it hosts Stockbridge. As the week began, the Greyhounds were seventh in the region standings with a 3-9 record and 8-11 overall. Their next three games are against Stockbridge, Woodland and Hampton, teams that the Greyhounds went 2-1 against the first time by earlier this year.
That, as well as momentum off of Saturday’s win, figure to give JCHS a spring in its step going ahead.
Continued strong play by Rudy Bowden and Justin Ray factor into that as well. Ray had 22 points to Bowden’s 14 in last Tuesday’s 64-58 loss to Eagles Landing, whereas against Lamar County, Ray’s 22 led a group of five Greyhounds scoring in double figures. Sheldon Jackson contributed 17 points along with Bowden’s 13, 11 from KJ Gray, and 10 from Thomas Gosier.
That helped the Hounds build an early lead, leading 18-11 through a quarter. But when the Trojans put a scoring burst together, cutting the lead to 34-33, JCHS responded, outscoring the Trojans by a 12-point margin, enough to hold Lamar County at bay.
