HIRAM – The Greyhounds found themselves in a familiar place last Tuesday – on the road as a lower seed in the state tournament. The prowess of their opponent, however, did not matter to the Road Hounds, who stunned a Hiram team that was previously unbeaten at home to win 56-53 and earn the program’s first trip the state semifinals since 1978.
“I was brought to tears,” Greyhounds head coach Buck Harris said of his post-game emotions,” “For us to be where we were four years ago and a month ago, having dropped seven of our last 10 after being 12-2 and lose how we did in the region tournament, to be in the Final Four, these kids are just resilient. They figured it out and started to believe a little bit more.”
The victory came in the Hornets home gym that was buzzing with energy from the start, but Jones County – with steady execution on the offensive end and aggressive play on defense – neutralized that home-court advantage.
Tuesday was the story of defense winning games in the postseason.
Following a second-round win against Tucker in which Jones County used a fast-paced offense to wear down Tucker, this past Tuesday turned defensive on both ends, as the Greyhounds kept a Hiram team that was coming off breaking 90 points to less than 60.
With the pace slowed, the Greyhounds had to take advantage of chances on the offensive end. They did just that, going up 14-10 early in the second on a Jaylen Sanford threepointer. From that point on, both teams would trade offensive blows and the lead. After a pair of Hornet three pointers carried them into the lead early in the third, a pair of Sanford free throws tied it. A three-point deficit? That ended on a Daethan Harris three-pointer before Hiram found an offensive spurt to lead 48-43 going to the fourth quarter.
The Greyhounds rallied, getting a Judd Anderson offensive putback and Sanford layup to tie the game 50-50 with 2:14 to play in the game.
“We had some guys step up and make some plays, not necessarily from scoring. My guys played bigger than we are,” Harris said. “I’m extremely proud of them, it was a heck of a team effort.”
The score tied with 90 seconds to play at 52-52 following a pair of Sanford free throws, it would be the other Greyhound senior coming up big, with Harris driving in for a layup with 14 seconds left to lead 54-53.
Fittingly, the Greyhounds got a defensive stop, setting Geo Wade up to hit a pair of free throws for the final margin with 13 seconds left prior to the clock running out and the Greyhounds spilling onto the floor in wild celebration.
“Geo just got his hand on a loose ball, playing tough on defense and made those free throws. They were huge,” Harris said.
