In a close game when the smallest of plays loom large, the Greyhounds’ Rudy Bowden came up with two of them on the defensive end.
With Jones County holding on to a one-possession lead in the final minutes, Bowden came up with blocks of would-be three pointers by the Bears on consecutive trips down the floor, enabling the Greyhounds to hold on for a 63-62 win and their 10th win in a row. On a night when Jaden Stanley and Kaden Douglas combined for 36 points, it was the nose-to-grindstone effort on defense and in the paint by the likes of Bowden, Geo Wade and Tay Lattimore that avenged a loss to the Bears earlier this season.
“It’s great to have Rudy back out there because he does so much other stuff for us,” Greyhounds head coach Buck Harris said. “I tell our kids, ‘Rudy is not on the floor because he scores 20 points for us, he’s going to have four or five blocks and assists.’ He does everything that a good team needs. He’s a utility man.”
Non-region play in the mirror, the Greyhounds wrap up the first half of region play on Friday at Dutchtown with a chance to go unbeaten in the first meeting against every team in the region. Union Grove will come calling at home Jan. 12 as region play continues for the Greyhounds, ranked fifth in one of last week’s state rankings in addition to having a record of 15-2..
It’s a rating that Harris says the Greyhounds are taking with a grain of salt.
“I haven’t said anything about it to them. I know that they see it, but I haven’t mentioned it because that make those rankings could easily take us out,” Harris said. “What I try to do each day is to worry about making us better.”
As far as play on the court goes, Jones County was able to find offensive success early, avoiding the game getting away from it as it did in the previous meeting against the Bears. Stanley and Douglas obviously had much to do with that as each had a trio of three pointers with Stanley having 19 points and Douglas adding 17.
“I thought our kids were focused from the jump. We hadn’t played in five or six days, and we only had two days of practice,” Harris said. “They’ve been very loose, and I think they understand what’s ahead of them.”
Big plays by both were needed as Houston County was able to generate offensive success of its own, keeping the game within single digits for most of the way. The Greyhounds gave themselves a boost to end the third quarter when Douglas nailed a fadeaway three pointer, JCHS led 52- 47.
Time after time in the fourth quarter, the Greyhounds needed answers on offense. Midway through the final eight minutes, Stanley drove in for a layup that put JCHS up 58-53, but a 4-0 run by the Bears over the next 90 seconds trimmed the Jones County lead to 58-57.
Then, momentum swung. After Bowden’s block of a three pointer, Douglas got the ball in transition to drain a three pointer which put JCHS up 61-57.
“KD’s a gamer. I don’t mind him taking those shots because I feel like he’ll make them,” Harris said.
That edge would be cut in half by a Houston County layup, but a pair of Stanley free throws put the lead back at 63-59 with 20 seconds left, just enough to hold off the Bears, who hit a three pointer in the closing seconds.
“To come on the road and beat this team, it’s a good win for us,” Harris said.
