With the basketball season crossing the threshold into 2025, the Greyhounds, a team that began the season with multiple spots to fill from graduation, continue to make steady improvement.
That upward trajectory was further shown Saturday night at Putnam County, the top-ranked team in its classification, even in defeat.
Jones County (2-10) held a 10-point lead early before the homestanding War Eagles got hot from the perimeter, coming from behind to take a 71-60 win after the Hounds led 53-52 with 6:24 to go on a three-pointer by Jakeylan Wilburn, who had 24 points, knocking down six three-pointers.
“We are right there. Every game, it gets more minute. It’s very small stuff, like taking the right shot at the right time, getting that 50/50 ball,” Greyhounds head coach Willie Reese said. “They’re playing hard and doing exactly what is asked of them.”
Even after the War Eagles got in front, JCHS rallied back. Tyler Wold got the Greyhounds back within two, down 57-55 as his turnaround shot in the paint was good for two points. He also drew JCHS back to within six, down 63-57 on a night when he scored 14. In the end, however, Putnam County’s firepower down the stretch ended up being a bit too much. JCHS got as close as down five points with less than two minutes left on a Rudy Bowden three-pointer.
In spite of the loss, it’s hard not to note the improvement of the Greyhounds. Early in the season, JCHS lost to Putnam County and Southwest by a combined 46 points. The past two times against the same opponents, both ranked in the top 10 of their classifications.
That’s certainly a block to build on for Jones County as it wraps up the first half of the region schedule on the road this week prior to hosting McDonough Saturday.
“We’re close; we have to bear down,” Reese said. “If this thing falls like I think it will, we’ll be a really tough team down the stretch.”
Reese points to a strategy adjustment as a key to the recent turnaround.
“We went into a diamond zone, a 1-2-1-1 zone. That has kind of helped us settle down a little bit,” Reese said. “We kind of found something that we can hang our hats on. We’ll play some man, but we’ll also throw that zone in there. It’s kind of got us under control.”
