The Greyhounds continue to make a habit of playing themselves into position to win basketball games. At the same time, they also continue to be snakebit, as bad breaks down the stretch have resulted in four losses in a row by an average of 5.8 points per game.
Still, JCHS is hardly discouraged. That was shown last week as, after a 49-38 Tuesday loss to Eagles Landing, the Greyhounds responded by staying step-by-step with a Locust Grove team that’s among the top third of the region before falling 48-44. The Hounds lost 41-36 on Saturday to Veterans and host Stockbridge on Friday and Woodland on Saturday, two teams below Jones County in the region standings.
“They’re playing hard. They’re playing better and playing to win,” Greyhounds head coach Willie Reese said.
The fight within Jones County showed in the first half on Friday. Down 13-6 after a quarter, the Greyhounds found success pushing the ball inside, with a pair of slam dunks pulling JCHS in front before a Wildcats jumper gave them a 20-19 halftime lead.
Locust Grove ended up keeping that momentum, putting Jones County in a third-quarter hole, going on a 12-2 run over 4:37 to lead 32-21.
“That third quarter, all the stuff we did in the first half that we were supposed to be doing, it went away,” Reese said. We have to stop having lulls coming onto third quarter, because we dig ourselves in a hole.”
The Greyhounds got themselves back in it, starting with a harddriving layup by Jayden Tolbert to trail 36-26 going to the fourth quarter.
The JCHS rally continued. After a pair of Rudy Bowden free throws, Sheldon Jackson took a feed from Tyler Wold. Then, after a Chance Banks jumper, the Greyhounds trailed 40-36 as 4:12 remained.
That margin shrunk even more with 3:59 to go on a Justin Ray three pointer before the Wildcats answered to lead 43-39. Down 45-42 with less than 90 seconds to play, the Greyhounds narrowly missed pulling within one as an offensive putback rimmed out, allowing Locust Grove to all but seal the game with a bucket on the other end, leading 47-42.
Wold, who led Jones County with 14 points, sank two free throws in the final seconds.
“You see improvement, but it’s like a leak in a boat,” Reese said. “Every day you see a new leak, and we plug it over here and something else pops up. We have to get 50/50 balls and make chip shots. We can’t have defensive lapses. That’s what’s keeping us from winning these games.”
