LOGANVILLE — The Lady Greyhounds showed plenty of moxie in early going on their return to the state tournament at Walnut Grove, fighting back to tie the game in the first half.
But the precision, ball control and offensive firepower of the Warriors were too much for Jones County to handle as the Lady Hounds fell 8-1 to a team that came up a goal shy of winning a region title the week before.
JCHS wraps up its season with a record of 11-6, its best record in four seasons.
After falling behind 1-0 early, the Lady Hounds evened things up as Daisy Blanton got an offensive chance along the left wing and finished off the scoring try to equalize the score.
The Warriors answered with three goals against the Lady Hounds, the first being after JCHS could not quite clear the ball out of the offensive end against the Warriors, who were able to apply steady offensive pressure throughout the match.
“They just move off the ball really well and are quick,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Mikayla Coley said. “We were laughing at halftime, like ‘it’s almost like they have magnets in their shoes.’ They ball just sticks to the feet. I’m glad that our young kids could see a team like this.”
Conversely for the Lady Greyhounds, their offensive task was made harder with Kaylee Pippin out with a foot injury, taking away a key piece from the midfield.
“I had some playing positions that they usually weren’t,” Coley said. “I had Kaylee Pippin out injured, and that kind of hurt of a lot in the midfield and kind of took some of the things away from the midfield and kind of made it easier to get the ball up the field for them.”
Jones County had a chance to cut the lead in half in the final minute of the first half on a free kick but were unable to knock the ball into the net.
“Give Jones County credit,” Walnut Grove head coach Nicole Green told The Walton Tribune. “They never quit, and the score didn’t really reflect how hard they fought.”
The Warriors added four more second half goals, closing out the season for a Jones County team that was unbeaten in regulation against region opponents and also was two overtime losses away from a region title.
That success for a team that loses only three seniors to graduation is already building plenty of optimism for next season as they also are set to return top scorers Blanton and Emory Sanford.
“I’m excited. I’m glad we got here and saw a team like this and know what to expect going forward,” Coley said. “We’ve had a rough go of if the last few years. I’m excited for where we’re going to go.”
