With a goal here or a different break there, a Lady Greyhounds team heavy on youth would be preparing for the state tournament after spring break.
Jones County came into the final week of the regular season with a chance to return to the postseason, but last Monday’s tough 1-0 loss to Locust Grove kept the Lady Greyhounds out of the postseason.
Sure, there’s a degree of letdown in not being among the GHSA Class AAAAA’s postseason field, but the other side of the coin is how much the Lady Greyhounds grew on and off the field during the season. And with a strong core set to return, it’s hard for them not to already be optimistic looking ahead to 2025 as Jones County loses just two seniors.
“It hurts to not be in the playoffs. I hate it for our kids. They worked hard enough to be in the postseason,” Lady Hounds head coach Mikayla Coley said. “It makes them hungry. Their hearts are broken that we’re not on the postseason, so hopefully that’ll increase their work ethic going into the offseason.”
One of them, Reagan Sorrell, scored the lone goal in last Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Ola to end the season with a 5-8 record. Now, JCHS is looking ahead, hoping to build off of steps taken in the past few months, notably for players who got their first varsity experience this spring.
“Just their knowledge of the game,” Coley said of the biggest places in which this year’s team grew. “The jump from middle school to high school, especially for a freshman, it’s a big jump.”
