The close games giveth, and the close games taketh away.
A pair of region contests went straight down to the wire for Jones County last week during a region campaign that’s already been marked by the Greyhounds finding themselves in situations with a slim margin of error. Of Jones County’s seven region contests so far, five have been decided by six points or fewer. Friday’s loss also snapped a three-game winning streak for JCHS.
That trend of close contests kept up last week for the Greyhounds. After a 54-51 win on Tuesday against Woodland, a late shot fell short in a 38-37 loss to Hampton on Friday. After Saturday’s 84-63 loss to Putnam County, one of the top teams in GHSA Class 1A D-1, Jones County goes to its Christmas break at 5-6 overall and 3-4 in the region.
“We started 2-4, and then we went on a three-game win streak. This is the time of year where we need to make a run,” Greyhounds head coach Dylan Dupree said. “If you had told me we went 3-1 (in this stretch), I’d have taken it. But in the moment, (Friday) was a game that we should have won, so it’s kind of salty, initially.”
Against Woodland, Sheldon Jackson’s 11 points led Jones County with strong inside play coming from Thomas Gosier as he scored 11 points. Jackson and KJ Gray combined to drain five shots from threepoint range.
Friday’s low-scoring affair ended up being a defensive showcase with the pace being slowed on a night where Rudy Bowden led JCHS with eight points. The Greyhounds led 19-14 at the half before the Hornets chipped away at the lead before a seesaw battle played out to finish the game. An inside drive by Gosier with 3:09 to play put the Greyhounds in front 35-33. Trailing 37-35 with 1:59 to play, Jones County equalized things on a bucket by Gray prior to a critical free throw by the Hornets with 17 seconds left being the final margin.
