All the way throughout Friday’s game against Stockbridge, the Greyhounds trailed.
All the way, that is, until the final seconds, when Jaiden Bond’s driving layup and free throw put Jones County in front, and the Greyhounds held off a desperation heave by the Tigers to win 57-55 on senior night, setting off a swarm of a celebration on the court in the midst of JCHS basketball cheerleaders, the “Purple Crush” cheering section and others.
“For our seniors, they’ll remember that moment for the rest of their lives,” Greyhounds head coach Dylan Dupree said. “I will too, as a first-year head coach.”
It helped Jones County wrap up the week with two wins in three region contests after a 69-44 win against Ola and dropping a 71-30 decision to Woodland. The Greyhounds went into the final three games of the season this week, all on the road, with a record of 10-12 overall and 5-10 in the region, good for seventh in a 10-team region laden with parity.
“It was all about getting that taste out of our mouth and celebrating our seniors,” Dupree said. “They have done such a great job of leading us.”
The higher a team on the lower half of the standings finishes, the better draw it will have for next month’s region tournament. Jones County certainly helped itself in that respect with Friday’s win and the fight that came along with it despite trailing 16-9 after a quarter and 32-27 at halftime. The Greyhounds kept themselves in it with some strong inside-outside play, anchored inside by Thomas Gosier and Rudy Bowden along with Justin Ray on the outside. Bowden scored 17 points to lead JCHS with Gosier adding 13.
The persistence paid off in the fourth quarter, although the task was anything but easy. A key outside shot by Bowden and offensive putback by Gosier drew JCHS even closer, and Jones County would have to battle even harder after being tagged with a technical foul, one of which Dupree would shortly plead with game officials to also be called against Stockbridge.
“I just want them to know that I care,” Dupree said. “That was a moment where I felt like we were getting mistreated, and things were not quite even. I want those guys to know that I’m going to defend them.”
That intensity stoked the enthusiasm of the crowd in the JCHS gymnasium, and it got pegged even more with 70 seconds to go when KJ Gray’s three-pointer drew the Greyhounds down 54-51. Jones County’s long-range party was not done. With 18 seconds to go, Jaiden Bond’s threepointer tied it at 54-54.
The job, however, was far from done for Jones County.
Down 55-54 after a Tigers free throw, the game was on the line. That’s when Bond drove toward the hoop, converting the game-winning layup before padding the lead at the free-throw line for the Greyhounds.
“To do that in this environment, for this community to see how hard these guys fight, it was great,” Dupree said.
