GIRLS HOOPS
With the pace of region play on the verge of accelerating, the Lady Greyhounds entered the week having split a pair of games rallying from a rocky second half last Tuesday against Union Grove prior to taking control early in Saturday’s 61-30 win against Northside.
The Lady Greyhounds reaped the benefits of an all-around effort from Britley Johnson, who scored 15 points, had nine rebounds and five steals. Shakiya Betha paced the effort with 11 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. That win led into this past Tuesday’s road game at Warner Robins, the first of three region contests in a row against Locust Grove and Eagles Landing sandwiched around Saturday’s home game against Northeast. Next week ends with a home game against Ola and the Morris Bank Christmas Tournament on Dec. 19-21.
JCHS opened region play with a close 65-61 loss to Union Grove, a game that saw the Lady Hounds lead 23-12 at halftime after holding the Wolverines to just two first-quarter points.
All of that changed at halftime, when Union Grove dialed up the defensive pressure, and it disrupted Jones County on the offensive end, holding them to just eight points in the second half as Union Grove led by the end of the third quarter.
The fact that Union Grove went to a full-court press was no surprise to the Lady Hounds. If there was anything of a shock, it was that it was not employed sooner.
“That’s what they do. They wait until the second half to really do it,” Lady Greyhounds head coach ChoRhonda Gwaltney-Harris said. “They usually press from end-line to end-line the whole game. When they put it on us, we kind of fell apart.”
In spite of the second-half offensive challenges, the Lady Greyhounds still had a chance to draw even in the final minutes.
Amaris Ridgeway, who led JCHS on Tuesday with 13 points, hit a jumper to cut the Wolverines lead to 32-30 with 2:00 to play, and Betha converting one of two free throws brought the Lady Hounds down 32-21 with 1:25 to go. But a defensive stop by Union Grove coupled with a layup with 27 seconds to go made it a two-possession game, enough for the Wolverines to run the clock out for the win. Shania Bryant and Mya Epps added seven points for Jones County in the loss.
