Playing teams on the lower end of the region, there was not much else for the Lady Greyhounds to do last week than wait and stay focused.
With this next Monday’s game between Locust Grove and Union Grove determining if Jones County will win the region-title tiebreaker or not, the Lady Hounds took care of the business at hand, mercy-ruling both Hampton and Eagles Landing in identical 10-0 decisions.
With those two wins, JCHS wrapped up region play at 8-1 and 13-3 overall.
With both Hampton and Eagles Landing not within the region’s top six, the temptation may have been there for some squads to sleepwalk through the match.
That was not the case for Jones County, which took control with ease in both instances.
Against Hampton, the Lady Hounds built on an early lead by steadily applying offensive pressure, with first-half goals including those by Elissa Taylor, Lexi Oliveros and Caroline Rickman, leading to a 6-0 halftime lead.
“We still have some steps before the end of the season. Even in the games that are not region, we want to take those seriously,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Mikayla Coley said. “We want to prepare for the playoffs regardless of our seeding.”
JCHS went on to add four more tallies in the second half with goal scorers including Rickman as well as Daisy Blanton, who moved from her primary position of goalie to forward for the second half. It was also part of a half of soccer in which younger players were able to rotate in, gaining key minutes that are envisioned to pay off in the near and distant future.
“I tried to give them a lot of opportunities, especially our younger kids,” Coley said. “Some of them might not play offense next year since our entire defensive line is graduating. We’re just trying to get them in and get them playing time so that next year, playing so much is not that big of a deal.”
