GIRLS HOOPS
Piece by piece, the Lady Greyhounds chipped away at Midtown’s lead as they wrapped their run through the Morris Bank Christmas Tournament on Thursday night at the JCHS gymnasium.
Jones County got the game to one possession in the final minute, but being edged out on the boards and ill-timed missed layups would up being the difference as the Knights held on to win 36-33.
“That’s the name of the game. We always say if the first shot doesn’t beat you, it’s always the second one,” Lady Greyhounds head coach ChoRhonda Gwaltney- Harris said. “We had lots of opportunities; we had missed layups and open shots.
They’re a very good team, but we had plenty of opportunities. We just didn’t finish it.”
Despite Midtown threatening to pull away, the Lady Hounds kept it close enough to make the Knights sweat it out, trailing 32-29 with 4:13 to go on a layup by Amaris Ridgeway, who had nine points on Thursday. Carlie Skinner had a big day from three-point land, converting five shots for 15 points. One of them kept the JCHS deficit at three, down 35-32 with 1:15 to play. Jones County drew within two points before a late free throw with a second left ended up being the final margin as the desperation heave fell short.
“We didn’t play bad, but we didn’t play good enough to win,” Gwaltney- Harris said.
The late-game magic went Jones County’s way against Sumter County on Thursday, getting another strong showing from Skinner with her paving the way with 13 points. Ridgeway and Mya Anderson added eight points.
The Lady Hounds will have eight days off between games leading to Friday’s matchup at Houston County. It’ll be their final non-region game of the season.
“It’s a good time to rest,” Gwaltney-Harriss said. “But I told them not to go sit around eating bon-bons and cupcakes.
It’ll be a good time to get rest before we go right into region.”
