Lady Hounds’ historic season ends in semifinal loss to Kell
ATHENS — Through the past month, the Lady Greyhounds carried their fans and supporters on an exhilarating ride with highs not seen in 20 years. That thrilling journey came to an end Saturday afternoon at the Akins Ford Arena in Athens, as second-ranked Kell overcame Jones County in the second half to win 69-49.
The Lady Greyhounds end their season with a record of 25-6, having advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 2006.
“I told them I love them. Unfortunately, this is a sport where there has to be a winner and a loser. We were on the end that we didn’t want to be,” Lady Greyhounds head coach Takeo Gray said. “But I told them that five, 10 years from now, people won’t be talking about what the score was, but everyone would be talking about how special they were, the history that they made. The two years I have been here, it’s been a wonderful run. I would not trade it for anything.”
As the final seconds ran off the clock on Saturday, the court in the midst of the arena was a scene of duality. As Kell celebrated a trip to this week’s state championship game, Gray and Lady Greyhounds assistant coaches met the Lady Greyhounds players with embraces of consolation before they took their place on the bench as the game concluded.
Jones County’s will to win has helped carry it all season long and even before that. And that characteristic again showed itself in Saturday’s first half. In spite of Kell’s inside size and reach, Jones County rallied from trailing 20-12 in the second quarter, ripping off a 9-1 run to close out the second quarter to lead 26-25 at halftime. It began on a Kamiyah Adams jump shot followed by a single free throw from Desirae Dumas, who would go on to score later on a layup. That, combined with clutch baskets by Adams and Aubrey Norris as the half ended, put JCHS up by a point, giving the purple-and-gold section behind the Lady Hounds bench plenty to scream and shout about.
Kell, however, ended up having plenty of answers coming out of the half, going on a 10-0 run to go ahead 35-28. Even when Norris scored on a layup with 4:05 to go in the third to reduce the Longhorns’ lead to 36-30, Kell quickly answered, and Jones County was unable to get defensive stops that it needed, enabling Kell to slowly pull away and end the Lady Hounds’ season.
“They took advantage in the second half, took the momentum and ran with it,” Gray said. “Unfortunately, we were unable to get it back.”
But as grim as the feeling after Saturday’s loss for Jones County, it was as exuberant less than four nights earlier on the road at Creekside, where the Lady Greyhounds bounced the defending state champions out of the playoffs in a 48-34 win. It was the Lady Seminoles’ first loss on their home floor in two years, and it came at the hands of Jones County.
Creekside found success from the outside early, draining three pointers a total of three times in the first quarter to lead 15-10. But once JCHS put together a defensive adjustment, it turned up its brand of complimentary basketball as Adams’ driving the ball inside and Norris leading the effort from the outside kept the pace in Jones County’s favor.
Of course, holding Creekside to 12 secondhalf points helped, as well. “We wanted to force their guards to throw it back to the bigs,” Gray said. “Thank God it worked.”
The Lady Hounds may have been road underdogs, but they were the ones to dictate the flow of the contest, even if Creekside’s 5-0 run to end the first half put it ahead 22-19 at halftime.
In fact, it was a 9-0 Jones County run that spurred the Lady Hounds to a 28-22 lead as Coleman drained a three pointer, Adams drove in for a layup ahead of a freethrow shot with inside scores also coming by way of Norris and Adams.
But Creekside showed that it was a state champion a season ago for a reason, equalizing the score at 29-29. That’s when Jones County took control back and didn’t relinquish it, starting on a three pointer by Zandrea Thomas. Another threepoint shot by Norris and Adams layup made the lead 38-29 for JCHS, which would lead by no fewer than seven points the rest of the contest.
“We believed in each other; it was bigger than us. They believed in each other. We knew adversity was going to come because they’re the defending champs and were not going to give it up easily,” Gray said. “Every girl on the team played hard, whether they were in the game or cheering from the bench.”
Jones County will graduate three key pieces from this year’s team in Autumn Coleman, Norris, and Adams with Desirae Dumas, Zandrea Thomas, and Liberty Pennamon being notable returners.
JCHS graduates a senior class that played in four straight rounds of 16 and also won the past two region titles.
“Every year, you want to get better,” Gray said. “Last year’s group started it; this year’s group continued it,” Gray said. “So, for next year’s group, there’s a high bar for them to reach for. We aim to get higher than the year before.”
