The luck of region scheduling did the Lady Greyhounds few favors, saddling Jones County with matchups against both Union Grove and Warner Robins. But after Tuesday’s one-point loss to the Demonettes, the Lady Greyhounds have bounced back in a big way, routing Locust Grove 60-40 this past Friday before prevailing 44-42 over Northeast Macon on Saturday in a fourth quarter that saw the lead swapped multiple times prior to Amaris Ridgeway’s mid-court steal. With 19 seconds to go that clinched the win once and for all for JCHS.
“We finished a close one out; that was a bonus for us,” Lady Greyhounds head coach ChoRhonda Gwaltney-Harris said. “The kids played hard and finished at the very end; that’s really all that matters.” Ridgeway scored nine points for Jones County during a game in which Shakiya Betha was sidelined with an injury. A rotation of younger players plus tenacious inside hustle by Shania Bryant and timely shooting from the perimeter by Carlie Skinner helped the Lady Hounds prevail against the Raiderettes. Bryant led Jones County with 14 points with Skinner’s seven-point game, including what would be a go-ahead three pointer with 3:07 to play. Bryant and Ridgeway had eight and five rebounds, as well. The final quarter was a story of resilience for Jones County. Autumn Coleman’s layup to end the third quarter coupled with another freshman, Aubrey Norris, laying in a shot for two baskets moved the Lady Hounds in front 32-29, but Northeast rallied back.
In fact, scores by Britley Johnson and Bryant were answered by Raiderette trips down the floor to convert baskets.
But after Skinner’s three, a single free throw by Mya Epps and Ridgeway getting a steal and layup, Jones County had a 42-38 lead that would be enough for the win.
“My young kids stepped up. Carlie stepped up big; everyone stepped up,” Gwaltney-Harris said.
“We do next man up; that’s how we work”.
After Tuesday’s 44-43 loss to Warner Robins, Epps scored 21 points and Bryant had 14 in Friday’s 60-40 road win against Locust Grove.
“We played the best two teams in the region. I wished we would’ve come out on the winning end, but now we have to take care of business the rest of the way,” Gwaltney-Harris said. “Our goal is to be in the hunt near the end of the season to compete for a region championship.
We’ve got to ramp it up and start playing a bit better than we’ve been paying.”
