The Lady Greyhounds didn’t waste much time getting off and running to capturing the championship in the Morris Bank Holiday Tournament on Wednesday.
A red-hot start put the game well in hand for Jones County, as it waltzed to a 74-42 win to claim the tournament title, winning two of three games with the fourth quarter shortened by two minutes due to a mercy rule.
“It’s always a good feeling to win your own tournament. It’s special for the girls to win at their own place,” Lady Greyhounds head coach ChoRhonda Gwaltney-Harris said.
And although no mercy rule was employed against Northeast, Jones County was plenty dominant, leading 24-11 after one quarter alone. The Lady Hounds would frustrate the Raiderettes on the other end of the floor in second quarter, holding them to just three points to have firm control of things at the break.
“In the first half, we were blazing. We were knocking down shots and getting to the right spots,” Gwaltney-Harris said.
There was one common thread in all three tournament wins for Jones County – the play of Amaris Ridgeway. After scoring 19 points on Monday against Crisp County and 13 Tuesday against Perry in a 63-22 win, it was more of the same Wednesday against Northeast as she scored 22 points. Toss in the 13 points from Mya Epps and 9 from Mya Anderson, and it was a balanced offensive output that enabled the Lady Hounds to capture the tournament title.
Wednesday’s win followed Tuesday’s rout of Perry in which Jones County overpowered Perry inside, taking full advantage of positional mismatches plus the mismatch of experience. Using a full-court press, JCHS induced the Panthers into multiple turnovers, and the Lady Hounds turned those into easy baskets.
“Perry is young and plays hard. I knew they’d come out and fight because they’re well-coached,” Gwaltney-Harris said. “We’re a little older and deeper than they are, so we just played to our strengths and pressed the whole time, that’s (their) youth and that was us last year.”
The Lady Hounds found success at the charity stripe in that win, too with Shakiya Betha getting eight of her 10 points on free throws and Shania Bryant scoring 9 of her 14 points in the second quarter.
