HOOP HOUNDS
There’s one thing that both the Lady Greyhounds and Greyhounds are not afraid of early in a season – a barometer of tough competition.
With a girls region that brags the state’s secondranked team and a boys region of four teams in AAAAA’s top 10, getting a gauge on strengths and weaknesses is key. Jones County kicks that task into high gear by hosting Saturday’s Hooping In Middle Georgia Classic.
“We’ve got some very good teams coming in here. It’s going to be a great day of basketball,” Greyhounds head coach Buck Harris said. “We just want to build this thing up to where its bigger and better each year to have something for the community to come watch and be proud of.”
The day will feature a day full of basketball at the JCHS gymnasium, with teams taking the floor for a total of four girls games and four boys contests. Of the eight teams, five are ranked within their respective classifications top ten, six were in the postseason last year and two are defending state champions. Westside’s Augusta’s boys, a defending state champion, are AA’s second-ranked team with Union Grove’s girls being second in AAAAA and Hardaway’s girls being third in AAAA.
Augusta Christian won its private school classification’s state title last year as well.
Lovejoy, a state runner-up last season, will start the day against a Greenbrier team that was in the playoffs last year. Cross Creek, coming off a trip to the Elite 8, plays Newton in the next girls game at 10:30 a.m. The noon girls game matches up Hardaway, a final four team a season ago against Union Grove, which advanced to last year’s quarterfinals. Veterans and Jones County will play in the final girls game at 6 p.m. in a matchup of two teams that were in last year’s round of 16.
“We’ve got some big-time teams coming in here,” Lady Greyhounds head coach ChoRhonda Gwaltney- Harris said. “We’re not playing any cakewalks. We’ll figure out where we are.”
Veterans and Greenbrier, both of whom made the playoffs last year, will play in the first boys game at 10:30 a.m. followed by Augusta Christian, a state champion last year, against a Houston County team that was in the postseason. Defending state champion Westside Augusta plays Miller Grove at 4:30 p.m. prior to the Greyhounds playing New Hampstead at 7:30 p.m.
