GREYHOUND BASKETBALL
Third time is the charm as Jones County beats Demons
The Greyhounds came up short twice in the regular season against Warner Robins, but they saved their best showing against the Demons for the most important time.
In the opening round of last week’s region tournament, Jones County did enough to pry open a close game, taking over in the fourth quarter to beat Warner Robins 66-61 to earn a state tournament berth.
“It’s a burden lifted off of us. To be where we are, it’s a great feeling,” Greyhounds head coach Buck Harris said.
It was a sweet win for the Greyhounds, who the past two years had come agonizingly short of a state tournament berth. This time, a team led by seniors Daethan Harris and Jaylen Sanford willed its way to the state tournament on the Demons home floor.
“It was a hostile environment. Coming in, we knew that. But our guys were relentless and were tough,” Harris said. “We made some plays down the stretch. Hats off to those guys in the locker room.”
Sanford had 33 points as Harris ran the offense, adding four points. But there were other standouts, too. Judd Anderson fought through foul trouble to score 13 points, and Kaden Douglas had 10 points. Even in the fourth quarter, when Jones County needed players to come off the bench and give starters rest and help them avoid foul trouble, Tyler Wold came in to help eat up valuable minutes and slow the Demons down on the offensive end.
“He’s been practicing with us and been guarding Judd and been physical with him,” Harris said. “We knew he could come in and help us.” JCHS went up 56-51 in the fourth as Anderson fought his way inside for a basket, followed by Douglas draining a three-pointer.
“Big possession by KD, everyone made a play down the stretch,” Harris said. “We’re a family, and we played like it.”
Jones County protected its lead down the stretch, getting two free throws from Geo Wade with 2:12 left to lead 62-53. It was followed by a Sanford layup to go up 64-55 against the Demons, who closed to trail 64-59 with 28 seconds to go but got no closer, allowing Jones County to advance to the state tournament.
The win moved the Greyhounds to the tournament semifinals where they fell 68-38 to top-seeded Eagles Landing and 49-43 in the third-place game to Dutchtown.
As a result, Jones County heads into next week’s state tournament against the top seed from Region 1-AAAAA.
Greenbrier is the top seed entering that region’s tournament followed by Bradwell Institute and Statesboro. The first round of the state tournament will be played either next Tuesday or Wednesday.
