Hounds rally, topple Eagles Landing
“That’s been our motto all year, no matter what, to stay together.”
– GREYHOUNDS HEAD COACH BUCK HARRIS
Few teams have set as high of a standard the past few years than Eagles Landing. The Eagles are a regular in the state semifinals and have played for a title the last three seasons. They’ve been a significant nemesis to Jones County, as well, notably beating the Greyhounds three times a season ago, one instance being in the state semifinals.
That gravity was hardly absent last Tuesday at the JCHS gymnasium when the Greyhounds swiped that proverbial monkey off of their backs, coming back from a ninepoint deficit in the fourth quarter to win 61-60 after a free throw by Jaden Stanley with eight seconds to play followed by a defensive stop as time ran out, triggering a rush of players and fans onto the court in celebration. Stanley led the Greyhounds with 26 points, 10 of them in the first quarter, with Kaden Douglas having 17 points.
“I can’t say enough about these guys. Eagles Landing has been a thorn in my side for four years, and it may have seemed like a national championship with how the kids reacted. But it’s just a win,” Greyhounds head coach Buck Harris said. “We just have to keep working and continuing to get better each day.”
With Friday’s 81-59 win at Ola, Jones County remains unbeaten in region play and in a tie for first place. The only team that the Greyhounds have yet to play is Dutchtown. The Bulldogs, also unbeaten in region play, entered the week ranked fourth in one state ranking with JCHS sixth.
Jones County withstood multiple jabs and punches by Eagles Landing on Tuesday, coming up with answers from multiple places. After the Greyhounds led by eight points in the second quarter, the Eagles bounced back, going up 38-36 midway through the third quarter. It would be a seesaw of things from there, as the Greyhounds led 45-44 after three when Jaleel Jordan slammed home a dunk.
Eagles Landing found a groove, however, going on an 11-3 run. The Greyhounds, whose identity this season has been to ‘stay together,’ lived out that dedication. It all began with Tyler Wold, whose three-pointer followed by a steal and layup by Jaden Stanley cut the Eagles lead to 56-44 with 3:35 to play. Wold had 11 points for the Greyhounds on Tuesday.
More long-range heroics would follow. A pair of Douglas three-pointers answered an Eagles Landing score to tie it at 58-58. The score still tied with under a minute left, Stanley drew a foul off an offensive rebound and made both free throws to put JCHS up 60-58.
“We stepped up and made some players down the stretch. I told them, ‘Hey, we have a lot of time left. We just have to get some stops.’ We were able to do that with some different guys,” Harris said. “Tyler stepped up and a huge three for us. Kaden stepped up and got to the line and did some big things for us. It was a gutsy win.”
Even when ELHS tied it at 60-60 with 33 seconds to go, things would still set up for Stanley to come up big, this time from the free-throw line with eight seconds to go when he made one of two free throws.
It would be just enough for the Greyhounds, who held on to win after the final defensive stand.
“That’s been our motto all year, no matter what, to stay together,” Harris said. “I think we did that.”
The Greyhounds followed the Eagles Landing win with Friday’s 78-59 win at Ola as Tay Lattimore’s 17 points led the way with Douglas added 16. A 60-52 road win at Peach County was highlighted by 23 points from Jaden Stanley as JCHS converted 11 three-pointers.
