The Putnam County girls basketball team suffered its first loss of the season at Jones County on Jan. 3.
The Lady Greyhounds avenged a 60-59 overtime loss to the Lady War Eagles from Dec. 20 with a 53-39 win.
Jones County head coach Takeo Gray felt like his team performed better against Putnam County in the second matchup.
“We felt like when we went to them, it was our game, and they kind of took it from us. So we wanted to kind of make a statement that we’re the better team. We were on a two-game losing streak, and we wanted to prove that we’re still a good team,” Gray told the Jones County News. “I was not really disappointed with our two losses, because the schedule did its job to test us. I’m proud of our girls for how they responded.”
Jones County had a much better defensive game plan in the second matchup, leading to the 14-point win.
Putnam County also had a poor second-quarter shooting performance, scoring only two points, and fell behind 37-12 at halftime. The Lady Greyhounds continued to receive offensive contributions from several players.
“The second quarter, that really won the game for us,” Gray said.
Jones County led 15-10 after the first quarter, thanks to a strong offensive performances from Desirae Dumas, Liberty Pennamon, and Kamiyah Adams. The Lady Greyhounds didn’t let Putnam County get into a rhythm.
Jones County also tightened its defense in the second quarter.
The Lady War Eagles have a multitude of talented scorers, including Jaikarccie Smith, Journey Waller, Jada Baker, and Melody Richardson. However, they all went cold from the field in the last eight minutes of the first half. They didn’t even hit a field goal, as the only two points came from Smith, who nailed two free throws.
Putnam County is known for its aggressive half-court press on defense, which appeared to be effective in the second half, as Jones County was limited to 16 points total, with eight in each quarter, though it wasn’t enough.
Gray’s team watched a lot of film between games and identified the mistakes made on defense in the first matchup.
“We played mostly man last time, so this time we went to more of a zone,” Jones County’s head coach said.
Jones County was led in scoring by Aubrey Norris with 16, followed by Adams with 13, and Pennamon had 10.
Smith led the Lady War Eagles with 14 points, with Waller adding nine, and Baker contributing seven in the loss.
Putnam County fell to 11-1 after the loss. The Lady War Eagles remained ranked No. 1 in Class A Division I.
Jones County improved to 9-4, with region games against Eagles Landing Christian and Union Grove this week.
Putnam County will resume region play against Towers and McNair this week.