Basketball Preview: Jones Trojans vs. Northside - Pinetown Panthers
Jones is 0-10 against the Panthers since February of 2019 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Jones Trojans will look to defend their home court against the Northside - Pinetown Panthers at 6:00 p.m. Jones has now lost eight straight, and the team is hunting for their first win since December 22.
Jones struggled with assists on Tuesday (the Mariners had 21 more) and sadly the final score reflected it. Jones received a tough blow as they fell 68-52 to the Mariners. While losing is never fun, Jones can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 528th, while the Mariners are ranked 105th).
Despite the defeat, Jones saw an underclassman step up: Aariel Jemison almost dropped a double-double on 24 points and nine rebounds. That was a full 46.2% of Jones' points, marking the fifth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Cassidy Rouse, who scored nine points along with six rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, even though Southside scored an imposing 57 points on Tuesday, Northside - Pinetown still came out on top. Northside - Pinetown strolled past the Seahawks with points to spare, taking the game 74-57. Northside - Pinetown pushed the score to 60-39 by the end of the third, a deficit the Seahawks cut but never quite recovered from.
Jones' loss was their third straight at home, which dropped their record down to 3-15. As for Northside - Pinetown, their win bumped their record up to 15-3.
Jones took a serious blow against the Panthers when the teams last played back in January, falling 58-11. Will Jones have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other basketball content.
