Jones has enjoyed a two-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will challenge the Pamlico County Hurricanes at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully Jones focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up nine on Friday.
Last Friday, Jones had to suffer through a rough 70-29 loss at the hands of the Panthers. 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 530th, while the Panthers are ranked 178th).
Jones' loss came about despite a quality game from Aariel Jemison, who scored 17 points along with six rebounds. That was a full 58.6% of Jones' points, marking the sixth time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Another player making a difference was Cassidy Rouse, who scored four points along with ten rebounds and two steals.
Meanwhile, Pamlico County fought the good fight in their overtime match against the Mariners on Friday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell just short of the Mariners by a score of 64-62. Pamlico County's defeat signaled the end of their four-game winning streak.
Despite the loss, Pamlico County got a solid performance out of Sydney Whitley-Reese, who dropped a double-double on 22 points and 11 rebounds. Whitley-Reese hasn't dropped below 17 points for four straight games. The team also got some help courtesy of Nya Clark, who scored 17 points along with five assists and five steals.
Jones' defeat was their fourth straight at home, which dropped their record down to 3-16. As for Pamlico County, they now have a losing record at 10-11.
Keep an eye on the arc in Tuesday's game: Jones have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 39% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Pamlico County, though, as they've only made 28.1% of their threes this season. Given Jones' sizable advantage in that area, the Hurricanes will need to find a way to close that gap.
Jones took a serious blow against the Hurricanes in their previous matchup back in January, falling 52-19. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Clark, who scored 24 points along with five steals. Now that Jones knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
