Jones County eased past Grovetown 65-43 Wednesday evening in the opening round of the Region 2-AAAAA basketball tournament to qualify for the state playoffs for the first time since 2001.

Brandon Wimberly scored 21 points and Jarquez Smith added 20 to lead the Greyhounds (16-9) to their eighth win in a row and 11th in their last 13 games.

They face Warner Robins, which beat Lakeside-Evans 61-57 in Wednesday's last game, in a semifinal game at 8 p.m. Friday. Jones county is hosting the region tourney.

A victory over Warner Robins would send the Hounds on to Saturday's region championship game, also at 8 p.m. And it would guarantee the Hounds would host a first round game in the state playoffs next week.

Evans meets Northside-Warner Robins in the other boys' semifinal game at 5 p.m. Friday. Evans beat Houston County 60-57 and Northside downed Greenbrier 77-55 in the other first round games Wednesday.

In the girls' bracket, Evans plays Houston County at 3:30 and Northside faces Warner Robins at 6:30 in Friday's semifinals. Evans eliminated Jones County 52-48 on Tuesday, Houston edged Grovetown 46-44, Northside beat Greenbrier 53-46, and Warner Robins downed Lakeside 42-31.

Wednesday, Feb. 13

JONES COUNTY (65): Wimberly 21, Collier 6, Middlebrooks 7, Smith 20, Stephens 3, West 8.

GROVETOWN (43): Scott 1, Gause 2, Hodge 17, Cooper 6, Morris 3, Meeking 4, Rouse 4, Williams 4, Monroe 2.

Halftime: Jones County, 31-18.

3-pointers: Jones County 5 (Wimberly 1, Middlebrooks 1, Smith 2, Stephens 1);  Grovetown 6 (Hodge 3, Cooper 2, Morris 1).