CARY — Bethel (N.C.) North Pitt junior point guard Zamareya Jones always has the potential to spring something new.
Jones brings an exciting brand of basketball, but for three quarters Tuesday, she had some tough sledding against a quality Apex Friendship High program at the John Wall Holiday Invitational. The 5-foot-7 Jones showed her grit. She hit two early three-pointers, and then was held scoreless in the middle two quarters.
Jones exploded for 19 of her 25 points in the fourth quarter and willed her team to get within five points. Apex Friendship won 66-56, but Jones left her imprint on the game.
“We just keep going,” Jones said. “We have people who don’t like us or aren’t with us. As a family, we know who we are.”
Jones has helped put North Pitt High on the map. The Greenville, N.C., area school had “NOTR” on its jerseys, which stands for “North Of The River.” ESPN’s HoopGurlz has her ranked No. 11 overall in the country in the class of 2024.
“I know they sleep on North Of The River and we are from North Of The River,” Jones said. “We’ll show them a good time.”
NC State, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina, Ohio State, Virginia, Virginia Union and West Virginia, have all offered Jones.
Jones has been low key about her recruitment, but a few schools are standing out. Kentucky, Florida State, UConn, Notre Dame, ECU and NC State have swung through North Pitt High.
NCSU coach Wes Moore came to a practice, which left a big impression.
“I like NC State and the coach is real cool,” Jones said. “It’s humbling seeing a head coach come to a high school gym to watch me work out. It’s real humbling.”
Jones said she’s been to Clemson, Baylor and East Carolina, on unofficial visits.
“Recruiting is fun,” Jones said. “All the coaches have different personalities. You aren’t going to get the same coach from every school. I’m learning new people and coaches are loving on me.
“I’m just ready. I’m ready to be up there [in college] and have people watch me on TV.”
Jones was able to get major publicity by taking part in an Overtime event last summer.
“It was fun and we went one-on-one and three-on-three,” Jones said. “It kind of blew up. Overtime is a big platform.”
Second-year coach Antwon Pittman didn’t think that was Jones at her best in the fourth quarter, but it was up there. Jones has already crossed the 1,000-point mark in her career.
“It was pretty strong, but coaching her, I’ve seen better,” Pittman said. “She’s able to turn it on this year. She’s been playing off the ball more this year.
“She’s become more of an efficient scorer. This year, she’s on track to score more points on less shots than her sophomore year.”
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