It hasn’t taken long for Jada Jones to find a home with the Hun School girls’ basketball team.

The sophomore transfer from Randolph is thriving on and off the court at her new school.

“I  like it a lot better; here I am playing my true position and they are also giving me the green light to stretch out,” said Jones.

“My true position is shooting guard and last year I was playing point guard. I am glad I came. I like the whole vibe of the team, everything is better, I love coach (Bill) Holup. I love the school.”

Last Thursday, Jones hit some key shots to help Hun pull out a 46-36 victory at Princeton Day School. Jones scored a game-high 20 points as the Raiders held off a late PDS rally that saw the Panthers cut an 11-point deficit to 37-34 with less than three minutes remaining in regulation.

Jones acknowledged that the Raiders got a little frazzled as PDS turned up the defensive intensity in the fourth quarter.

“We were getting a little sloppy,” said Jones. “We were letting the pressure affect us.”

Jones, however, didn’t let the pressure get to her as she made six straight free throws down the stretch of the contest.

“We work on the free throws in practice because at the beginning of the year, we were doing really bad,” said Jones. “Coach decided we were going to do a whole bunch of drills. You make them or you run.”

Showing leadership, Jones decided to get freshman Alexis Harvell going before the PDS game.

“Alexis is the type of player, you just have to speak to her,” said Jones. “When she is focused, she plays really, really well. I told her we need you to play strong and she played strong. When she plays well, we win.”

Hun head coach Holup liked the focus Jones displayed in the victory over PDS.

“Jada made her free throws,” said Holup of Jones, who had 18 points in a losing cause as Hun fell 50-24 at the Hill School (Pa.) last Saturday to move to 3-5. “She has a lot of talent, she has a lot of ability. She is only a 10th grader so she is young.”

The Raiders got a big game from their other young star, Harvell, against PDS as she scored 16 points, sinking a number of put backs.

“We told her before, you have got to dominate, you are the biggest girl out there,” said Holup.

“She is a freshman and by nature, her personality is that she is a nice kid. There are times where she still fades away a little bit, she is still raw. She is working and doing a good job.”

With post-graduate star guard Anna Maguire currently sidelined by injury, Hun needs to work harder for its points.

“Anna is our leader on the floor,” said Holup. “She handles the ball, she calls the offensive plays. She is an experienced player. It is a little tough without her. We are starting one senior, a couple of sophomores, and a couple of freshmen.”

Holup liked the mental toughness his players displayed in weathering the storm in the waning moments of the PDS contest.

“They showed a lot of grit which they need,” said Holup, whose team has already tripled its win total from last year and plays at the Blair Academy on January 11 before hosting Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) on January 14.

“It was sloppy at times but they found a way to win and made their free throws at the end. They did a better job taking care of the ball and making better decisions in the last two minutes of the game.”

Jones, for her part, was proud of the way the Raiders battled in pulling out the win.

“I think it is a confidence builder, without Anna, we have to do a lot more,” said Jones.

“I think the fact that we won just shows that even though we were short our best player, if we play hard, we can still win games.”