Back from injury, Central's Kentrevious Jones making presence known inside

Kentrevious Jones had his work cut out for him last summer.

Central's 6-foot-10, 265-pound junior center cracked the varsity roster as a ninth-grader, and he began to come into his own as a sophomore, averaging 11.3 points and four rebounds. But a broken fibula sidelined Jones for the postseason, changing the makeup of the Chargers down the stretch.

The injury gave Jones the desire to come back stronger as a junior. And, so far this season, he has delivered, providing Central with a key inside presence as the Chargers have taken control of a competitive GHSA Region 2-AAA race.

"I'm not all the way back like I want to get back, but I've been working on my days off, working on my days on, working before school, working after school, trying to get better," Jones said. "The injury set me back a lot, but this year is a new year. I'm trying to get back right on the court."

Central certainly wants Jones to score. He is the Chargers' primary rebounder, the man Central counts on for putback baskets. But there's also an inside-out factor at play: His presence in the paint opens things up for shooters like Antarius McCoy and Derrick Evans, who also have been scoring in double-figures.

Jones didn't have any problem scoring last week. In three games that gave definition to the region standings, Jones scored 24 points against Westside, 20 points against Rutland and 20 points against Southwest as Central picked up three victories. The wins gave Central (17-2, 10-1 region) sole possession of first place, a game in the loss column ahead of Southwest and Westside with the season series against the Patriots and Seminoles completed.

"It's great (to have him back)," Evans said. "He's unstoppable for a lot of people. We just know that when he's in his zone to keep giving it to him, keep feeding him. He's able to produce with it."

The question surrounding Jones and his teammates now is how far can they go in the postseason.

Central, which is sixth in the Score Atlanta Class AAA rankings, has won 10 straight. Its most recent loss came in the semifinals of Washington County's holiday tournament, when it fell 66-61 to Class AAAAA No. 10 Effingham County.

"He's worked real hard," Central head coach Andre Taylor said of Jones. "I think that opened his eyes last year when he went down and we had to play without him that he really wanted to be out there on the floor with us. He's fought really hard to get back. It showed that it can be taken away at any time, so you have to take advantage of the time you have."

This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Back from injury, Central's Kentrevious Jones making presence known inside ."