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Youngest Jones brother may be the best of a talented bunch

Wednesday, December, 19 By Mike Muldoon
Sports editor

"The Gambler" and "Lucille" were officially deleted from Jason Jones' IPod.

Jones isn't too high on Kenny Rogers these days. Not after the aging crooner's rescheduled concert forced the Lowell Devils AHL hockey team to move their game from last night to tonight. That meant Jones couldn't watch his brother, Salem High basketball star Josh, play Trinity High last night in the rematch of last year's Class L championship game. "I've been mad all day," stewed Jason, a senior account executive for the Devils. "It's one of the biggest games of the season. That's tough for me."

He wasn't totally in the dark about last night's outcome. "My cell rings quite a bit," said their father, Jeff, with a laugh.

The conversations from last night must have been exciting as Josh scored a team-high 13 points in an overtime victory. That after pumping in 30 points in Salem's opener.

Jason had his day in the sun. One of Salem's all-time greats, he was an Eagle-Tribune All-Star as a senior, scored just shy of 1,000 points and earned a scholarship to West Virginia Wesleyan, where he was one of the school's top scholar-athletes.

Some of his favorite moments were at the Greater Lawrence Christmas Tourney, which will tip-off Saturday.

"You're always thinking, 'Oh, man, I wish I was still out there,' " said Jason. "It just goes by way too fast. We were never able to beat Central. To watch them beat Central last year (in the third-place game) was a lot of fun." Josh, a 6-3 junior guard-forward, doesn't have to enjoy it vicariously. He'll be one of the marquee performers in the tourney.

"I can't wait," said Jones, one of two sophomores to make the Eagle-Tribune All-Star team last winter. "I can't wait to get out there and represent Salem and try to win the whole thing."

Always a role model

While other high schoolers fight for Michael Jordan's No. 23 or Kevin Garnett's No. 5, Josh wears No. 15 and it has nothing to do with his admiration for Carmelo Anthony.

"Jason wore that and ever since then I've loved No. 15," said Josh, who also starts in left field for the Blue Devil baseball team. "It was awesome. I loved going to his games and watching him do what he does best. I just wanted to be that type of player. He was a role model for me. It was fun. I got to go to school and brag about how well he did."

There is one play that Josh, whose twin sister is a talented dancer, will never forget.

"I remember the dunk he had vs. Matt Bonner," said Josh, who earned all A's the first term this fall. "That was pretty crazy, to see your brother dunk on an NBA star (the 6-10 Bonner plays for the NBA champion San Antonio Spurs). He stole the ball and Matt was coming along with him. He went up and dunked it. It was one of the few dunks of his career."

Feeling is mutual

As much as Josh loved watching Jason (and middle brother Jeremy, another ex-Blue Devil captain), Jason gets just as big a kick out of watching his youngest brother. Last year was a special thrill as Josh, a southpaw, helped Salem to the second state title in school history.

"I love watching Josh play," said Jason, who always watches from the front row. "I'm just really proud. He's been working hard for it. He definitely deserves it. Jeremy and I were always giving him a pretty good beating. I still try not to let him win. It's a pride thing. But he beats me. He's got the shot and he's actually a little quicker than I am. Actually a lot quicker!"

That's a testament to the Tsongas Arena's Devil Dawgs as the 6-foot-6 Jason has put on a few pounds from his 230-pound playing weight.

So who's better?

"I truly think he's better," said Jason, who married his high school sweetheart, Ashley Ferguson, last year. "He has the better shot. He sees the floor real well and he's quicker. That's tough for me to admit. I'm biting my lip. I'm the proudest oldest brother in the world. He'd shoot around with us in college and even then they'd say he was going to be a player."

Basketball still his first love

The Jones clan loves its basketball. They used to take two road trips a year to watch Jason at West Virginia Wesleyan, where he averaged 12.3 points a game as a junior and 15.7 points a game as a senior. And when Jeff won an award at work for a dream trip to Paradise Island, he instead arranged for the family to take another road trip at a far less glamorous locale ... to watch Jason play.

One thing Jason knows about hockey ... he isn't very good at it.

"Basketball is still the better sport to me," said Jason, who is sure to get a ribbing from his co-workers for that opinion. "But I've grown to really appreciate hockey. I respect how tough the sport is. I could never do what they do."

Having your brother be senior account executive is a nice perk for Josh.

"I don't know anything but I go to the games and it's fun," he said.