Katelyn Jones only knows how to play one position. 

Homewood-Flossmoor’s sophomore point guard never wanted to be the scorer or the headline-getter, not even when friends encouraged her to look for her own shot a little more.

“My role is to get my teammates open, to get them easy baskets, to give the right person the ball so they can make the right play,” Jones said. “I was always that person. I was always looking to get my teammates open.” 

That suits H-F just fine. Coach Tony Smith has an analogy for the point guard’s role and it seems to fit Jones pretty well. 

“A point guard is just like a person driving a car,” Smith said. “You got people riding in the front, riding in the back, but your job is to get people point A to point B safely. Your job is to make sure the offense runs safely.” 

Jones steered the Vikings to a 78-21 win over Bradley-Bourbonnais on Dec. 9. They remain undefeated in the SouthWest Suburban Conference. 

The Boilermakers (2-6, 0-3) were overwhelmed from the opening tip, with H-F building a 17-point lead in the first quarter. Still, Smith continued to coach his team hard well into the second half.

“We’re trying to get better. We’ve got a young team and we’re still learning,” he said. “I want them to learn to play the game the right way, the way I’m trying to teach them. I want them to find the joy in trying to do that so I’m going to coach them that way if we’re down, if we’re up, all the way through.” 

One focus that night was post touches. He repeatedly yelled for his bigs to post up, and for his guards to get them the ball once they got position. When that happened, easy shots followed even if they didn’t all find nylon. 

That created spacing and Laila Williams flared out for repeated looks from the wing. She hit four 3-pointers. H-F made eight altogether and the offense was efficient, committing zero turnovers.

On the other end, the Vikings never allowed Bradley to reach double digits in scoring in any quarter. H-F had 17 steals. Jones, who Smith asks to create havoc up top, had four. 

“I want her to be that ball hawk. My point guard needs to be able to control the ball offensively and defensively,” Smith said. “Her role on defense is just to be disruptive.” 

H-F (6-3, 3-0) were coming off a loss to Waubonsie Valley in the Chicagoland Invitational Showcase. The other two blemishes on the Vikings’ record came at the Naperville Central Invitational, where they lost to Benet and Kenwood. 

As of Dec. 9, the three teams that beat Homewood-Flossmoor are a combined 21-2. 

The schedule doesn’t get any easier from there. H-F will head to the Nike Tournament of Champions between Dec. 18 and 22 in Mesa, Arizona. They’ll take on some of the best teams from around the country.

“I think I’ve got great kids with potential to play at the next level and that’s what they’ve got to get used to,” Smith said. “You got to play the best. You can’t run from the best.”