Jets and Lady Jets win on road against GCAA conference opponents

The South Georgia Technical College Jets and Lady Jets both came away with big Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) conference wins on the road this week. The Jets defeated the top-ranked South Georgia State College Hawks 96 – 89 in overtime in Waycross and the Lady Jets remained in first place in the Division 1 women’s standings with a 96 – 21 victory over Southern Crescent Technical College in Griffin.
The Jets pulled off the upset victory over the top seeded South Georgia State College Hawks behind the impressive shooting of freshman Aiden Fitzgerald who came away with 29 points. He was seven of 11 from the field, four of six from the three-point line and hit 11 of 12 free throws.
The Jets were up 40 – 38 at the end of the first half, but South Georgia State rallied in the second half to tie the game at 74 – 74 at the end of the regulation buzzer. The Jets came on strong in the five-minute overtime period and outscored them 22 – 15 to take the 96 – 89 overtime victory.
The win allowed the Jets to move back into third place in the GCAA Division 1 standings. South Georgia State College remained in first place with a 9 – 2 record. They are followed by Albany Tech (8 – 2), South Georgia Tech (7 – 4) and East Georgia State College (7 – 5). Rounding out the top-eight spots are Georgia Highlands (6 – 6) in fifth place, Gordon Collee (5-6), Central Georgia Tech (4-6) and Southern Crescent Tech (2 – 9). Andrew College is in ninth place at 1 – 9 this season.
In addition to the hot scoring hands of Aiden Fitzgerald, freshmen Jalexs Ewing and Hendrens Bartelus both added 13 points each. Bartelus had a double-double night with 12 rebounds to go with his 13 points.
Jordon Dickson and Matija Vucic both added eight points each. Daryl Bod contributed seven points, Matt Mbole and Dwight Brown had six each followed by Joshua Langefels and Illich Yacaman who closed out the scoring with three points each.
And while the Jets were battling the Hawks in Waycross, the Lady Jets were coasting to a 96 – 21 victory over the Southern Crescent Lady Tigers in Griffin. The Lady Jets remained in first place with a 10 – 1 GCAA record. They are followed by Albany Tech (8 – 3), East Georgia (7 – 4), Central Georgia Tech (3 – 6), Andrew (2- 7) and Southern Crescent Tech (0 – 9).
The Lady Jets had five players in double-digits in that game. Mio Sakano led the team with 22 points. Kaiya Carter came off the bench to add 15 points. Stephie Salumu and Enola Papin had double-double games with Salumu tossing in 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds while Papin contributed 11 points and 10 rebounds. Mariia Ignatchenko closed out the double-digit scoring with 11 points.
Jamiah Gregory had nine points, Maria Favero came away with six points and then Hayda Toro and Dilly Silva had five and four points respectively.
Both teams will be in action Saturday when they travel to Cuthbert to take on Andrew College. The Lady Jets open at 1 p.m. followed by the Jets at 3 p.m. in a double-header. The two teams will return home on Wednesday night to host Southern Crescent Tech in a double-header again. The Lady Jets open at 5:30 followed by the Jets at 7:30. The two teams will then travel to Albany Tech in Albany for a double header on March 1. The two teams play at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.