Jets fall to Shelton State Bucs in opening day of Jets Holiday Classic; Lady Jets come from behind to win over St. Petersburg Lady Titans

Ten points seemed to be a common denominator in the opening day action of the South Georgia Technical College Jets and Lady Jets Holiday Basketball Classics. The St. Petersburg Titans rolled to a 75 – 65 win over the Wallace State Lions in the opening game and then the Shelton State Bucs came from behind to beat the South Georgia Technical College Jets by 10 in an 84 – 74 contest. The Lady Jets also came from a 10-point deficit at the half to secure a an 82 – 72, 10-point victory over the St. Petersburg Lady Titans.
Eight different teams from Florida, Alabama, and Georgia came to Americus to participate in the South Georgia Technical College Jets and Lady Jets Holiday Basketball Classics in the Hangar December 29th, 30th, and 31st including three nationally ranked women’s basketball teams.
In the opening game of the men’s action, St. Petersburg turned a 33 – 28 half-time lead into a 75 – 65 victory over Wallace State and then in the second game, Shelton State overcame a 13 point first half deficit to take the 84 – 74 victory. This was the third straight win for Shelton State and the third consecutive loss for the Jets.
The Jets opened up to a 22 – 9 lead over Shelton State early in the first half but Shelton State battled back to close the gap to 39 – 34 at the end of the first half. There were a total of five lead changes and three ties in the forty minutes of action.
Sophomore Adonis Green and freshman Justin Johnson tied for top scoring honors for the Jets with 18 points each. They were the only two Jets to score in double digits. Sophomore Jonathan Tchuisse accounted for nine points and sophomore Sam Matice and freshman Brice Paster both added eight points for the Jets. Nick Cummings had six points, Toriano Lewis and Jeremy Johnson both tossed in three points and Dijon Brown closed out the scoring with one point.
Imoras Agee and Ruot Monyyong were the leading scorers for Shelton State with 24 points each. They both scored 12 points in the first half and 12 points in the second half to present a balanced scoring attack. In the St. Petersburg – Wallace State game, Daniel Melvin led the St. Petersburg Titans with 29 points and Demarkus Lampley was the top scorer for the Wallace State Lions with 27 points.
Following the men’s action on Saturday, December 29th, the Lady Jets Holiday Classic opened with Georgia Highlands taking on the 12th nationally ranked Shelton State Bucs, Eastern Florida facing the ninth nationally ranked Gulf Coast Lady Commodores and the 16th ranked South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets facing the St. Petersburg Lady Titans in the night cap.
Shelton State’s Lady Bucs pulled out an impressive 68 – 47 over Brandon Harrell and the Georgia Highlands Lady Chargers. The ninth ranked Gulf Coast Lady Commodores also costed to a 74 – 53 victory over Eastern Florida’s Lady Titans. And in the final game of the night, the 16-ranked Lady Jets came from a 46 – 36 deficit at half-time to turn the tide and take an 82 – 72 win over St. Petersburg. This was the Lady Jets 13th consecutive win.
Sophomore guard Alyssa Nieves led the Lady Jets in scoring with 21 points. Freshman forward Kamya Hollingshed was close behind with 17 points and freshman forward Yasriyyah Wazeerud-Din added 13 points. Sophomore guard Mari Hill closed out the double digit scoring with 10 points.
Lady Jets head coach James Frey had high praise for shooters Alyssa Nieves, Kamaya Hollingshed and Anna McKendree who accounted for 12 of his team’s 14 three-point shots. “We were not able to score inside, so we elected to change up and take our chances with three pointers and lay-ups. It worked,” said Frey.
Sophomore Fatou Pouye added seven points for the Lady Jets, Anna McKendree had six points, and Ricka Jackson and Laky Samo both closed out the scoring with four points each. St. Petersburg’s Josie Long led her team in scoring with 26 points, 21 of those were made in the first half. She was six of 10 from the three-point line.
The action will continue on Sunday, December 30th with the St. Petersburg Titans facing the Shelton State Bucs at 12 noon and the Jets taking on Wallace State at 2 p.m. in the men’s contests. Georgia Highlands women will match-up against Eastern Florida at 4 p.m., St. Petersburg’s women will face the Gulf Coast Lady Commodores at 6 p.m. and then at 8 p.m. the 12th ranked Shelton State Lady Bucs will be pitted against the 16th ranked South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets.
The Lady Jets women’s classic will close out on December 31st with nationally ranked Gulf Coast and Shelton State opening up at 2 p.m. and the South Georgia Tech Lady Jets taking on Eastern Florida at 4 p.m.

Adonis Green, 2, is shown going up for a layup for the South Georgia Tech Jets in their match-up with Shelton State.