Lady Jets capture GCAA Division 1 Regular season title, Jets drop to 5th
The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets have wrapped up the first-place spot in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) regular season conference and will host the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XVII tournament semi-finals and finals on Thursday, March 13 and Friday, March 14.
The Lady Jets captured two wins last week over Southern Crescent Technical College and Albany Tech to secure the GCAA Division I regular season conference title with a 13 – 1 record. East Georgia is currently in second place with a 9 – 4 record and Albany Tech is currently third with an 8 – 4 record. The Lady Jets only have one regular season game left and have a three-game advantage over the next highest place teams.
Jalexus Ewing, 0, was the top scorer for the Jets in the games against Southern Crescent and Albany Tech.
The Jets won and lost two conference games during the week by identical 79 – 75 overtime scores. They defeated Southern Crescent 79 – 75 in overtime Wednesday and then lost to Albany Tech 79 – 75 in overtime on Thursday. They are now in fifth place with an 8 – 6 conference record.
SGTC’s Lady Jets set a new team record for the most points scored this past week with the 136 – 24 win over sixth ranked Southern Crescent Technical College. The Lady Jets previous highest scoring game had been 115 points. Then the Lady Jets traveled to Albany and took a 75 – 66 victory over the Albany Tech Lady Titans to secure the regular season championship.
Freshman Kaiya Carter was the top scorer for the Lady Jets against Southern Crescent Tech with 36 points, which more than matched the total offensive output from the Lady Tigers. She was joined in double figures by freshman Jamiah Gregory with 22 points, Enola Papin who had 18 and Stephie Salumu and Mio Sakano who tossed in 16 and 14 respectively. Salumu led the team in rebounds with 12.
Mariia Ignatchenko pulled down 10 rebounds and she and Cheyenne Preston both came away with nine points. Maria Favero and Duilly Silva closed out the scoring with six points.
Then on Saturday, the Lady Jets held off a fourth-quarter rally by Albany Tech to secure the regular season championship with a 75 – 66 win. The Lady Jets were up 38 – 25 at the end of the first half and were still up 58 – 43 at the end of the third quarter. Albany Tech rallied in the fourth quarter to outscore the Lady Jets 23 – 17, but the gap was too wide and South Georgia Tech walked away with the 75 – 66 victory.
Jamiah Gregory was the top scorer with 17 points and she was paced by Kaiya Carter who secured 16 points. Enola Papin came away with 14 points and then Mariia Ignatchenko had a double-double night with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Stephie Salumu and Mio Sakano both came away with eight points and Salumu led the team in rebounds with 14. Maria Favero was the only other Lady Jet to score and she had two points.
In the first conference match-up last week, the SGTC Jets squeaked out 79 – 75 overtime win over the 2- 12 Southern Crescent Tech Tigers. South Georgia Tech was up 37 – 34 at the half, but the Tigers came back in the second half and tied the game at 67 – 67 at the final buzzer. The Jets outscored the Tiger 12 – 8 in overtime to win, 79 – 75.
Jalexs Ewing was the top scorer for the Jets with 24 points. Hendrens Bartelus and Daryl Bod were the only other Jets in double-digits with 19 and 14 points respectively. Bartelus had a double-double night with 16 total rebounds to lead the team.
Dwight Brown came off the bench and pulled down eight points, Aiden Fitzgerald added seven and then Illich Yacaman accounted for three. Jordan Dickson and Matija Vuccic closed out the scoring with two points each.
Then on Saturday, the scores were reversed with Albany Tech securing the 79 – 75 overtime win. Albany Tech was up 36 – 31 at the end of the first half. The Jets rallied in the second half to outscore the Titans 36 – 31 to tie the game at 67 – 67. Then the Titans went up 12 – 8 in overtime to capture the 79 – 75 victory.
Jalexs Ewing was the top scorer again in that match-up with 19 points. Jordan Dickson and Dwight Brown both added 15 points while Daryl Bod followed with 14 points. Hendrens Bartelus accounted for seven points and Aiden Fitzgerald closed out the scoring with five points.
The Jets dropped to fifth place in the GCAA following that loss. South Georgia State College is currently in first place with an 11 – 4 record and they are followed by Albany Tech at 10 – 4. Georgia Highlands is in third place at 8 – 6 followed by East Georgia at 8 – 6. Both of those teams defeated South Georgia Tech in their last games so the Jets fell to fifth place with an 8 – 6 record.
Gordon College is currently sixth with a 7 – 6 record followed by Central Georgia Tech (7 – 7), Andrew College (2 – 12), and Southern Crescent (2 – 12).
The regular season is winding down for both the Jets and Lady Jets. They Jets have two more regular season contests. They will host Georgia Highlands College on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and then host Gordon State College at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 8 for Sophomore Day.
The Lady Jets will host the Andrew College at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 7 in their last regular season game. As the number one team, the Lady Jets will host and advance to the NJCAA Region XVII tournament semi-finals and finals. They are scheduled to play the winner of the fourth and fifth place teams on Thursday, March 13th at 6 p.m. Another game will follow at 8 p.m. with the winner of the third and sixth place team facing the number two team. The championship tournament will be Friday, March 14 at 6 p.m.
The Jets NJCAA Region XVII tournament will begin on Tuesday, March 11 with the first through fourth place teams hosting the quarterfinal games at the highest seed home court. The semi-finals and finals will be held on Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15th at the highest remaining team’s home court.