SGTC Lady Jets drop to 12th in NJCAA national rankings

   The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets dropped three spots to 12^th place in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s intercollegiate basketball polls after losing to the 3^rd ranked Georgia Highlands Lady Chargers this past week.  

  The Lady Jets had climbed as high as the fifth-place spot nationally after opening the season unbeaten.  Since then they have dropped to as low as 21^st before they started climbing back to 14^th, 13^th, 11^th and 9^th place before falling three spots this week into 12th.  They are currently in second place in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Associate conference with a 10 – 3 record behind the top-ranked 12 – 0Georgia Highlands Lady Chargers.  SGTC is 22 – 5 overall and Georgia Highlands is 22 – 2 on the season.  All three of the Lady Jets conference losses have been to Georgia Highlands and former Lady Jets head coach Brandon Harrell.

   Ranked ahead of Georgia Highlands in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is Three Rivers Community College and Shelton State Community College.  Western Nebraska Community College and Wabash Valley College round out the top five spots.

   Northwest Florida State College, Trinity Valley Community College, Tyler Junior College, New Mexico Junior College and Chipola are ranked sixth through 10^th.  Moberly Area Community College is 11^th followed by SGTC.  College of Southern Idaho, Eastern Oklahoma State College and Arizona Western College round out the top 15 spots in the women’s national rankings.

   In addition to the overall team rankings, four Lady Jets and five Jets were highlighted for their individual efforts.  Freshmen Alexia Diseko and Fanta Gassama along with sophomores Kamya Hollingshed and Maikya Simmons were the four Lady Jets spotlighted.  Jets Sophomores Jalen Reynolds, Will Johnston, Marvin McGhee, III, Malik Battle and Matija Millivojevic were the five Jets singled out for their individual efforts on the court.  This was Millivojevic’s first time to break into the top standings.

    Freshman center Fanta Gassama led the Lady Jets in individual stats this week.  She is currently the fifth leading rebounder in the nation with 298 over 25 games. Her teammate Alexia Dizeko, another freshman was ranked 26^th in total rebounds with 207 in 25 games.  These two Lady Jets were also highlighted for their field goal percentage shooting.  Dizeko is 30^th hitting 56 percent of her attempted shots and Gassama is ranked 32^nd with a 55.4 percent success rate from the field.

    Gassama went on to standout in three rebounding categories.  She is listed as the 9^th best rebounder in the nation with an average of 11.9 total rebounds per game and ninth in defensive rebounds with an average of 7.4.  Offensively, she is listed as 14^th with 4.6 offensive rebounds each outing.

       Alexia Dizeko, the freshman shooting forward from Switzerland, is currently the 22^nd best scorer in the nation with a total of 377 points in 25 games.  Red-shirt sophomore Kamya Hollingshed from Locus Grove, GA, joined her on this elite list in the 48^th spot with a total of 328 points so far this season.

    Their teammate, Maikya Simmons, the sophomore point guard from Stafford, VA, is ranked 13^th in assists per game with an average of 5.1 to close out the individual accomplishments listed in the national rankings.

   Jets sophomore forward Jalen Reynolds from Darien, Georgia, earned individual rankings in six categories the NJCAA weekly stats.  He is currently ranked 3^rd in the nation in total rebounds with 272 in 24 games and 4^th in defensive rebounds per game averaging 11.3.  He is also listed as 6^th in rebounds per game averaging 11.3, 41^st in blocks per game with 1.8 and 47^th in offensive rebounds with an average of 3.2.   He is 35^th in field goal percentage shooting hitting 61.6 percent of his shots.

   Sophomores Will Johnston, a point guard from Australia, and Marvin McGhee, III, a guard from Atlanta, Georgia are both garnering attention on the court for their scoring ability.  Johnson is the 12^th best free throw shooter in the league hitting 88.1 percent of his foul shots.  He is also 21^st in the nation in assists per game with 5.8.

   Marvin McGhee is currently 26^th in points per game averaging 20.3. His is listed as the 20^th top points producer with 446 in 22 games this season.  He was joined by his teammate Will Johnston who is listed as 33^rd with 412 points.

   Malik Battle, Marvin McGhee and Matija Millivojevic were all listed as leaders in the nation in three-point percentage shooting.   Battle led the team with a 47.5 percent success rate from the three-point line, which is 14^th best in the nation.  McGhee is ranked 29^th hitting 45.4 percent of his shots and Millivojevic moved into 39^th place hitting 44.4 percent.

   The Jets will take on Gordon College tonight at 7 p.m. in the Hangar.  Both teams will travel to Albany to face the Albany Tech Titans and Lady Titans at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday February 12^th.  The Jets will host Central Georgia Tech at home on February 15th at 7 p.m.   There is only one more home game for the Jets or Lady Jets after that and it is on February 23th at 7 p.m. when the Jets host Andrew College.

   The Lady Jets will travel to East Georgia State College on February 19^th.  The women’s NJCAA Region XVII tournament begins on February 19^th but as one of the top two seeds, the Lady Jets will probably get a bye in that round and be seeded in the Semi-Final Region tournament at Georgia Highlands in Rome on February 25^th.  The finals will be played on Saturday, February 26^th.

   The Jets travel to Georgia Highlands on February 19^th before hosting Andrew College on February 23th and traveling to East Georgia State College on February 26^th to close out the season.  The men’s NJCAA Region XVII tournament will begin March 1^st with the top four teams hosting the first round and the highest seeded team remaining hosting the semi-finals and finals on March 4^th and 5^th.