The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets came from behind early to coast to a 73 – 41 Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) conference victory over Georgia Highlands to move to 3 – 2 and 10 – 7 on the season in a double-header Wednesday. The Jets lost a close one in the second half of the conference double-header, 69 – 65, to fall to 2 – 1 in the conference and 7 – 7 overall.
The win kept the Lady Jets in a two-way tie for third place in the conference with Albany Tech, which is 3 – 2 in conference and 10 – 7 overall. East Georgia State College is currently undefeated at 3 – 0 in the conference and in first place with Central Georgia Tech close behind at 4 – 1 in second place.
The last-minute loss by the Jets dropped them from a three-way tie for first place in the conference into a tie for third place with Albany Tech. South Georgia State College is currently in first place with a 3 – 0 record and Georgia Highlands moved into second place with a 2 – 0 conference record after defeating the Jets.
SGTC Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach Jason Carpenter said his team still has some work to do but they are improving. “We started the game very slowly but thankfully we came back and looked better. We are still a work in progress,” said Carpenter.
The Lady Jets trailed most of the first quarter but were able to tie the game at 11 – 11 at the buzzer. They came out strong in the second quarter and outscored Georgia Highlands 25 – 2 in the next 10 minutes to go ahead 36 – 13 at the half.
Georgia Highlands tried to cut that deficit but the Lady Jets kept up the pressure and came away with a 73 – 41 conference victory. Isabel Bueno was the top scorer for the Lady Jets with 25 points. She scored 15 points in the first half and added 10 more in the second half. She also had three rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Camarion Johnson, 5, was the top scorer for the Jets with 16 points.
Greta Carollo and Vera Gunaydin were the only other Lady Jets in double digits and they had 13 and 12 points respectively. Greta Carollo was the top rebounder with 12. She also had four assists and three steals. Vera Gunaydin added six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Mio Sakano managed to toss in eight points and then Enola Papin added five points.
Maeva Fotsa and Jessica Kailainy both contributed four points each and Fotsa pulled in 10 rebounds and Kailainy had six. Maria Favero closed out the scoring with two points.
The Jets followed up and were hoping to increase their conference win streak to three straight games but a second half surge by the Chargers allowed Georgia Highlands to walk away with the 69 – 65 victory. The Jets were up 28 – 26 at the half after Justin Evans hit a three-pointer at the buzzer. He was the leading scorer for the half with six points. He was two of two from the field, one of one from the three-point line and one of two at the foul line.
Camerion Johnson, a freshman guard from Brunswick, was the top scorer for the Jets on the night with 16 points. He was followed by Deonte Williams with 15 points. They were the only two Jets in double-digits on the night.
Ryan Djoussa added eight points and had 10 rebounds. Justin Evans and Mohand Ammad closed out the game with six points each. Jaylen Woods had five points, Israel Momdu was perfect from the foul line with four points and then Jefeth Martinez contributed three points, all from the foul line. Daryl Bod was the only other Jet to score and he had two points.
The Jets had 24 turnovers on the night compared to Georgia Highlands 18. The only place South Georgia Tech beat Georgia Highlands was on the foul line. The Jets hit 13 of 15 free throws for an 86.7% success rate compared to the Chargers, seven of 12 for 58.3%.
Georgia Highlands hit 46% (29/63) of their shots from the field and 23.5% (4/17) of their three-point attempts. The Jets were 24 of 60 or 40% from the field and were only one of eight from the three-point line for a 19% success rate.
The Jets will attempt to get back on the winning track at home, Friday, January 19 at 6 p.m. when they host Redline Prep. They travel to East Georgia on Wednesday, January 24 and then host Central Georgia Tech in a double-header at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, January 27.
The Lady Jets travel to Macon on Saturday, January 20, for a rematch with Central Georgia Tech, then travel to East Georgia on Wednesday, January 24th for a double-header. They will return home on Saturday, January 27th for the double-header against Central Georgia Tech beginning at 1 p.m.