Three wins this past week against Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association opponents allowed the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets to remain in the number eight position in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division 1 Women’s basketball rankings this week. The Lady Jets are 19 – 3 overall and 13 – 2 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA).
Jones College, which defeated the Lady Jets earlier this season, remained in the top spot nationally. They were followed by Northwest Florida State College, Casper College, Trinity Valley Community College, and Shelton State to close out the top five spots. Chipola College is currently ranked sixth, South Plains College is seventh, South Georgia Tech, 8th, followed by Butler Community College of Kansas and Three Rivers Community College in MO, for the ninth and 10h place spots. Georgia Highlands College moved up to 13th place from the 19th position this week.
The Jets dropped a couple of hard fought loses this week to fall to 9 – 4 in the conference and 11 – 8 overall and that was enough to move them off the NJCAA national poll honorable mention status. Georgia Highlands Chargers, which the SGTC Jets beat twice, are currently ranked 17th in the nation and South Georgia State from the Georgia conference is listed as an honorable mention. The Jets split decisions with them.
In addition to the national ranking, both the Lady Jets and the Jets had individual players highlighted in the individual national statistics. Sophomores Veronica Charles, Femme Sikuzani, and Hope Butera were recognized for the Lady Jets and sophomore Jalen Reynolds and freshmen Marvin McGhee and Will Johnston were the Jets who received national recognition.
Jets sophomore forward Jalen Reynolds of Darien, GA, moved back into first place in the NJCAA Division I top rebounding stats. He is leading the league with a total of 237 rebounds in 19 games this season. He has 79 offensive rebounds and 158 defensive rebounds this season. The second-place rebounder has 231.
Reynolds is also currently third nationally in rebounds per game with an average 12.5 per game. He is also listed as third in defensive rebounds per game with an average of 8.3 per game and fifth in offensive rebounds with 4.4 per game. His teammate, freshman guard Marvin McGhee of Atlanta, is currently tied for 40th in defensive rebounds with an average of 6.1 per game. He is also listed as tied for 32nd in total rebounds with 146. That includes 31 offensive and 115 defensive rebounds this season.
The other member of the Jets basketball team to be spotlighted nationally was freshman guard Will Johnston. The 6’ 2” guard from Sydney, Australia, is currently ranked 37th in assists with an average of 5.2 per game.
The three Lady Jets to be singled out for their individual efforts include sophomore’s Femme Sikuzani, Veronica Charles and Hope Butera. Charles, a 5’ 4” inch guard from Benue State, Nigeria, is ranked 15th nationally in steals. She is averaging 3.4 per game over 21 games.
Sophomore center Femme Sikuzani, who stands at 6’ 5” from Goma, DRC, earned national recognition in two different categories. Sikuzani ranks 16th in total rebounds. She has 177 rebounds this season including 79 offensive rebounds and 98 defensive rebounds. Her average of 3.6 offensive rebounds per game earned her the 42nd spot in that category nationally.
Hope Butera, a 6’ 3” sophomore forward from Kigali Rwanda, was also recognized. She was 46th in total rebounds in the nation with 139. She has 45 offensive rebounds and 94 defensive rebounds in 22 games.
The Lady Jets finished the regular season in second place in the GCAA behind Georgia Highlands College. They will now advance to the NJCAA Region XVII tournament. Georgia Highlands and South Georgia Tech will both receive a bye in the quarterfinal round of the tournament. The Lady Jets will play the winner of the East Georgia College – Albany Tech game in the semi-finals on Friday, April 2nd at 8 p.m. in Rome at Georgia Highlands. The winner of that game will advance to the finals which are set for 2 p.m., Saturday, April 3rd at Georgia Highland.
The Jets travel to East Georgia State College on Thursday, March 25th at 7 p.m. The Jets will then host East Georgia State College on Saturday March 27th at 3 p.m. for their last regular season game. The Jets NJCAA Region XVII tournament will kick off on April 6th.