Freshman Kamya Hollingshed of McDonough scored as many points as the number on her uniform (30) when she led the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets to an impressive 107 – 28 victory over Combine Academy Monday night in the Hangar on the SGTC Americus campus. The win moved the nationally ranked Lady Jets to 16 – 0 in the conference and 25 – 3 overall.
South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey fielded an All-Freshman squad against the Combine Academy Goats Monday night and the seven freshmen did not disappoint the crowd. The freshmen almost tied the Lady Jets new school record for the most points scored in a single game but fell just two points shy of that 109-point record.
“This was not a conference game so it was a great opportunity to give our freshmen players a lot of playing time. We never know when one of them will be called upon to step up and make a difference so the more playing time, we can get them the better off the team will be,” said Coach Frey.
Right now the Lady Jets starting line-up consists of five sophomores. But each of the seven freshman on the squad contribute almost every game with significant time on the court. “The only way players get better is to play,” said Frey. “So this was a great game to let them see what we expect of them in the playoffs and next season.”
Hollingshed, a 5’ 7” guard, led the Lady Jets in scoring with 30 points. She was eight of 12 from the three-point line and four of five from the foul line. She also was one of four from under the basket. She accounted for four rebounds, three assists, and four steals to top off the night.
Another freshman, Anna McKendree, a 5’ 6” inch guard from Flowery Branch, added 24 points for the Lady Jets. She was perfect on the night, hitting all three of her attempted three-point shots, all three of her free throws, and was six of six from under the basket. She also had five rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Oumy Gueye, a 5’ 11” freshman forward from Senegal, showed out by scoring 14 points, three assists, three rebounds, and three steals. She was followed by Yasriyyah Wazeerud-Din who added 13 points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks. Laky Samo, a 6’ 0” center from Mozambique, closed out the double-digit scoring with 10 points and four rebounds for the Lady Jets.
Freshman forward Amara Edeh from Nigeria, contributed nine points and Rio Yamazaki, a freshman point guard from Japan, came away with seven points, eight assists, six rebounds, and four steals.
This was the third time in four games that the Lady Jets have posted over 100 points. It was also the first time that the Lady Jets defense has held a team to less than 30 points in a contest this season. Combine Academy had 22 points at the end of the first half and the Lady Jets held them to only six points during the final 20 minutes.
The GCAA 2018-2019 Champion Lady Jets will now travel to Georgia Highlands on Wednesday, February 20th, 2019 before returning home on Saturday, February 23rd to host Albany Tech in a double-header with the Jets at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. for Sophomore-Alumni Day Celebration. An alumni game will kick off the day at 10 a.m. followed by a free hot dog and hamburger cookout sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. Free t-shirts will be available as long as supplies last.
The Lady Jets will host the NJCAA Region XVII tournament on the SGTC campus on Friday, March 1st and Saturday, March 2nd. The Lady Jets are scheduled to play the fourth place team at 5:30 p.m. Friday, March 1st with the second and third place teams following at 7:30 p.m. The two winning teams will face off on Saturday, March 2nd for the opportunity to advance toward the NJCAA Division J tournament game and the chance to advance to the national tournament. The Lady Jets have represented Region XVII and District J for the past two seasons at the national tournament.
In men’s action, the third ranked Jets will host South Georgia State College at 7:30 p.m. in the Hangar on Wednesday, February 20th and then take on Albany Tech in the second half of the Alumni-Sophomore Day double-header at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 23rd.