The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets were able to climb two spots in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s intercollegiate basketball polls into 11th place after securing a big win over the 17th ranked Florida Southwestern Buccaneers last week. The Lady Jets are 18 – 4 on the season
The Lady Jets had climbed as high as the fifth-place spot nationally after opening the season unbeaten, but four tough losses dropped them as low as 21st before they started climbing back to 14th, 13th and now in the 11th place position.
SGTC Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey is pleased that his team moved up but he realizes this is a day to day and week to week ranking and that his team needs to play every time they step on the court. “We are improving each week,” said Frey. “I thought we played great at times against Florida Southwestern but that is how we need to play every time we step on the court. We have some tough conference games ahead of us and we need to stay focused on what is at stake.”
Three Rivers Community College moved into first place this week at 17 – 0 and Shelton State climbed into the second place positions with a 17 – 1 record. Northwest Florida State College slipped from first to third after a loss and Georgia Highlands moved into 4th place. The College of Southern Idaho is currently in the fifth place spot.
Western Nebraska Community College, Jones College, Wabash Valley College, Moberly Area Community College and Tyler Junior College filled the sixth to 10 place spots with South Georgia Tech moving up to 11th place. Trinity Valley, Pensacola State, New Mexico and Chipola rounded out the top 15.
In addition to the overall team rankings, four Lady Jets and four Jets continued to be 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, and Malik Battle were the four Jets singled out for their individual efforts on the court.
Freshman center Fanta Gassama led the Lady Jets in individual stats this week. She is currently the third leading rebounder in the nation with 254 over 21 games. Her teammate Alexia Dizeko, another freshman was ranked 16th in total rebounds with 189 in 22 games. These two Lady Jets were also highlighted for the field goal percentage shooting. Gassama is 32nd hitting 56.5 of her attempted shots and Diseko is ranked 33rd in nation hitting 56.4 of her shots.
Gassama went on to standout in the defensive rebounding category. She was ranked 10th nationally averaging 7.4 per game. She is listed as 16th in offensive rebounding with another 4.7 per game. She is 8th overall in rebounds per game averaging 12.1 per outing.
Alexia Dizeko, the freshman shooting forward from Switzerland, is currently the 12th best scorer in the nation with a total of 353 points in 22 games. Red-shirt sophomore Kamya Hollingshed from Locus Grove, GA, joined her on this elite list in the 41st spot with a total of 282 points so far this season.
Dizeko is also 45th in total points per game averaging 16 each outing and ranked 40th in free-throw percentage shooting hitting 81.1 of her shots. Her teammate, Maikya Simmons, the sophomore point guard from Stafford, VA, is ranked 12th in assists per game with an average of 5.4 to close out the individual accomplishments listed in the national rankings.
Jets sophomore forward Jalen Reynolds from Darien, Georgia, earned individual rankings in five categories the NJCAA weekly stats. He is currently ranked 4th in the nation in defensive rebounds per game averaging 8.3, 5th in total rebounds with 225, and 7th in total rebounds per game with an average of 11.3. He also is 31st in the nation in field goal percentage shooting hitting 63.2 of his attempts. His 5th category is in blocks per game. He came in 45th with an average of 1.8 blocks each game.
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. McGhee is currently 28th overall in points with 357 this season and Johnson is listed as 35th with 345 total points. McGhee is also listed as 32nd in points averaged per game with 19.8.
Johnston is also listed as 24th in the nation in free throw percentage shooting with an 86% success rate and 26th in assists per game with an average of 5.6 each outing. The other Jet listed in the individual rankings is sophomore guard Malik Battle from Douglasville, GA. He is 16th in the nation in three-point percentage shooting. He has hit 48.1 percent of his shots this season in 15 games. The Jets and Lady Jets are on the road this week.
The Lady Jets play Central Georgia Tech on Tuesday, January 24th at 5:30 p.m. Central Georgia Tech’s Lady Titans are currently 2 – 5 and in fifth place. The Jets travel to Cuthbert on Wednesday, January 25th to play Andrew College at 7 p.m. The Lady Jets travel to Cuthbert to play Andrew College at 1 p.m., Friday, January 28th and then the Jets host East Georgia State and former Jets head coach Travis Garrett on Saturday, January 29th at 3 p.m.