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By Su Ann Bird

 

AMERICUS – The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets (SGTC) were able to climb two spots in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s intercollegiate basketball polls in the first week of 2022 after going 3 – 0 in the Lady Jets Holiday Classic. They moved up from 16^th in the final poll of 2021 into 14^th place in the opening 2022 poll.

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 21^st before they started climbing back to move to 14 – 4 overall in the new year.

“We played well in spurts in the Lady Jets Holiday Classic,” said SGTC Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey after his team defeated Tallahassee Community College, Lawson State and 19^th ranked Gulf State Community College in the tournament play.  “We still have to learn to control the basketball and play the full 40-minutes we are on the court.  We are young but we are improving each week.”

Northwest Florida State College is currently the top team in the nation with a 14 – 0 record and Three Rivers Community College is second with a 16 – 0 record.  New Mexico Junior College is third followed by Trinity Valley Community College and Shelton State Community College.  Chipola College is currently ranked sixth, Georgia Highlands is seventh, followed by College of Southern Idaho, Jones College and Western Nebraska Community College.  Tyler Junior College, Wabash Valley College, and Moberly Area Community College fill in the 10^th – 13^th spots.  South Georgia Tech ranked 14^th and Eastern Arizona College came in 15^th in the nation.

In addition to the overall team rankings, four Lady Jets and four Jets were also 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.

Alexia Dizeko, the freshman shooting forward from Switzerland, is currently the sixth best scorer in the nation with a total of 291 points in 18 games.  Red-shirt sophomore Kamya Hollingshed from Locus Grove, GA, joined her on this elite list in the 40^th spot with a total of 218 points so far this season.

Dizeko is also ranked 28^th in field goal percentage shooting hitting 57.1 of her shots as well as 49^th in points per game with an average of 16.2 each outing this season.  She has also done well rebounding and is 15^th in the nation in total rebounds this season with 150.

Her teammate, freshman center Fanta Gassama from Mataro, Spain, is currently the third best rebounder in the nation pulling down 204 this season.  The leader has 235 and the second-place rebounder has 205.

Gassama is also listed as eighth in the nation in rebounds per game with an average of 12 and ninth in defensive rebounds pulling down 7.4 each outing.  She is also 21^st in offensive rebounding in the nation with 4.6 each time she steps on the court.  Maikya Simmons, the sophomore point guard from Stafford, VA, is ranked 8^th in assists per game with an average of 5.6 to close out the individual accomplishments listed in the national rankings.

Jets sophomore forward Jalen Reynolds from Darien, Georgia, earned individual rankings in four categories the NJCAA weekly stats.  He is currently ranked 14^th in defensive rebounds pulling down 7.2 each game.  He is 21^st overall in rebounding averaging 10.1 each game and is 22^nd overall with a total of 141 this season.  In addition to his strong rebounding ability, he is also hitting 67 percent of his shots from the field, which is the 19^th best in the nation.

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 23^rd overall in points scored with 263 and Johnston is close behind in 34^th with 254 points.

Johnston is also listed as 25^th in the nation in free throw percentage shooting with an 87.9 success rate and 24^th in assists per game with an average of 5.7 each outing.  McGhee is in 12^th position in points per game with an average of 21.9.  He is also hitting 46.4 of this three-point attempts to earn the 47^th best spot in the nation.

The other Jet to break into the individual rankings is sophomore guard Malik Battle from Douglasville, GA.  He is seventh in the nation in three-point percentage shooting.  He has hit 55.1 of his shots this season in nine games.

The Lady Jets will travel to Macon on Wednesday, January 5^th at 5:30 p.m. to face Central Georgia Tech in a conference match-up and then the Jets will open up the 2022 part of the season at home on Thursday, January 6^th at 7 p.m. with a conference match-up against South Georgia State College.  Both teams will then travel to Griffin on January 8^th for a double-header against Southern Crescent.  The Lady Jets open at 1 p.m. followed by the Jets at 3 p.m.

The Jets will travel again on January 11^th to Barnesville to play Gordon State college at 7 p.m.  They return home for a 7 p.m. game against Albany Tech on January 13^th at 7 p.m.  The Lady Jets host Albany Tech at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 15^th and then the Jets will be playing Central Georgia Tech that same day in Macon at 3 p.m.