Lady Jets defeats Ga Highland in GCAA opening round
ROME, GA - “Our Lady Jets played with a great deal
of intensity and purpose and did what they needed to do,”
said South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets head basketball
coach James Frey after the fifth-seeded Lady Jets overpowered the
fourth ranked Georgia Highlands Lady Chargers and former Lady Jets
head coach Brandon Harrell, 76 – 67 in the opening round of
the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 17
basketball championship in Rome, GA.
South Georgia Tech first year Lady Jets head coach James Frey
guided his squad to a 20 – 11 overall record this season and
moved them to 13 – 8 in Georgia Collegiate Athletic
Association Conference play with the win over Georgia Highlands.
This was the Lady Jets fifth consecutive victory and Coach
Frey’s first playoff win as a head coach. Georgia Highlands
was an honorable mention in the NJCAA national rankings this past
week. The loss to South Georgia Tech ended their season and left
them at 24 – 7 overall and 15 – 6 in the
GCAA.
The Lady Jets will now advance to the semi-final round of the
NJCAA Region 17 championship tournament, which will be held in
Albany, GA at Daron College on Friday, March 1st. The Lady Jets
will take on Darton State College at 5:30 p.m. The winner of that
game will advance to the finals on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Albany at
Darton State College.
“I couldn’t be more proud of our players,”
continued Coach Frey. “I challenged them to give it all they
had and not leave here with any regrets. They did that and to me
this game was their biggest and best effort all
season!”
The Lady Jets scored first against Georgia Highlands but the
two teams battled over the lead early in the first half. Georgia
Highlands managed to take the lead for about five minutes before
Coach Frey went to his bench and the Lady Jets reserves gave the
team a boost with several key baskets to help them to a 35 –
32 lead at the end of the first half.
South Georgia Tech came back in the second half and widened
their lead based on a 15 – 4 point swing in the first eight
minutes of that period. The Lady Jets pulled ahead by as many as 12
points several times in the second half before finally capturing
the first round playoff contest 76 – 67.
Sophomore Portia McCray was the leading scorer for the Lady
Jets with 21 points. Nineteen of her points came in the second
half. She was followed by freshman Rasheda Patterson who added 17
points and GCAA second team All-Conference player Nikkei Blackburn
who had 12 points, six rebounds and three steals.
DeKoya Mack tossed in eight points for the Lady Jets
including two big three-point conversions. Courtne Washington and
Shaquaya Daniels both added five points. Daniels also had 12
assists and five steals. Kadriana Howard scored four points and
then Delisia Sharpe and Veda Cook closed out the scoring with two
points each. Every member of the Lady Jets played and contributed
to the victory.
“This was a total team effort,” said Lady Jets
Coach James Frey. “However, I have to say that our defense
completely shut down Georgia Highlands Manon Cherabini, a former
Lady Jet, who was leading the league in three point shooting. We
held her to a total of six points and no three
pointers.”
In fact, the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets
dominated Georgia Highlands in every stat except rebounding.
Georgia Highlands had a total of 33 rebounds while South Georgia
Tech only came up with 26. “This is the first time this
season that we have been outrebounded,” said Frey, “but
we did a great job of shooting the ball from the field, three point
line and foul line. This was just a great effort and I
couldn’t be more pleased.”
Now, the Lady Jets need to keep up that momentum as they
travel to Albany on Friday, March 1st at 5:30 p.m. to take on the
top-ranked team in the GCAA, the Darton State Lady Cavaliers.
Darton is currently ranked 12th in the nation and is currently
undefeated this season on their home court at 14 – 0. They
also amassed the most wins in a single season this year with 26. At
7:30 p.m., the second ranked Chattahoochee Tech team will face
Georgia Perimeter in the second semi-final game. The two winners
will meet in the finals on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Darton.
Darton defeated the Lady Jets 52 – 50 in Albany in
their first match-up this season and then beat them 64 – 44
on February 6th.
