Jets, Lady Jets suffer losses to Gulf Coast in season openers
Panama City, FL – The final results were not what South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets first year head coach Jason Carpenter and Jets head coach Chris Ballauer wanted when they both lost their 2023 – 2024 basketball season openers to Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, FL, Wednesday night.
The Lady Jets dropped a 97 – 59 decision to the National Junior College Athletic Association’s (NJCAA) 6th nationally ranked Lady Commodores in the Billy Harrison Fieldhouse. The Jets played immediately after and also came up short in an 83 – 65 loss to the Commodores.
The Lady Jets are in a rebuilding year after being ranked number one in the nation for most of last season and graduating nine sophomores. “Gulf Coast might be the most talented team in the country and they certainly played like it against us,” said SGTC Athletic Director and Lady Jets Head Coach Jason Carpenter.
“Despite the lopsided score, I was proud of our team for continuing to battle. It speaks to their character,” added Carpenter. “It is a long season and we are a young team. We will make adjustments, build on the positives and use this as a learning opportunity. We will get better.”
Carpenter played 10 Lady Jets, including seven freshmen. The Lady Jets started out slowly, only putting up nine points in the first quarter compared to 27 for the Lady Commodores. By the half, Gulf Coast had pulled ahead 52 – 28. They continued to outscore the Lady Jets in the third and four quarters and finished up with a 97 – 59 victory. At one-point Gulf Coast outscored the Lady Jets 23 – 2.
Three Lady Jets managed to post double-figures in that game. Sophomore Maeva Fotsa from Quebec, Canada, led the team with 13 points. She also had three rebounds. Mio Sakano, a freshman from Yamanashi, Japan, accounted for 12 points and three rebounds, and Destiny Bishop, a freshman from Bay Shore, New York, closed out the double-digit scoring with 10 points. She was the leading rebounder with five.
Enola Papin came off the bench and scored eight points; Vera Gunnaydin had seven points, Hinano Imamura added six points, and then Maria Diaz and Isabel De Souza Bueno tossed in two and one point respectively.
The Jets faced some of the same issues as the Lady Jets in their season opener as Gulf Coast jumped out to a 42 – 28 lead at the end of the first half. Gulf Coast State College continued to outscore the Jets in the second half and wound up with the 83 – 65 win.
Sophomore Deonte Williams, a returning guard from Sydney, Australia, led the Jets in scoring with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Israel Momodu, a sophomore forward from Atlanta, and Camarion Johnson, a freshman guard from Brunswick, were the only two other players in double-digits with 10 points each. Momodu pulled down 12 rebounds and Johnson had five rebounds, three assists, three steals and one blocked shot.
Mohand Ammad, a sophomore guard from Paris, France, contributed nine points and Ryan Djoussa and Daryl Bod had six each. Kameron Foman closed out the scoring with two points. The Jets only made 40% of their total shots, 11.1% of their three-point attempts and missed 19 of their 38 freethrow attempts.
They returned four players from last season and are attempting to rebound from last season’s 8 – 22 record. They will have a chance to redeem themselves on Saturday, November 4th at 3 p.m. when they face ASA Prep in the Hangar.
The Jets will also play at home on Monday, November 6, when they host Tallahassee Community College at 7:30 p.m. They will host the Jets Veterans Day Classic tournament on November 10 and 11 with match-ups against Florida Southwestern and Coastal Alabama. They host Chattahoochee Valley Community College on November 18 at 3 p.m. in the Hangar.
The Lady Jets are off for the next nine days. They will host Chattahoochee Valley Community College at 5 p.m. on November 11 at the conclusion of the Jets Veterans Day Classic Tournament.
Both teams are 0 – 1 overall.