Lady Jets to face Hutchinson Blue Dragons in NJCAA Division 1 National Tournament
The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets (25-6) clinched a spot in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division 1 women’s basketball tournament for the 11th time in the history of the 20-year program. They were seeded 22nd in the 24-team tournament bracket and will play Wednesday, March 26 at 6:45 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
The Lady Jets will face the NJCAA 2024 Division 1 women’s basketball national champion Hutchinson Community College Blue Dragons from Hutchinson, Kansas at the Ford Wyoming Center in Casper, WY. Hutchinson Community College earned an at-large berth to the tournament and were seeded 11th.
SGTC has four players averaging in double-figures this season. Shown top (l to r): GCAA Player of Year Jamiah Gregory (23) and GCAA/NJCAA Region 17 Tournament MVP Mio Sakano (30) and on the bottom ( l to r) are GCAA First Team All-Region Enola Papin (24) and GCAA/NJCAA Region 17 All-Tournament player Kaiya Carter (3).
Hutchinson is 28 – 4 this season and were 21 – 3 in the conference. They lost 45 – 42 to Coffeyville Community College in their conference semi-final game. Dodge City, KS, won the NJCAA Region 6 (Plains) tournament and received a bye in the first round of the national tournament with the number 4 seed.
The Blue Dragons will be returning to the very court where they captured their first NJCAA National Championship last season when they defeated Northwest Florida State, 88 – 80 in overtime in the championship game to complete a perfect 37 – 0 season.
This season, the Blue Dragons spent nine weeks at number one in the national rankings. They slipped as low as No. 11 before finishing at No. 9 in the final regular-season poll. The Dragons defeated Dodge City 75 – 67 in overtime in the regular-season finale to claim a share of the KJCCC title.
The Lady Jets never cracked the NJCAA National Poll this season but are entering the tournament on a 13-game winning steak after cruising through the Region 17 tournament semifinals and championship game. The Lady Jets’ last loss came on January 18 in an 84 – 80 loss to East Georgia State College.
SGTC only faced one nationally ranked team this season and lost twice to top-ranked Chipola on December 19, 81 – 74 and then again on December 31, 84 – 75. Hutchinson has played two nationally ranked teams. They split with fourth seeded Dodge City, (lost 67-41, and won 75-67 OT) and won against 14th seeded Murray State 69 – 68.
South Georgia Tech and Hutchinson Community College have met once in the history of the two programs. They met in the 2015 national tournament in Salina, Kansas. Hutchinson defeated South Georgia Tech in the second round of the tournament 80 – 61. However, the Blue Dragons had to forfeit all of their games that season, which allowed SGTC to finish in the Elite 8 of the tournament. The Lady Jets were coached by James Frey that season.
This will be current Lady Jets head coach Jason Carpenter’s first trip to the national tournament in his second season at the helm. The Lady Jets are 5 – 8 in the NJCAA national tournament appearances and 4 – 5 in opening round match-ups. Hutchinson is 24 – 12 in 12 All-time NJCAA National Tournament appearances. The Blue Dragons are 5 – 2 in opening round match-ups. They are coached by John Ontjes, who has coached there since 2007. He has won over 500 games with the Blue Dragons.
South Georgia Technical College is currently the third leading point producer in the NJCAA averaging 83.7 points per game. Hutchinson is ranked 50th averaging 70.6 points. The Lady Jets are ranked sixth nationally in rebounds per game with an average of 49.7 which is 10.3 higher than their opponents this season. Hutchinson is ranked 74 with 35.0 rebounds per game which is 5.9 less than their opponents.
Hailey Jackson is Hutchinson’s leading scorer. She is averaging 18.3 points per game over 32 games. She is ranked 15th in the nation in points per game. Jamiah Gregory is South Georgia Tech’s leading scorer with an average of 15.4 points per game. She is 55th in the nation. Mio Sakano is close behind with 14.9 per game and is listed as 70th in the nation. SGTC also has two other players averaging in double-digits this season, sophomore Enola Papin and freshman Kaiya Carter. Papin is averaging 12.8 and ranked 150th and Carter is posting 12.8 points and ranked 152.
The winner of the SGTC – Hutchinson game will advance to the Sweet 16 round where they will face the 6th ranked Three Rivers Community College, MO, which is 27 – 2 this season. That game will be Friday, March 28 at 6:45 p.m. eastern time.
The top 24-teams in the NJCAA National tournament by ranking 1 – 24 are: Chipola, Wabash Valley, Northwest Florida State College, Dodge City, New Mexico Junior College, Three Rivers community College, McLennan Community College, Shelton State, South Plains, Eastern Arizona, Hutchinson, Florida Southwestern, Arizona Western, Murray State, Casper, Walters State, Kilgore, Salt Lake, Wallace State – Hanceville, State Fair, Itawamba, South Georgia Technical College, Olive-Harvey, and Monroe University.