Lyles, West put on show for Jets, Lady Jets win at buzzer

Nov. 18, 2007

Chris Whitaker

AMERICUS — Saturday’s homecoming basketball games at South Georgia Tech were surrounded with several stories.

After the passing of Willy Mathis, an instructor at the college, both teams wore an honorary “W” patch on their jerseys in remembrance of his contributions to the college and community.

Then after leading her team to a thrilling 70-69 win that was decided at the buzzer, sophomore Tatyana Jackson was named homecoming queen for the Americus campus.

And the cheers were heard throughout The Hangar during the boys’ game for Americus natives Carlos West and Jeremy Lyles. Both scored 14 points, and Lyles put an exclamation point on a 93-77 win when T.J. Green bounced the ball off the backboard and he finished it off with a monster dunk.

So all in all, homecoming went well for the Jets on Saturday.

WOMEN

Shonketta Christian was in the right place at the right time.

She had already put the Lady Jets on top, 68-67 with 25 seconds left in the game, and then with 11 second left and a chance for the Fort McPherson Lady Knights to extend a 69-68 lead to three, Christian pulled down the rebound and started the break.

Jackson was blocked on her drive to the basket, and as the ball appeared to be heading out of bounds, Christian grabbed control of it and put it up and in at the buzzer for a 70-69 win.

She finished with a double-double of 11 points and a 12 rebounds.

“It was a great night for us,” said coach Brandan Harrell. “They are probably the most intelligent team we will play all year. I thought we played up and down, but when it came down to it, it was players making plays.”

The Lady Jets (4-0) won the rebounding battle, 62-57, as the two teams hoisted 164 shots in the game. Ashley Harrison came off the bench to collect a game-high 13 rebounds and scored eight in the process. Harrell said she was the difference in the game.

“I don’t know what happened to her Thursday and Friday, but she came out and practiced extremely hard. Until this game, she hadn’t really shown she was ready to step up and be that kind of player, but she stepped up tonight.”

Jackson had a game-high 17 points, six assists and two steals, and she grabbed nine rebounds.

After jamming her finger in shoot-around, Alice Holmes scored 15, and Lesha Brigham chipped in with 13.

Both teams shot 33 percent or less, and Harrell said he never would have thought his team could win shooting that poorly.

The Lady Jets will receive a big test this week as they play two of the top 25 teams in the country and another that received votes. They host Chipola (Fla.) on Tuesday, which is ranked No. 4 in the nation. They play Walter State (TN) on Friday, which is ranked 25th, and Spartanburg (S.C.) on Saturday as part of the Georgia Perimeter Thanksgiving Classic.

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While Lyles brought The Hangar down with his dunk, freshman Antonio Caswell brought the laughter when the rim rejected his dunk in the final seconds.

Coach Steven Wright said he was proud of the way the team played, especially Lyles.

“He’s the best athlete on the team, no doubt about it,” he said. “And when you see the ball go up and him, you know what’s coming immediately. That’s what he lives for.”

The game was tight for the first five minutes, but Lyles’ first basket, a rebound dunk, woke the crowd up and the team as the Jets went on an 18-3 run in which they made eight straight shots at one point.

The Jets (4-3) led 45-32 at the half, and after recording six offensive fouls trying to post in the first half, they methodically pushed the lead out in the second half using the big men of Erving Sharpe and James Early.

“Once they went to the zone, we certainly looked to the high post and a guy to knock those shots down,” said Wright. “I never felt like we got into any rhythm for that matter, but we executed extremely well against the zone.”

Steve Robinson scored 14 on 7 of 8 shooting, Sharpe scored 12 points and Green had 11.

After losing the rebounding edge in the first half, the Jets pulled down 15 more in the second half in taking control of the game.

A game after scoring a double-double, DeAntre Jefferson didn’t play Saturday for breaking team rules, and neither did Quan Martin (homecoming king) and Jamal Jalloh, who missed their second-straight game. Wright said their status for Tuesday’s game against Aiken Tech is questionable.

The Jets hope to get revenge after losing at Aiken Tech, 64-60, on Nov. 6.

Thursday’s game

Jefferson scored 22 points and had 13 rebounds as the Jets beat Chattahoochee Valley, 74-63. Justen Bullock chipped in with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

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