Giants men's basketball open season with weekend sweep

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

For the first time in more than a year, College of the Sequoias played a men's basketball game inside Porter Field House.

And while there were no fans in attendance, that didn't stop the Giants from putting on a show as they registered a pair of victories by double digit margins over Palo Verde College to launch their coronavirus pandemic-shortened 2020-2021 season.

Sequoias last played at home on Feb. 28, 2020, during an 87-64 victory over Butte to open the Northern California Regional playoffs. The Giants would go on to win two road playoff games to reach the state's Elite Eight championships before they were canceled because of safety precautions related to Covid-19.

"It was good for our guys to get out and play," second-year Giants coach Dallas Jensen said. "Just the fact they actually got to play and compete and get out and run a little bit over the past couple days, I'm just really happy for them."

The season couldn't have gotten off to a much better start for Sequoias during a 132-82 defeat of Palo Verde on March 6.

The Giants stormed out to a 37-point first half lead (70-33) while shooting 52.8% from the field (28 of 53), 50% from 3-point territory (8 of 16) and 100% from the free-throw line (6-6). The Giants had 18 first-half assists and enjoyed a 17-5 advantage in the turnover battle while making 10 steals.

But the Pirates, under coach Ryan Copple, turned things around in the second half and scored 49 points on Sequoias.

On March 7, Palo Verde, which is located near the California-Arizona border in Blythe, outplayed the Giants for a half before wilting in the second half of a 95-81 Sequoias triumph.

Palo Verde led by as many as nine points in the first half before settling for a 40-35 edge at halftime.

Sequoias responded with a 60-41 surge in the second half to pull away and open a nine-game season without playoffs 2-0.

"I thought we did some good things and I thought we did some really bad things," Jensen said. "Palo Verde played extremely hard. Coach Copple does a great job getting them to compete the entire 40 minutes. We played in waves. We had moments where we looked like we can be really good, and we had a few other moments where it was very evident there's a lot of things to work on on both ends of the floor. 

"So it's good. It gives us something to build on after having not played for a year. Like I told the boys, this year is really about progression and getting their legs back under them and trying to build on something moving forward."

In the first game, reigning all-state selection Ryan Johnson out of Hanford High led Sequoias with 37 points, five rebounds, two assists and a block.

The Giants also received 17 points apiece from Seth Dawson, Scott Ator and Ryan Troutman.

Dawson, a transfer from Fresno City, also had 10 assists, six rebounds and two steals.

Ator, a transfer from McLennan College in Texas, grabbed eight rebounds and two assists.

Troutman, a gray-shirt out of Kerman, had eight rebounds, five steals and two assists.

Sequoias also received 13 points, 10 rebounds and a block from Gavilan College transfer Tyler Harris; 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals from Fresno City transfer Mohammed Adam; eight points and two rebounds from freshman Nicolas Allen (Georgia) and five points, six assists and three steals from Butler (Kansas) College transfer Conner Jackson.

In the second game, Dawson led the way with 23 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals.

Harris contributed 18 points, 10 rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Troutman and Johnson also had double-doubles for the Giants, as Troutman finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds (and five steals,) while Johnson had 10 points and 14 rebounds (and five assists).

Adam added 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. 

"Offensively, we're sharing the ball really, really well. I would expect we have the ability to score the basketball with our depth," Jensen said. "We just have to get better on the defensive end. Again, we play in spurts on that end as well, but we need to stay in front of the ball. We need to be able to have gap pressure and not allow penetration. We really need to contest jump shots better and we've got to rebound the basketball better. It's really across the board on the defensive end, including communication. So there's just things we have to get better at moving forward."

Sequoias returns to action at 6 p.m. March 12 against Antelope Valley at Porter Field House.

The Giants travel to Lancaster to face the Marauders (1-1) at 3 p.m. March 13. Antelope Valley opened its season March 5-6 against Cerro Coso, losing 81-62 on the road and winning 83-70 at home.