Giants' men set for showdown vs. Fresno City for CVC lead

By Nick Giannandrea COS ATHLETICS First place in the Central Valley Conference men's and women's basketball standings will be at stake when College of the Sequoias plays at rival Fresno City on Jan. 21. The women's game, featuring the California Community College Sports Information Association state No. 5-ranked Giants (18-2 overall) against the No. 3 Rams (19-2), is set for 3 p.m. Sequoias enters 4-0 in CVC play, while Fresno City is 5-0. Merced and West Hills-Lemoore, the next closest teams in the conference standings, are 2-2. "It will be a good challenge for us. I'm sure they are probably thinking the same thing," Giants women's coach Ray Alvarado said. "I think the team that has the least turnovers and can execute is going to win that game. They are really good, but I feel we're really good, too. We've just got to continue to stay healthy, stay together, and then you know, players have to come up and play in the big games." The men's game, featuring the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches' Association state No. 10-ranked Giants (16-3) against the No. 15 Rams (15-2), is scheduled to tip off at 5 p.m. Both teams are 5-0 in conference play. Columbia and Merced, the next closest teams in the conference standings, are 2-2. "It's a very intriguing matchup," Giants men's coach Dallas Jensen said. "The way we're playing inside out is going to be tough for them. Their speed and athleticism and shooting ability is going to be tough for us. It's two really good teams. They are cohesive and well-coached. I anticipate they will be totally ready. We're going to have our hands full." Sequoias tuned up for the doubleheader with blowout wins Jan. 18, the women routing Taft 114-50 and the men cruising past West Hills-Coalinga 99-77 at Porter Field House. The Giants' women scored the game's first 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers by Geizzle Jones (Bullard-Fresno), and never looked back en route to their fourth straight win. Sequoias led 29-8 at the end of the first quarter against Taft (3-17, 1-3), and its advantage grew to 58-18 at halftime. "It's easy to kinda get sloppy in games like this, but I thought they were able to bob and weave their way through," Alvarado said. "They stayed engaged. They were very unselfish, sometimes even a little too much." Maria Dias (Lisbon, Portugal) flirted with a quadruple-double for the Giants, finishing with a game-high 24 points as well as nine assists, eight rebounds and seven steals. Dias was one of six Giants to finish with double-figure scoring. She was joined by Maci Chavez (Kingsburg) with 17, Jones with 16, Camila Barreno (Ambato, Ecuador) with 14, Taylor Roth (Sanger) with 13 and Noura Aboutaleb (Charlotte, N.C.) with 12. Chavez also had six steals, four rebounds, two assists and a block; Jones had eight rebounds and a block; Barreno had six steals, four rebounds, two assists and a block; Roth had five rebounds, four assists and a steal; and Aboutaleb had eight rebounds, two assists and a steal. Sequoias also received eight points and four rebounds from Alana Roberts (Sierra Pacific-Hanford); eight points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals from Hannah Kearnan (Redwood); and two points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals from Tiana Holland (Washington Union-Easton). "I feel we haven't really peaked," said Alvarado, whose team has won four straight CVC titles and made three consecutive trips to the state's Elite Eight. "But I think they are doing some good stuff, so that's good to see. They are staying connected, which is very important." Fresno City will enter riding a 17-game winning streak after it downed West Hills-Lemoore 98-52 on Jan. 18. "They know they are going to have to play tougher and more alert, execute more," Alvarado said of facing the Rams. "It will be good for us to have this game. We've played a really tough schedule so we've had some tough games already." Sequoias' men got off to a blistering start against West Hills-Coalinga (6-13, 0-5), shooting 57.9% (22 of 38) from the field and 40% (8 of 20) from 3-point range. That allowed the Giants to storm out to a 56-33 halftime lead. Terri Miller (Clovis North High) led the way, scoring 15 points on 6 of 7 shooting, including a 3-for-3 effort from 3-point range. Sequoias, however, went cold in the second half, shooting 37.1% from the field (13 of 35) and 16.7% from 3-point range (3 of 18), allowing the Falcons to get as close as 14 points (80-66) with 5 minutes and 14 seconds remaining. The Giants outscored West Hills-Coalinga 19-11 down the stretch to pull away for their 11th straight win. "I thought we did some good things in the first half. Our first group played really well in the early part of the game," Jensen said. "As the game went on, we lacked some focus and discipline. But at the end of the day, we went 1-0. Now we'll try and get ready for a big game against Fresno." Miller's 15 points paced Sequoias. He also contributed 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Javohn Garcia (Columbus, Ohio) delivered 13 points five blocks, four assists, a rebound and a steal for the Giants. Sequoias got double-figure scoring from Cameron Clark (Snellville, Ga.) with 13 points, George Carter (Stockton) with 11 points and Jose Cuello (Harlem, N.Y.) with 10. Clark also had nine rebounds, an assist and a steal; Carter had three rebounds, an assist and a steal; while Cuello added seven assists, six rebounds and a steal. In all, the Giants received points from 12 of the13 players on the roster. Tyjean Burrell (Sacramento) provided eight points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals; Tre'von Martin (Las Vegas) had seven points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists; Omari Nesbit (Sacramento) had six points, three rebounds and an assist; Tyree Gill (Sacramento) had six points, a rebound, an assist and a steal; Lucas Wilrich (Yuba City) had five points, one rebound, one block and one steal; Alex Argandar (Modesto) had three points, three rebounds and three assists; and Takari Fields (Champaign, Ill.) had two points and a steal. Sequoias has beaten its first five conference opponents (also including Columbia, Merced, West Hills-Lemoore, Porterville) by an average of 26 points per game. The Giants are seeking a fifth straight conference championship (2022 and 2021 were won on the court, while 2020 and 2019 were awarded because of Fresno City forfeits), and fourth straight appearance in the state's Elite Eight. Fresno City has won five straight, including a 96-87 defeat of West Hills-Lemoore on Jan. 18. "We've been playing really well in conference play. And I'm hopeful we'll continue to play a good brand of basketball," Jensen said. "A win Saturday would be really beneficial and help our end goal. But I also know we have a lot of games left moving forward. We've just got to play to the best of our ability and see what happens." Both Sequoias' teams will be on the road until Jan. 4, when the women will host West Hills-Lemoore at 3 p.m. and the men will entertain the Golden Eagles at 5 p.m. Admission to Porter Field House is $8 general and $5 for seniors and students.