State No. 4 Giants men's basketball bounce back in big way from first loss

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

College of the Sequoias men's basketball team didn't allow its first loss to devolve into a losing streak.

Behind a game-leading 21 points from Davis White, the state No. 4-ranked Giants rolled to an 87-54 nonconference victory over Diablo Valley on Nov. 26 at Porter Field House.

It was the first game for Sequoias (7-1) since an 84-79 loss at No. 13 Citrus on Nov. 22 in a game it led 42-40 at halftime.

"I'm just so proud of our guys for bouncing back and coming out with great energy," said White, who sank five 3-pointers while also adding eight rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block. "We made a statement today."

Unranked Diablo Valley (2-4) played the Giants tough early on, trailing by one point (15-14) following a basket by Kennedy Ruzvidzo at the 11 minute, 52 second mark of the first half.

But Sequoias responded with a 14-2 blitz -- getting six points from Jaden Haire (Hanford West), five from Kevin Anderson (Atlanta, Ga.) and three from White (Santa Clarita) over the next the next 6:22 to build a 13-point cushion (29-13).

The Giants lead grew to 24 points (45-21) by halftime, and Diablo Valley never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

Sequoias pushed its lead to as many as 36 points (85-49) following a steal and thunderous dunk from Leyton McGovern (Anderson, Ind.) with 1:28 remaining in the game.

McGovern finished with 15 points, six rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal.

Haire delivered 18 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks, an assist and a steal.

The Giants also received 10 points, a rebound, an assist and a block from Anderson; eight points, seven assists, a rebound and a steal from Raydon Thorson (Queen Creek, Ariz.); six points, three assists and a steal from Tyree Gill (Sacramento); six points, 12 rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks from Cameron Kelly (Decatur, Ga.); three points from Carter Glick (Mt. Whitney); three assists, two rebounds and two steals from Jayson Mathews (Sacramento); and a rebound from Ahmad Clark (Atlanta, Ga.).

"We're never too high and never too low. We just stay even keeled," White said. "We understand who we are and how much talent we have. We have an amazing coach (Dallas Jensen) that has a great system for us. We just trust him. Our confidence every night is in Dallas. He puts a great system out there."

Sequoias will be idle for eight days around the Thanksgiving holiday before resuming its season at 5 p.m. Dec. 5 against San Joaquin Delta (1-3) at the Golden Gate Classic in San Francisco.

"We needed every single person to have energy coming out on our home court, and today we had that," McGovern said. "To come together tonight and get a (win) is very, very huge considering we're going into break. There's not a lot of momentum when you come back from Thanksgiving. So to have this momentum going into the break helps us. We had everyone clicking tonight. It was a good night all around."

The Giants are also scheduled to face state top-ranked and Golden Gate Classic host San Francisco at 7 p.m. Dec. 6. The Rams (8-0) are one of the state's four remaining undefeated teams.

It's a huge game for us. They are a super talented team. I think it's going to be a great matchup. I'm obviously very excited to see how we pair up against them. We're one of the most talented teams in the state  and I think they are, too, so it's going to be a lot of fun."

Sequoias won't play at Porter Field House again until Dec. 19 when it hosts Cerritos (4-2) at 5 p.m.

The Giants open defense of their Central Valley Conference championship at 6 p.m. Jan. 8 at Coalinga (1-6).

"We're definitely at a climbing point," McGovern said. "We still have a lot of things to work on individually and as a team. We're in a good place right now. We just got to work on the little things, and once we get that taken care of, I think we'll be very, very good."