Giants rally past Palomar to reach state women's basketball semifinals
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
WALNUT – No matter how big leads got for College of the Sequoias women's basketball team against all but one opponent during an undefeated season to date, first-year coach Tyler Newton always implored his team to push harder, play faster or tighten up its defease.
Even during the fourth quarter of games the Giants led by 20 or more points, Newton pushed and prodded because he knew this team was capable of something special.
And it was all for a situation like this on the state's grandest stage.
Northern California top-seeded Sequoias overcame a four-point deficit during the final 4 minutes and 52 seconds to outlast Southern California No. 4 Palomar 77-71 on March 14 at Mt. San Antonio College to open the California Community College Athletic Association's Elite Eight championship tournament.
The Giants trailed in the fourth quarter of a game only twice this season.
"That's what it's all for," Sequoias' Lucia Ricci (Seattle) said. "They get on us for these moments."
The Giants (31-0) advance to face SoCal No. 2 seed and tournament host Mt. San Antonio in the semifinals at 7 p.m. March 15. The eight-time state champion Mounties (27-4) moved on with a 68-45 victory over NorCal No. 3 Sierra.
"I told the girls we played 30 games against the teams we did for a reason," Newton said. "So we could reach into our back pocket and use that experience when we needed to."
Sequoias needed it against Palomar (24-7).
The Giants twice watched the Comets erase leads of 10 points.
The first was a 15-5 edge in the first quarter following a pair of free throws by Kaitlin Giacone (Eureka). Palomar stormed back with an 18-2 run to go in front 23-17. The lead would change hands 12 times the rest of the way.
The second was a 63-53 cushion early in the fourth after Karine Dhaliwal (Yuba) converted a layup off a steal and feed from Anisa Torres (Caruthers High). The Comets raced back again with a 15-2 run to retake the lead at 69-65, prompting a timeout from Newton.
"I think our girls used their experience," Newton said. "We didn't panic even when we went down four in the fourth. We called a time out, came out, executed, and did what we needed to do and found a way."
Sequoias' final comeback got rolling when Jocelyn Medina (Arbuckle) drew contact on a drive to the basket and converted two free throws with 4:21 left to play to slice Palomar's lead to 69-67.
After a Comets' missed 3-pointer, Morgan Trigueiro sank a 3-pointer on a possession kept alive by a Giacone offensive rebound to put the Giants up 70-69. Trigueiro had missed 14 of her previous 17 shots following a 3 for 4 start.
"We knew it was going to be a dog fight no matter what," said Trigueiro, who finished with a game-leading 21 points along with five rebounds and three assists. "I started the game off hot but I kind of went cold there for a second. But I just stepped in and it's just you and the rim. You know, two inches, two fingers, it's just another shot. Shooters shoot. I don't remember the ones I miss, I remember the ones I made."
On Palomar's next possession, Giacone tipped an errant pass that Torres stole, leading to a 3-pointer by Ricci that put Sequoias ahead 73-69 with 3:17 remaining. Ricci had missed her first two 3-point attempts.
"I get a lot of shots in the gym," said Ricci, who had 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and a steal. "I was just sticking with my work. I wasn't shooting great for the game, but I was open so I had to shoot it."
The Comets kept within striking distance as Angeline Valdivia's layup with 1:26 left made it 73-71, but that's as close as they would get.
Medina put the Giants ahead by two possessions (75-71) when she sank two free throws with 23.2 seconds to play, essentially icing the outcome.
"No pressure at all. We shoot free throws a lot," said Medina, who delivered 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. "That's what we practice the most other than layups. So I stepped up with confidence. It was just another shot. I knew obviously they were key shots for the game, but it's what we do."
Giacone put on the finishing touches when she rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Kylee Trujillo, was immediately fouled and converted two free throws for a six-point cushion with 12.3 seconds remaining.
Palomar got off one more shot, with Giacone pulling in the miss for her game-leading 15th rebound of the game as time expired.
"I thought we had composure. I didn't see panic," Newton said. "We weren't playing very well and we did some silly things. But we had composure and our leaders were leading. We did what we're supposed to do and found a way."
Giacone finished with 15 points, two assists and a block.
The Giants also received nine points, three assists, two steals and a rebound from Torres, five points and two rebounds from Dhaliwal, four points from Olivia Gill (Woodland) and two assists from Teresa Sandoval (Hanford West).
Up next is the only other opponent to come closer than 10 points against Sequoias this season.
The Giants edged Mt. SAC 69-68 on Nov. 3 in Walnut and 77-76 on Dec. 7 in Visalia.
The Mounties held leads late in both games.
They were up 68-66 with 36 seconds left in the first matchup before Medina basket with 13 seconds left tied it and her free throw with 11 seconds to go won it.
Mt. SAC led 76-75 with 27 seconds to go in the second matchup before Campbell Vieg (Chico) made the game-winning layup off an assist from Ricci with 8 seconds left.
The Mounties are led by Daisia Mitchell, who was the only player from California selected to the national community college All-American team.
"Mt. SAC is obviously a historically great program," Newton said. "We've had lots of great battles. All respect to their program and coaching staff. Our girls have a lot of mutual respect. So trying to beat that kind of a team three times, especially when we only won by a total of two points the other two times, seems like climbing Mt. Everest right now. But you know what, all we can do is continue to do what we've been doing. We have a routine where we prepare, we scout, we get rest, we recover and we have a game plan. We'll walk it through and then go out and compete and let the chips fall where they may."
The winner between Sequoias and Mt. SAC will play for the state championship at 3:30 p.m. March 16.
In other quarterfinal games, South No. 1 Orange Coast beat North No. 4 Folsom Lake 95-59, and South No. 3 Glendale toppled North No. 2 San Joaquin Delta 64-49.
Orange Coast, the two-time reigning state champion, will face Glendale in the other semifinal at 5 p.m.
Sequoias is seeking the second state championship in program history. The 1987 team went 35-0 en route to the title under coach Tom Gilcrest.