Giants' quest for women's basketball perfection ends in state semifinals loss to Mt. SAC

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

WALNUT -- The quest for the second perfect season in College of the Sequoias women's basketball history was denied.

And it took the most accomplished team in state history playing on its home floor -- in its third attempt of the season, no less -- to end the Giants' undefeated run.

Northern California top-seeded Sequoias lost the lead for the last time midway through the third quarter and never completely recovered en route to a 57-50 loss to Southern California No. 2-seeded and event host Mt. San Antonio on March 15 during the semifinals of the California Community College Athletic Association state championship tournament.

The Giants -- who had 14 wins against ranked opposition through the state quarterfinals, including two against the Mounties -- ended with a 31-1 record under first-year coach Tyler Newton.

Mt. SAC (28-4) will look to add to its record eight state titles when it faces two-time reigning champ Orange Coast (27-5) in the final at 3:30 p.m. March 16. The SoCal top-seeded Pirates beat SoCal No. 3 Glendale 63-45 in the other semifinal.

"We came up short today. But we fought till the end," Newton said. "We were down 10 (points) and could have folded. We cut it to three with under a minute. The girls kept grinding and fighting. A couple shots didn't go our way. I thought we could have probably got a couple of calls and didn't get them. But at the end of the day, Mt. SAC is one hell of a basketball program, and to beat a team like that three times in one year is a tall task for anyone."

The finale of the Sequoias/Mt. SAC season trilogy proved as thrilling as the first two -- Sequoias won 69-68 on Nov. 3 in Walnut and 77-76 on Dec. 7 in Visalia -- heading into the final minute.

There were nine lead changes and two ties during a sizzling first half that ended when Jocelyn Medina (Arbuckle) rebounded a miss by Morgan Trigueiro (Caruthers) and sank a putback at the buzzer to put the Giants ahead 29-28 at halftime.

The second half opened with four more lead changes before a jumper by Daisia Mitchell -- the only player from California to earn national community college All-American honors -- put Mt. SAC ahead to stay at 36-35 with 6 minutes left in the third quarter. Mitchell's basket kickstarted a 9-0 run that allowed the Mounties to surge ahead by eight points (43-35) with 3:02 to play in the third.

Mt. SAC's lead expanded to 10 points (49-39) on Frances Potts' 3-pointer to open a tense fourth quarter that saw the team's combine to miss 22 of 30 shots.

The Giants eventually pulled within three points (53-50) on a pair of free throws by Medina with 2:20 remaining.

Lucia Ricci (Seattle) came up with a steal on Mt. SAC's ensuing possession, but her contested shot under the basket didn't fall and she didn't receive a foul call despite ending up on the floor.

The Mounties responded with a jumper from Mitchell that extended their lead to 55-50 with 1:24 left.

Ryann Riddle's layup with 10 seconds left essentially sealed it for Mt. SAC. Sequoias committed a turnover and missed two shots during the final minute.

"We were just trying to find a way," Newton said. "They are very physical. We couldn't get very many good looks at the basket. I thought we were getting stops on defense. We had some timely shots; they just didn't fall like they've been falling for us. I thought if a bounce had gone our way, maybe a call our way and a couple shots go in, we win that game. But at the end of the day, it boils down to a very well coached basketball program that went out and executed a game plan, and we didn't have enough tonight."

Medina, who was named the NorCal Player of the Year this week, led the Giants with 18 points, eight rebounds, six steals, two assists and a block.

Trigueiro, who was selected first-team all-state, delivered 14 points, three rebounds and a steal.

Sequoias also received eight points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal from Anisa Torres (Caruthers); seven points, seven rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block from Kaitlin Giacone (Eureka); four rebounds, two steals and a block from Ricci; three points and a steal from Olivia Gill (Woodland); three rebounds from Mallary Gonzalez (Hoover-Fresno); a rebound from Teresa Sandoval (Hanford West) and an assist from Karine Dhaliwal (Yuba).

"This group, you can't take anything away from them," Newton said. "We lost one game and it sucks, but they played the best teams in the state. All that stuff is pretty special."

Newton was hired as the Giants' coach last April after turning Butte College into a state power over seven seasons. The Roadrunners made trips to the Elite Eight in his final three seasons at Butte, including a semifinal run last year with a team featuring Medina, Trigueiro, Campbell Vieg (Chico) and Dhaliwal, who all transferred to Sequoias to continue playing for Newton and assistants Justin Schneringer and Annie Ward.

With Medina, Trigueiro and Vieg all reigning all-state performers from a Butte team that went 30-2 in 2023-2024, the Giants opened as the No. 1 team in the state's preseason poll. They became the unanimous No. 1 team once the first in-season poll was released following wins over the preseason No. 2 Orange Coast, No. 3 Moorpark and No. 4 Mt. SAC on opening weekend. Sequoias remained the unanimous No. 1 all season.

Newton was named NorCal's Coach of the Year for the third time in his career after leading the Giants to the first undefeated regular season by a team from the region in 26 years.

"I'm obviously devastated because I know how hard it is to get to this point; I don't take it for granted," Newton said. "When I was a kid playing JC basketball, this was the Holy Grail to me to get to the Elite Eight. I've been very fortunate and blessed to make it for my fourth straight time. Three straight Final Four appearances. I haven't found a way to get it done yet, but that's what keeps you motivated to coach."

As Sequoias attempted to join the program's 1987 team as an undefeated state champion, it navigated triumph through tribulations while coping with injuries and personal tragedy.

Reserve contributors Dhaliwal, Gonzalez and Tylie Hatcher (Cloverdale) missed a combined 34 games this season with injuries. Dhaliwal sat out the season's first 15 games as well as the Giants' playoff opener against Cabrillo. Gonzalez was idled for five games in the middle of the season. And Hatcher was lost for the final 13 games of the season.

The most impactful injury, however, happened when reigning all-state point guard and team tri-captain Vieg went down against Taft on Feb. 1 and missed the season's final nine games. Vieg was a 51.8 percent shooter overall and 40.5 percent shooter from 3-point range while averaging 13.5 points, 5.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game to earn second-team all-state honors this season.

But the Giants were dealt their toughest blow of the season Feb. 18 when they learned of the death of assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Larry Trigueiro, father of Morgan Trigueiro and an icon in the community of Caruthers for his accomplishments in coaching and auto racing.

"This year showed me that life is bigger than just basketball," Newton said. "Obviously it's an important catalyst for what we're doing. But the adversity these girls faced this year, and how they represented themselves as young women and basketball players, I couldn't be more proud."

Sequoias' seven sophomores -- Dhaliwal, Medina, Ricci, Sandoval, Torres, Trigueiro and Vieg -- will all have the opportunity to play at the four-year level if they choose to, according to Newton. None have committed yet, but all have drawn recruiting interest.

Freshmen Giacone, Gill, Gonzalez, Hatcher and Maya McNeal (Marysville) are all expected to return to the Giants next season as Newton looks to continue the program's success, which has included seven Central Valley Conference championships and seven Elite Eight appearances since 2015.

"I think sustained excellence matters," Newton said. "I remember my first Elite Eight appearance, I had a couple coaches who are mentor friends of mine that said, 'hey, don't be a flash in the pan. Don't you be a one-hit wonder. Have sustained excellence.'

"It took everything I had this year. It was the hardest year of my life as a coach with all the things we've been through. To lead young women through tragedy and those kinds of things that I'd never experienced, I'm on E right now. To wrap my head around what next year looks like is almost impossible right now, but I think with the support of Sequoias and our staff and the athletic department and everything else which is phenomenal, I know we'll have success."

Sequoias has placed either its women's or men's basketball teams -- or both -- in the Elite Eight for 10 consecutive championship seasons. Both made it in 2019, 2022 and 2023.