Conference opener on tap next for Giants
By Nick Giannandrea
COS Athletics
College of the Sequoias' men's basketball team has raced out to an 11-3 start in non-conference games under first-year coach Dallas Jensen.
Now comes Central Valley Conference play, and it promises to be a challenge.
After all, the CVC is the only conference in the state with three teams currently ranked among the Top 10 in the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association poll in No. 4 Columbia (14-0), No. 9 COS and No. 10 Fresno City (11-3).
"The conference is absolutely loaded," Jensen said. "The reality of it is it's probably the best conference in Northern California this season. A handful of teams are playoff bound."
The Giants are set to open conference play at 7 p.m. Jan. 8 when they host West Hills-Coalinga (0-14). It will be the second game of a doubleheader at Porter Field House, with the COS women facing Taft (2-13) at 5 p.m. Admission is $5.
While the Falcons are winless, the rest of the CVC has a collective 60-46 record. Reedley (9-5), Porterville (7-7) and Merced (6-6) are all .500 or better, while West Hills-Lemoore is 2-12.
COS last won a conference championship in 2009-10, when it shared the title with Fresno City. The Rams have won or shared the CVC title the past 18 seasons.
Whether the Giants end their title drought or not, Jensen knows CVC play will get COS ready for a run at a second straight appearance in the state's Elite Eight tournament, set for March 13-15 at West Hills-Lemoore.
"The way I look at it is no matter what the outcome is, as long as we're improving as a team, we'll be prepared for the Northern California playoffs," Jensen said. "As much as we want to win a conference title, we want to get to Lemoore and the Elite Eight and get after a state title. Playing in a conference like this where you have to compete night in and night out will really prepare a team for postseason play."
The conference title race should start to take shape in the first week as Fresno City will host Columbia at 7 p.m. Jan 8, then travel to Visalia to face the Giants at 5 p.m. Jan. 11.
COS hosts Columbia in the first of two CVC matchups at 7 p.m. Jan. 22.
"I'm excited about (CVC play,)" Jensen said. "When we are playing right, I absolutely think we can compete with (Fresno City and Columbia.) It's just a matter of putting together a game for 40 minutes."
The Giants opened the season with seven straight wins, but are just 4-3 over their past seven games.
COS lost its last game before Christmas break, 67-56 to Cerritos during the finale of the Wyndham/Mannon Classic on Dec. 21.
But the Giants bounced back after the break be beating Monterey Peninsula 83-65 on Dec. 30 behind 21 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals from Ryan Johnson (Hanford High).
Eliju Cobb (Santa Maria) contributed 16 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, five blocks and two steals, while Milton Burnett (Bullard) had 15 points and three assists; Amil Fields (Hayward) had 13 points, four rebounds, five assists, three steals and two blocks; and Tiyon Martin (Pasadena) added seven points and seven assists.
"The two games that always make me the most nervous is the game before the break and the game right after," Jensen said. "Before, we played a really good Cerritos team and didn't play our best. We had some distractions and guys weren't dialed in. But after the break, we had a couple of good practices and we went to Monterey and played really well. That was good to see coming out of the break."
Jensen has been tasked with melding four players brought in under former Giants coach Rusty Smith -- Savion Johnson (Hanford West), Dewayne Holmes (Riverside) Garrett Shelton (Houston) and Cobb -- with sophomore transfer Martin, and freshmen Johnson, Burnett, Fields, Carlos Allen (Atlanta), Tiveon Stroud (Selma), Ayo Aderoboye (Lagos) and Lamine Ndione (Dakar).
All 12 play in Jense's up-tempo system.
"We're getting there. It's definitely been a process with this group," Jensen said. "We're relatively young and have a new style of play and culture here. But I think the guys are coming around. More than anything, the camaraderie is getting better all the time and guys are learning what it takes to compete and win at this level."
