Giants positioned for first-place showdown at Fresno City on Feb. 5
By Nick Giannandrea
COS Athletics
A share of first place in the Central Valley Conference men's basketball race will be on the line when College of the Sequoias faces its primary rival this week.
The state No. 9-ranked Giants made sure of that with another dominant victory over the weekend.
COS posted its third straight blowout win behind a big night from Ryan Johnson (Hanford High) during a 90-64 rout of host West Hills-Coalinga on Feb. 1.
Johnson delivered 22 points, 16 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals against the Falcons (0-22, 0-8) as the Giants (18-4, 7-1) remained one-game behind conference-leading Fresno City (19-3, 8-0). The No. 4 Rams, who have won or shared 18 straight conference titles, went on the road to beat No. 7 Columbia 81-75 on Feb. 1.
That set the stage for a first-place showdown when COS plays at Fresno City on Feb. 5. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Giants haven't won a conference championship since sharing the title with the Rams in 2010.
COS has won six straight since losing to Fresno City 72-53 on Jan. 11 at Porter Field House during the first round of CVC play.
The Giants, who have won each of their past three games by 19 points or more, jumped out to a 46-28 first-half lead against West Hills-Coalinga and never looked back.
Tiveon Stroud (Selma) continued to make a major impact in his third straight game as a member of the Giants' starting lineup with 13 points, seven rebounds and four of the team's 11 blocks.
COS also received strong performances from fellow local recruits Savion Johnson (Hanford West) -- who had 10 points, six assists and three rebounds -- and Milton Burnett (Bullard) -- who had 11 points and three assists.
Tiyon Martin (Pasadena) had 11 points and four assists, while Elihu Cobb (Santa Maria) contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks off the bench for the Giants.
After four straight road games, COS will return to Porter Field House to host Merced at 5 p.m. Feb. 8.
The Giants will play two more home games before the end of the regular season: 7 p.m. Feb. 19 against Porterville and 7 p.m. Feb. 21 against West Hills-Lemoore.
The Northern California Regional playoffs begin Feb. 26, with the state elite eight tournament set for March 13-15 at West Hills-Lemoore.
