Giants headed to Yuba on March 7 for berth in state's Elite Eight
By Nick Giannandrea
COS Athletics
A second straight berth in the state's final eight will be on the line this weekend for College of the Sequoias' men's basketball team.
The fifth-seeded Giants (23-6) play at No. 4 Yuba (24-5) on March 7 during round three of the Northern California Regional playoffs. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The winner advances to the California Community College Athletic Association's Elite Eight tournament, set for March 13-15 at West Hills-Lemoore.
COS remained one of 16 teams in contention for a state title with an 87-64 victory over No. 12 Butte (16-11) on Feb. 28 at Porter Field House. Yuba, meanwhile, downed No. 13 Las Positas 98-78.
The Giants, who typically have little difficulty scoring points, did a pretty good job of not giving them up during the round two match-up, limiting Butte to 28 second-half points. The defensive effort allowed COS to build a lead as big as 25 points with 2:39 remaining in the second half.
"We know we can score the ball. And we know we're going to get the shots we want," first-year Giants coach Dallas Jensen said. "But if we want to advance in the playoffs, we have to be great on the defensive end and control the glass. And I thought outside of the first few minutes of the game we did a really good job on the defensive end."
COS totally controlled the boards, outrebounding the Roadrunners 51-27.
Amil Fields (Hayward) led the way with 13 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass. Ryan Johnson (Hanford High) had 11 rebounds, while Tiveon Stroud (Selma) and Elihu Cobb (Santa Maria) added seven and six rebounds, respectively.
"I thought we did a good job focusing on defense this week in practice," Fields said. "That was our main emphasis. We came together as a team and talked. The main theme was communication and getting back on 'D'. So it was a great team win."
Butte led by four early in the game, and stayed close most of the first half by shooting 46.7 percent from the field and hitting five 3-pointers.
But COS closed the first half strong to take a 46-36 lead into halftime, and were never seriously threatened in the second half.
Fields and Johnson paced the Giants in scoring with 18 points apiece. Johnson also had seven assists, two steals and a block.
Cobb finished with 17 points and two blocks, Stroud had 14 points, while Tiyon Martin (Pasadena) contributed nine points and five assists and Dewayne Holmes (Riverside) added nine points and two assists.
"I thought our guys did a really good job of staying composed and trying to do what we needed and wanted on both ends of the floor," Jensen said. "We talked a lot about winning at the rim and in transition. And I thought we really controlled the interior. So I was really proud of the way the guys played, the way they competed and the way they just stayed composed for 40 minutes."
COS followed a similar path last season, when it earned its trip to the Elite Eight with an 85-77 road victory at No. 4 San Joaquin Delta as a No. 5 seed.
The Giants have been to the Elite Eight in two of the past four seasons, losing to Citrus 70-59 in the quarterfinals last year.
COS has won state men's basketball titles twice previously in 1982 and 1953.
"I think we can go all the way with this team," Fields said. "It's all about teamwork and getting together in the gym and making sure we work on our stuff. The next game, next round we just got to be prepared and focused, and we'll be good."
