Giants' rally falls short in state men's basketball semifinals

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

LEMOORE -- College of the Sequoias learned the hard way why City College of San Francisco has the state's top-ranked men's basketball team.

The Rams raced out to a 16-point advantage early, withstood rally after rally, and responded when the Giants briefly took the lead late to pull out a 71-65 victory May 12 in the semifinals of the California Community College Athletic Association championship tournament.

Northern California No. 1-seeded San Francisco (31-1) will seek the fifth state title in program history when it faces NorCal No. 2 West Valley (28-3) in the fourth ever all-Northern California final, scheduled for 3:30 p.m. March 13 at West Hills-Lemoore College's Golden Eagle Arena. The Rams have now won 27 straight games since a 73-70 loss to West Valley on Nov.19.

"Obviously San Francisco is a powerhouse. I thought we dug ourselves a little bit of a hole early, but I'm really proud of the way the boys competed over the course of the last 30 minutes of the game," Sequoias coach Dallas Jensen said. "Some shots didn't go our way and some execution down the stretch wasn't fantastic. But we put ourselves in a wonderful position to have a chance to win that game and play for a state championship. But unfortunately things didn't go our way tonight. Kudos to (San Francisco) coach (Justin) Labagh's staff and his players. There's a reason they are who they are, and they earned it tonight."

San Francisco scored the game's first six points and took its biggest lead at 23-7 on a layup by Julian Vaughns with 10:06 remaining in the first half.

Sequoias (27-5) sliced the deficit to three points (32-29) on a 3-pointer by Ryan Johnson (Hanford) with 1:56 left before halftime. But the Rams scored the final seven points of the first half, capped by Seyi Reiley's layup, to extend the lead back to 10 points (39-29).

The Giants twice got within three points early in the second half only to have San Francisco stretch the lead back to at least eight points each time.

Sequoias finally took its first and only lead of the game at 63-62 with 3:34 left on a layup by Terri Miller (Clovis North High).

"Our whole identity this year has been built around being physical and being tough and competing at a high level," Jensen said. "And I thought their ability to come back against the No. 1 team in the state and to put ourselves in position to win that game just speaks volumes of who they are, their belief, their competitive spirit and how they are there for one another. They really do work as a collective unit and I'm just very, very proud of them and love them dearly."

The Rams regained the lead for good at 66-63 after two free throws apiece from Naseem Gaskin and Reiley.

A jumper by Conner Jackson (Dublin) cut the gap to 66-65 with 1;41 remaining, and a steal by Johnson on the ensuing San Francisco possession gave the Giants a chance to go back in front, but they committed a turnover and the Rams' Gaskin raced down for a dunk on the other end to make it a three-point lead (68-65).

Sequoias missed its final three shots over the last 34 seconds, while San Francisco made 3 of 4 free throw attempts down the stretch to snap the Giants' 14-game winning streak.

"They came out and exceeded us as far as energy and effort. I thought they took us out of our offense early," Jensen said. "They did a fantastic job of applying ball pressure. We probably got a little too keen to shoot some outside jumpers. We didn't have a lot of paint touches. We weren't really getting a lot of ball reverses. No pace and tempo. But I thought over the last 30 minutes that we did the things that we were supposed to. So as bad as those first 10 minutes were, the reality is we still had an opportunity to win that game down the stretch." 

Seth Dawson (Antioch) led Sequoias with 24 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Jackson delivered 17 points, two rebounds and a steal.

Johnson contributed eight points, six rebounds, four steals and two blocks; while Miller had nine points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block.

The Giants also received two points, three rebounds and an assist from Scott Ator (Murphy, Texas); three points and three rebounds from Andre Treadwell (Sacramento); two points from Ryan Troutman (Kerman); a rebound and a steal from Mohammed Adam (Monterey) and a rebound from Bryce Fitzgerald (Las Vegas).

Sequoias, which made its third consecutive Elite Eight appearance in a championship season, was seeking its first state title since 1982. The Giants also captured a state crown in 1953.

Jensen and assistants Tommy Lou, Tye McCord and Tie Sims now turn their attention toward moving their seven sophomores -- Dawson, Jackson, Johnson, Adam, Fitzgerald, Ator and Tiveon Stroud (Selma) -- on to the four-year level. Stroud has already committed to Bellevue University, an NAIA college in Nebraska.

"At the end of the day, I'm as competitive as anyone. I want to win as much as anyone," Jensen said. "But the reason I coach and the reason my wife and I enjoy this level so much is you have a chance to impact young men's lives, and help them become the best versions of themselves on and off the floor. And the reality is, I would rather see my guys graduate and sign a four-year scholarship than even win a state title. Would I like to do both? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, life is about progression, and we're trying to help these young men be able to move forward in life, be able to get their education paid for, and hopefully one day be able to provide for a family of their own."