No. 10 Giants topple No. 14 Columbia to open defense of CVC men's basketball title
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
College of the Sequoias opened defense of its Central Valley Conference men's basketball title with a likely rankings-bolstering victory.
The Giants, who are ranked No. 10 in the state by the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association, pulled away from No. 14 Columbia in the second half en route to a 79-65 win Jan. 4 at Porter Field House.
Sequoias won its seventh straight game while improving to 12-3 overall. Columbia lost its second straight while falling to 12-3.
"I'm just excited to be a part of conference play again," Giants coach Dallas Jensen said. "This is always the best time of the year. You get to compete against guys you are familiar with. It's fun to start it off against Columbia and coach Rob Hoyt, a guy I'm very good friends with and talk to throughout the year. They are a really, really good basketball team, and we were just fortunate to come out on the right side tonight."
The state heavyweights traded the lead eight times before ending the first half in its 10th tie at 34-34.
Cameron Clark (Snellville, Ga.) came up with a rebound and put back, was fouled and sank the ensuing free throw on the third possession of the second half to put Sequoias ahead 39-36. The Giants would not trail again.
Clark's three-point play kickstarted a 31-15 run that pushed Sequoias to its biggest lead at 16 points (67-51) with 7:30 remaining in the game.
Javohn Garcia (Columbus, Ohio) keyed the game-altering run with 10 points, while Clark, Terri Miller (Clovis North High) and Alex Argandar (Modesto) contributed six points apiece.
Jensen said getting post players Miller and Clark more involved was key to breaking the game open. After scoring four and zero points, respectively, in the first half, Miller finished with 14 and Clark added eight. Miller also contributed nine rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal, while Clark had seven rebounds, two assists and a block.
Sequoias limited Columbia to 31.4% shooting overall (11 of 35) and 12.5% shooting from 3-point range (1 of 8) in the second half. The Claim Jumpers shot 44.4% overall and 38.5% on 3-pointers in the first half. The Giants shot 66.7% overall and 37.5% on threes in the second half.
"In the second half we wanted to play a little more inside out. Get more guys involved," Jensen said. "I thought we did a really good job of that. When we are able to get paint touches and play off that, whether it's from dribble penetration or dump down to the post, we are tough to beat. I thought we were solid and disciplined on the defensive end. I thought we ran our stuff really well on the offensive end. The only thing I told the boys is we have to pick up the tempo just a little bit."
Garcia, a transfer from NCAA Division I Massachusetts, led the Giants with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Tyjean Burrell (Sacramento) had 14 points, four rebounds and a steal; Argandar delivered 14 points, a rebound, an assist, a block and a steal; Tyree Gill (Sacramento) had four points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal; and Omari Nesbit (Sacramento) added four points, two rebounds and two assists.
"I think we're trending in the right direction," Jensen said. "I told these guys all along it would be a process with this group and take a little bit of time, and hopefully by the time January/February rolls around we'll be hitting our stride. I think about two weeks before Christmas we started seeing some positive signs. Now it's translating onto the floor. So I'm really happy about where we're at, but I also know there is room for growth, and we've just got to work on getting better every day."
Sequoias won its first CVC title since 2010 on its way to a state Final Four appearance last season. The Giants resume conference play at 5 p.m. Jan. 7 when they play host to Merced (3-12 overall, 0-1 CVC) at Porter Field House in the nitecap of a doubleheader with the women's team. Sequoias' state No. 6-ranked women (14-2) host No. 28 Merced (9-8, 0-1) at 2 p.m. in its conference opener.
Admission is $8 general and $5 for seniors and students.
