After rolling past Porterville, Giants to host West Hills-Lemoore in regular season finale

College of the Sequoias' women's basketball team kept alive its chances of finishing second in the Central Valley Conference with an 88-26 victory over Porterville on Feb. 19 at Porter Field House.

The Northern California No. 11-ranked Giants (18-9, 7-4) can tie NorCal No. 13 Fresno City (16-10, 8-3) for second place in the CVC with a home win in their regular season finale against West Hills-Lemoore (9-18, 5-6), coupled with a Rams' loss to conference champion and state No. 6 Merced (22-5, 11-0). Tip-off for both games are set for 5 p.m. Feb. 21.

COS jumped out to a 24-4 first-quarter lead against Porterville (4-23, 2-9) and never looked back. The Giants' lead swelled to 44-10 by halftime as they cruised to a third straight win.

Sapphire Jones (Hanford) led COS with 21 points and seven assists. She made 9 of 10 shots from the field.

McKenna Hsiung (Bakerfield) sank 5 of 7 3-point attempts and finished with 15 points, five assists and three rebounds; while Alaysia Reed (Las Vegas) contributed 13 points, seven assists, three steals and two rebounds for the Giants.

COS also received 10 points and three rebounds from Lucy Tazio (El Diamante); eight points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks from Elyssa Brumfield (Golden Valley-Bakersfield); six points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals from Felicia Ramirez (Caruthers); seven points and five rebounds from Neli Diaz (McFarland); and five points and four rebounds from Savannah Surfus (Redwood).

The Giants, who will honor their two sophomores prior to the game against West Hills-Lemoore, are poised to receive an eighth straight berth into the 18-team Northern California Regional playoffs, which begin Feb. 26.

COS reached the state's Elite Eight tournament last season, where it lost 66-58 to Moorpark in the quarterfinals.

This season's Elite Eight tournament is set for March 12, 14-15 at West Hills-Lemoore.