Giants reach state women's basketball Final Four vs. Sierra at 3 p.m. March 12

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

LEMOORE -- With its season on the line, College of the Sequoias women's basketball team put the ball in Serena Ybarra's hands.

And the sophomore from Coalinga High did not disappoint.

Ybarra was fouled three times over the final 1 minute and 13 seconds and converted 5 of 6 free throw attempts to help the Northern California fourth-seeded Giants withstand a wild Mt. San Antonio rally for a 69-66 upset of Southern California's top seed March 10 in the quarterfinals of the California Community College Athletic Association state championships.

"Honestly, I wasn't nervous," Ybarra said. "I've been in this position in high school, having the game on the line and having to hit my free throws. I was ready for it."

Sequoias (24-5) advances to the state semifinals, where it will face North No. 2 Sierra (26-3) at 3 p.m. March 12 from West Hills-Lemoore College's Golden Eagle Arena.

Tickets -- priced at $12 for general admission, $8 for seniors over 60, $8 for high school and college students with a valid school ID, and $8 for children 11 and younger -- will be available at the door, and for purchase in advance at https://cccaa.hometownticketing.com/embed/all.

All fans will be required by the CCCAA to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours of the event, and to wear a mask while inside the arena.

The Giants might have been spectators for the state Final Four had it not been for Ybarra, who scored Sequoias' final 10 points against eight-time state champion Mt. San Antonio (25-4), which entered ranked No. 3 overall in the final regular season poll.

"Serena was awesome down the stretch," Giants coach Ray Alvarado said.

After state No. 9-ranked Sequoias opened a 19-point lead at 51-32 on a free throw by Sapphire Jones (Hanford) with 4:45 left in the third quarter, Mt. San Antonio finally got rolling.

The Mounties went on a 20-0 run, punctuated by Nikki Thompson's three-point play with 9:33 remaining in the fourth quarter, to take their first lead (52-51) since a 3-2 edge a minute into the game.

"I was very nervous, but I knew we could pull through," said Jones, the Central Valley Conference's Player of the Year. "We just had to slow it down. We were just going too fast. Once we slowed it down, we had it."

The Giants retook the lead (53-52) on a jumper by Celeste Lewis (Sierra Pacific-Hanford) at the 9:07 mark and maintained a slim advantage until Mt. San Antonio's Kamesha Moore sank a 3-pointer with 1:29 left to tie the score 64-64.

Ybarra made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:13 to play to put Sequoias -- which had seen key contributors Lewis and Ayon Carter (Oakland) foul out -- back in front for good at 65-64.

She would make two more free throws with 29.9 seconds left for a 67-64 lead, and another pair of free throws with 4.9 seconds to play for a 69-66 edge.

Then, coming out of a timeout, Mt. San Antonio got Moore the ball on a sprint up the sideline. But with the Giants' Tiana Holland (Washington Union-Easton) in close pursuit, Moore lost control of the ball while attempting to dish to Savanna Norfleet, who couldn't get off a shot before time expired.

"I knew even when we were up that much that it was going to be a hard-fought game because (Mt. San Antonio) has won many state championships. So I knew they were going to come back," Alvarado said. "Then when we got into foul trouble, we were just trying to hold on to be honest. Trying to waste some time off the clock. Then we went down. But tremendous courage by our team to come back and battle through."

Lewis scored 21 points to go along with two rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks for the Giants before fouling out with 5:14 remaining.

Jones delivered 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists, while Ybarra contributed 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, a steal and two blocks as Sequoias won its 13th straight game and snapped an 18-game winning streak by Mt. San Antonio.

The Giants also received five points from Dyaneli Diaz (McFarland); four points, four rebounds and two assists from Carter before she fouled out with 3:14 left; three points, seven rebounds and one assist from Holland and seven rebounds from Hailee Edwards (Ridgeview-Bakersfield).

"We've gone through a lot this season. And we knew coming toward this game, if we played together and played well, we'd pull it off, and that's what we did," Ybarra said. "We just had to have faith in each other. I mean I missed free throws, Sapphire missed free throws. We just had to pick each other up and tell each other, 'you still got it.' Don't let your team get down on each other, cause once you get down, it's all in your head. Picking each other up is what held it together."

Up next for Sequoias is state No. 2-ranked Sierra (26-3), which rolled to an 83-53 demolition of South No. 3 Moorpark (24-4) in the quarterfinals.

Sierra tied state top-ranked and North No. 1 San Joaquin Delta for first place in the Big Eight Conference.

"They are a really tough team. We've just got to get some rest, watch some film, do some scouting, and we have to play with the heart of champions," Alvarado said. "It's going to be a tough task, but we're going to do our best. It should be a great game."

Delta beat South No. 4 Palomar 72-66 and South No. 2 Irvine Valley topped North No. 3 Butte 56-48 in quarterfinal games. 

Delta (29-2) takes on Irvine Valley (26-2) at 1 p.m. March 12 in the semifinal on the opposite side of the bracket from Sequoias-Sierra.

The women's state championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. March 13.

Sequoias has not won a state title in 34 seasons, capturing the only championship in program history in 1987.

The Giants' North No. 3-seeded men's team (26-4) opens its Elite Eight run by facing South No. 2 San Bernardino Valley (25-5) at 7 p.m. March 11.

Sequoias is the only community college in the state to advance both its men's and women's basketball teams to the Elite Eight.