Giants women's basketball topples Butte in Gilcrest Tournament opener

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

There were hugs and handshakes between new College of the Sequoias women's basketball coach Tyler Newton, his three sophomore transfers and their former Butte teammates before tipoff of their Gilcrest Tournament game.

Once the game started, however, it was all business for the state top-ranked Giants, who received a combined 43 points from former Butte All-State performers Jocelyn Medina, Morgan Trigueiro and Campbell Vieg during a 79-51 victory over the two-time reigning Gilcrest champion Roadrunners to cap the first day of the 47th annual showcase of state powers Dec. 5 at Porter Field House.

The 28-point win over Butte -- the team Newton, Medina, Trigueiro and Vieg led to the state semifinals last season -- sends Sequoias to the Gilcrest Tournament semifinals, where it will face state No. 5 San Joaquin Delta at 7 p.m. Dec. 6.

"There was some emotion there for sure," Newton said. "But at the end of the day, like I told the girls before the game, for me, I'm a competitor. I love to compete against whoever I'm competing against. And Butte is just another team in the way of going where we want to go. So we prepared the same way as we do against anyone else, and we got it done."

Playing for the first time in 13 days after taking last week off around the Thanksgiving holiday, the Giants (9-0) got off to a sluggish start by Newton's standards.

Butte (4-4) led 13-12 following a 3-pointer by Shade Satica (who played for Newton last season) with 5 minutes and 14 seconds left in the first quarter.

Sequoias responded with the first two of Vieg's 13 points to kickstart a 15-5 first quarter-closing run. 

The Giants would not trail again while extending their lead to 18 points (42-24) by halftime.

Sequoias' lead got as big as 34 points (75-41) on a layup by Anisa Torres (Caruthers High) with 5:24 remaining in the fourth quarter. 

Butte outscored the Giants 10-4 the rest of the way as Newton got everyone on his bench some action.

"We didn't play very well," Newton said. "I felt like we didn't play our style of basketball. We tried hard and stuff, but we were very sloppy with the basketball. We weren't really in rhythm with our shooting. We won that game because we played hard and competed, but I didn't think we were very sharp today."

Torres finished with 17 points to lead Sequoias. She also had two rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Medina (Arbuckle) and Trigueiro (Caruthers) each scored 15 points. Medina added 11 rebounds, five assists and a steal, while Trigueiro had four assists and a steal. Vieg (Chico) also contributed five assists, five steals and four rebounds.

The Giants also received six points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block from Kaitlin Giacone (fEureka); our points, three assists, two steals and a rebound from Olivia Gill (Woodland); two points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists from Lucia Ricci (Seattle); three points from Tylie Hatcher (Cloverdale); two points, three rebounds and two assists from Teresa Sandoval (Hanford West); two points and four rebounds from Maya McNeal (Marysville); and a rebound from Mallary Gonzalez (Hoover-Fresno).

Next up for the Giants is Delta, which defeated Los Angeles Valley 66-55 behind 16 points and nine rebounds from Fajr Cuthbertson.

The Mustangs (5-2) never trailed, using their full court press to force the Monarchs (3-3) into 25 turnovers.

"They are really good," Newton said. "They are very fast, physical, strong, they press, they are well coached. (Delta coach Gina Johnson) always does a great job, and they are always a very, very tough game.

"Delta is probably the best pressing, full-court, physical team that we've seen so far. So it's another opportunity for us to sharpen our tools and learn and grow as a team, and hopefully be up to the challenge."

Newton said the Giants will need an even better effort against Delta, which has reached the Gilcrest final in two of the past three seasons, including a tournament title in 2021.

"I just want more cohesion, more composure. Being more fundamental and precise," Newton said. "I think that's what it's going to take (against) a team that plays like that. I think if we have composure and we play together, we can get it done."

In other tournament games, state No. 7 Laney beat No. 18 Chabot 79-46, and Mt. SAC toppled Cerro Coso 76-41. Laney (6-1) and Mt. SAC (7-1) meet in the other championship semifinal at 5 p.m.

The consolation semifinals features Chabot (6-2) against Cerro Coso (7-2) at 1 p.m., and L.A. Valley (3-3) against Butte at 3 p.m.

The Gilcrest championship game is set for 4 p.m. Dec. 7.