COS men's basketball picks up pace while taking CVC lead
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
College of the Sequoias men's basketball team has started to hit the excelerator.
And in doing so, the Giants have left their past two opponents in the dust while taking a percentage-points lead of first place in the Central Valley Conference.
Sequoias, which is ranked No. 8 in the state by the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association, has topped the 100-point mark in consecutive conference games heading into a home matchup with West Hills-Lemoore on Jan. 26. Tipoff from Porter Field House is scheduled for 5 p.m.
The Giants are coming off a 114-78 thumping at West Hills-Coalinga on Jan. 24, and a 116-84 home blitzing of Porterville on Jan. 22 that improved their record to 15-4 overall and 4-1 in the CVC. State No. 3 Columbia, which topped Sequoias 83-80 on Jan. 19, lost sole possession of first place in the conference title race with an 80-78 overtime loss at Merced on Jan. 22.
Merced, whom Sequoias beat 82-72 at home Jan. 17, is tied with Columbia for second place in the CVC at 3-1.
"I like where we're at," Giants coach Dallas Jensen said. "When we came off our little Covid layoff for a couple weeks with so many guys out, I told the guys it was going to take 10-14 days for us to get our legs back. Their energy has been great, but we just haven't looked right. And I think right now we're starting to find our form and identity again. We're trying to translate it, get better and focus on one game at a time."
Sequoias has markedly picked up its tempo in the past two games, according to Jensen, because of the development of sophomore point guard Seth Dawson (Antioch) and being able to pair Dawson in the backcourt with another capable ball-handler in Conner Jackson (Dublin).
"Seth Dawson is starting to really understand how to make his teammates better, and how to push the ball off a make or miss," Jensen said. "It enables us to play with better tempo, and to get out and apply a little bit more pressure on the opponent on the defensive end. He's changing things. Now, when I can play him with Conner Jackson next to each other and have two primary ball handlers that can get out and go, it changes our ability to play with better pace."
That increased pace was on display Jan. 24 at West Hills-Coalinga (6-10, 1-1) as the Giants stormed out to 61 points in the first half.
Dawson finished with 24 points, 10 assists, three rebounds and three of Sequoias' 13 steals. The Giants forced 21 Falcons' turnovers overall.
Jackson added 27 points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal.
Ryan Johnson (Hanford High) contributed 23 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals for Sequoias.
The Giants also received 13 points, five assists, four rebounds, three blocks and two steals from Scott Ator (Texas); 12 points and four rebounds from Bryce Fitzgerald (Las Vegas); and eight points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals from Terri Miller (Clovis North).
Sequoias raced out to 60 first-half points when it ran away from state No. 27 Porterville (10-6, 1-3) on Jan. 22 while bouncing back from the loss at Columbia.
Fitzgerald led the way with 29 points, eight rebounds, two assists and a block.
Johnson delivered 27 points while going 5 of 8 on 3-pointers, 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.
The Giants also got key contributions from Jackson (10 points, seven assists, two rebounds and three steals); Ator (13 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and four assists); Andre Treadwell (10 points, four rebounds); Mohammed Adam (seven points and three rebounds); and Dawson (five points, five assists, four rebounds and a steal).
"I thought our pace and tempo was way better," Jensen said. "Our defensive intensity was really good. I thought we shared the basketball extremely well. We just played good, sound, physical basketball. It was good, fun to watch."
Sequoias, which led by as many as 37 points in the second half, scored 24 points off Porterville's 15 turnovers. and had 21 fastbreak points.
"Our whole thing that we want to do is we want to be able to push tempo and get out in transition," Jensen said. "They know if nothing is there, then we get in our motion. (Against Porterville), we were fortunate enough that there were some openings when we pushed the transition and we were able to get some quick buckets, which was great."
After playing West Hills-Lemoore (7-9, 1-4), the Giants will host West Hills-Coalinga at 3 p.m. Jan. 29 and state No. 28 Fresno City (8-6, 2-1) at 5 p.m. Feb. 2.
Columbia (17-1) is scheduled to play at Sequoias' Porter Field House at 3 p.m. Feb. 12.
