Giants land CVC men's basketball MVP, No. 3 NorCal playoff seed
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
College of the Sequoias' men's basketball team received a double dose of good news over the weekend.
First, on Feb. 26, it was announced that sophomore Ryan Johnson had been selected the Central Valley Conference's Most Valuable Player, highlighting seven Giants awarded various all-conference honors.
Then, on Feb. 27, Sequoias' path toward a third straight state Elite Eight appearance was paved with a first-round bye and the potential for two home playoff games when it was seeded third for the Northern California Regionals.
"I'm a numbers guy, so I've enjoyed looking at the criteria and the numbers for all of Northern California over the last few weeks," Giants coach Dallas Jensen said. "I knew as long as we did our part, we'd end up a top four seed. But it became even more clear we'd be a three seed, so this is no surprise. We're happy to be in (the postseason) and happy to be at home. It's such a big deal to ultimately land a top-four seed and get a first-round bye."
Sequoias (24-4) awaits the winner between No. 14 Redwoods (20-5) and No. 19 Diablo Valley (14-14) in a second-round matchup scheduled for 7:30 p.m. March 3 at Porter Field House. It will be the nightcap of a doubleheader with Sequoias' women's team (21-6), which was seeded sixth and opens against No. 11 Modesto (20-6) at 5:30 p.m.
If the Giants' men win, they would host the winner between No. 6 Contra Costa (22-4) and No. 11/10 San Jose City (22-6) on March 5 for the opportunity to advance to the state championship tournament March 11-13 at West Hills-Lemoore.
Sequoias enters the postseason winners of 11 straight, a run that led to the program's first CVC title since 2010 and first outright championship since 2001.
And Johnson, a 6-foot-5 guard/forward combo out of Hanford High who initially arrived on campus to play quarterback for the football team, led the way.
Johnson averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.0 steals, 2.6 assists and 1.4 blocks as the Giants went 13-1 and snapped Fresno City's streak of 10 straight outright CVC titles.
"I thought RJ really separated himself from the other candidates (for conference MVP,)" Jensen said. "His physicality and toughness really set the example for what we wanted to do on the floor. He was a runaway for MVP, and it was well deserved. I'm really happy for him. He really earned it."
Sequoias also had Conner Jackson (Dublin), Bryce Fitzgerald (Las Vegas) and Seth Dawson (Antioch) named first-team All-CVC.
Jackson averaged 12.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals per game in conference play. Fitzgerald averaged 13.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.2 assists, while Dawson contributed 10.6 points, 8.0 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 0.9 steals a game.
Scott Ator (Murphy, Texas) and Johnson were selected to the CVC's All-Defensive team.
Ator averaged 11.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.0 steals a game.
All-Freshmen honors went to the Giants' Terri Miller (Clovis North) and Andre Treadwell (Sacramento).
Miller averaged 8.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks, while Treadwell delivered 6.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 0.5 steals per game.
Ator and Miller both were selected All-CVC Honorable Mentions.
"We had a lot of really good players, as evidenced by the awards handed out at the conference meeting," said Jensen, who was named the CVC's Coach of the Year. "It was good to see all those guys get recognized. I was really happy for them and really proud of them."
The Giants also learned over the weekend that Tiveon Stroud (Selma) has committed to continue his basketball career at Bellevue University, an NAIA program located in Bellevue, Neb.
Stroud, a 6-9 forward/center, is averaging 5.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.9 blocks and 0.8 steals on the season for Sequoias.
