Giants outlast West L.A. to earn spot in state men's basketball semifinals

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

WALNUT -- Defense has been the backbone all season for a College of the Sequoias men's basketball team making its fifth consecutive appearance in the California Community College Athletic Association's Elite Eight tournament.

And the Giants' defense delivered again to secure a spot in the state semifinals.

Northern California second-seeded Sequoias held Southern California No. 3-seed West Los Angeles to one basket over an 8 minute stretch of the second half while erasing an eight-point deficit and rallying for a 73-71 victory during a state quarterfinal March 15 at Mt. San Antonio College.

"The fact that we're down here with the chance to win a state championship and to come out and win game one, I was so happy with the way we played and our composure down the stretch," Giants coach Dallas Jensen said. "I thought we guarded well and played inside out. We had some guys that really, really played well when their number was called. I'm just really excited for them."

Sequoias (26-5) advances to face SoCal No. 1 Fullerton at 7 p.m. March 16. Fullerton (27-4) earned its spot in the semifinals with a 78-67 victory over NorCal No. 4 Cabrillo. The Hornets have been a state top-five ranked team all season.

"This is big time. I'm so happy for my guys," said Giants sophomore post Jaylon Lee (Las Vegas), who contributed 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks. "We've worked all year to get to this point and, ultimately, try and win it all. We came together and got it done."

In a tightly contested game that featured 15 lead changes and seven ties, the Giants found themselves down 51-43 with 13 minutes and 44 seconds remaining in the game following a basket by Marland Harris.

Sequoias responded by going on an 18-2 run that allowed it to turn an eight-point deficit into an eight-point lead (61-53) on a pair of free throws by Cameron Clark (Gwinnett, Ga.) with 8:01 left.

The Giants defense limited West L.A. to 1 of 10 shooting and forced five turnovers during the game-turning run.

"Defense is something we've worked on all season," said sophomore guard Omari Nesbit (Sacramento), who drew the primary defensive assignment of guarding West L.A. leading scorer CJ Hardy, holding the Cal State Bakersfield commit three points below his season average of 20. "When we're in practice, sometimes we don't even go over offense, we just go straight defense. So when it comes to games like this, we're already prepared."

West L.A. (26-5) snapped its skid on a Carey Page layup at the 5:38 mark. That kickstarted a 13-4 Wildcats' run that allowed them to retake the lead (66-65) on Chidubem Akametu's layup with 2:22 to play. 

Sequoias retook the lead (67-66) on the next possession when Jose Cuello (Harlem, N.Y.) sank a jumper off an assist from Clark with 1:58 remaining.

The Giants would not trail again.

But West L.A. wouldn't go away, either.

Clark stretched Sequoias' lead to three points (69-66) when he scored off an assist from Alex Argandar (Modesto).

The Wildcats sliced the deficit back to one (69-68) with 20 seconds to play on a pair of free throws by Hardy.

Cuello -- the Central Valley Conference co-Most Valuable Player who had an off shooting night to that point, making only 3 of 13 shots from the field -- was fouled on the ensuing in-bounds pass and made both free throws to give the Giants a three-point edge (71-68).

West L.A.'s Blake Lander was fouled while attempting a 3-point shot with 8 seconds left, but made only 1 of 3 free throws to trail 71-69.

Cuello was fouled again with 6 seconds remaining and sank both his free throws to essentially seal the outcome at 73-69.

"I just had to make it up for my teammates, cause honestly, I played (poorly)," said Cuello, a sophomore guard who finished with 14 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal. "When it came down to the moment, I want to thank my teammates for trusting me and making sure the ball was in my hands so I could knock down those free throws."

Hardy made a jumper with 1.8 seconds to play, but Sequoias ran out the remaining time to extend its winning streak to 10 games.

"This group is so, so connected right now," Jensen said. "We're playing so well. I liked how we were playing. West L.A. was just making big shots and they are very tough. Basketball is a game of runs, and we were fortunate to make the last run of the game."

The Giants received 14 points, five rebounds, three steals and an assist from Nesbit; 11 points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals from Argandar; six points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist from Jaden Haire (Hanford West); nine points, four assists, three blocks, two rebounds and a steal from Clark; and seven points and a rebound from Davis White (Santa Clarita).

In the other semifinal, it's an all-NorCal affair as third-seeded Yuba (29-2) and No. 1 West Valley (31-0) will meet at 5 p.m. Yuba downed SoCal No. 2 San Diego City 90-83, while West Valley beat SoCal No. 4 Cerro Coso 79-64 in the quarterfinals.

The state final is set for 3:30 p.m. March 17.

"We know we can lock in and do the same thing night in and night out," Lee said. "We just have to come together defensively, and I think we can beat anybody."

Sequoias is in the state semifinals for the second time in the last three seasons. The Giants have won two state championships in program history, the last in 1982 and the first in 1953.

"We came all the way to L.A. for one goal and one goal only, and that's to go back to Visalia with a state championship," Cuello said. "We're trying to make history. We are on a roll and we are very focused on getting that title."

The Mt. SAC main gym -- Building 720 -- is located at 1100 N. Grand Ave., Walnut.

Tickets are priced at $12 adult general admission and $8 for seniors 60 and older, students with proper ID and children older than 6. Children 6 and younger are free.

For those who can't make the trip, all games will be streamed via BAOSN.tv on a pay-per-view basis. Price is $12 (plus fees) each day. Archived views are available the days following each round for $15 per day.