Giants down Reedley to remain one game out of CVC men's basketball lead
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
A win that was admittedly a little less than satisfying for College of the Sequoias men's basketball team accomplished the main objective: keep at least a share of the Central Valley Conference championship within reach.
The state No. 21-ranked Giants remained one game out of the conference lead following a 74-61 victory over Reedley on Feb. 4 at Porter Field House.
"It was good to get the win, but it wasn't how we wanted to get the win," said sophomore guard Mason Dorsey (Los Angeles), who finished with six points, 10 assists, five rebounds, three steals and a block. "We lost the second half by six, which isn't good. But at this point in the season, it's all about getting the win, and that's what we did today."
While Sequoias (17-6, 8-1) never trailed en route to its second straight win, it was outscored 43-37 in the second half by the Tigers (11-12, 2-7).
After limiting Reedley to 19.2 percent shooting (5 of 26) in the first half, the Giants allowed the Tigers to convert at a 55.9 percent clip (19 of 34) in the second half, including a 4-for-9 effort from beyond the 3-point arc.
Reedley got as close as eight points (63-55) with 3 minutes and 34 seconds remaining in the game, but Cameron Kelly (Atlanta) delivered eight of his game-leading 27 points as Sequoias closed with an 11-6 run to pull away.
"A win is a win at the end of the day, so that's good," said Kelly, a sophomore wing who also contributed eight rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block. "But I feel like our defense could be better in areas for sure. It can be frustrating, especially when we know how good defensively we are."
Kelly sank a 3-pointer off an assist from Kareem Barnett (Miami) to open the scoring, but Reedley kept the score close early in the first half.
The Tigers trailed 14-11 after a free throw by Devon Marshall with 12:23 to play before halftime.
Sequoias responded with a 23-7 run to close the first half, capped by a 3-pointer by Kion Hayes (Savannah, Ga.) just before the buzzer to go ahead by 19 points (37-18) at halftime. The Giants scored six of their 13 fastbreak points, had four blocks and two steals during the run.
"I feel like when we got stops, we were able to get out in transition," Dorsey said. "And that's when we're at our best when we're running the floor, getting easy buckets. When we kept pushing that ball, that's how we got easy buckets. And that's how we got into a flow."
Barnett helped Sequoias shoot 50 percent (31 of 62) from the field overall by knocking down 6 of his 10 shots to finish with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds.
Kelly (11 of 15), Zaquien Whitehead (4 of 8) and Javon Bragg (3 of 6) also shot at least 50 percent from the field for the Giants.
Whitehead (Columbus, Ga.) finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three of Sequoias' seven blocks.
The Giants also received six points, a rebound and an assist from Hayes; six points, two rebounds, a steal and a block from Bragg (Corcoran); three points and four rebounds from QShawn On'gele (Portland, Ore.); two points, a rebound and a steal from Jayden Abuyen (Centennial High-Bakersfield); and one point, four rebounds, two steals and a block from Jamaal Phatty (Frankfurt, Germany).
"Our intensity wasn't matching Reedley's the whole game. I feel like there were times they showed they wanted it maybe a little more, but I think we did pick it up in the times when we needed to," Kelly said. "We're in a place where we're trying to figure out how to be the best version of ourselves. We know our talent. We know we're a good basketball team. We know what we can do. We just have to be able to be consistent. Our biggest thing right now is just trying to be consistent every game offensively and defensively."
No. 12 Columbia (19-4, 9-0) defeated Merced 92-65 on Feb. 4 to maintain its one-game lead over the Giants with five to play. The Claim Jumpers topped Sequoias 76-73 on Jan. 28 in Columbia during the first round of CVC play.
The Giants will likely need to win out -- starting with a home game at 3 p.m. Feb. 7 against Lemoore (13-10, 6-3) -- to extend their streak of six straight CVC titles.
Sequoias will host Columbia at 6 p.m. Feb. 20 to close the regular season.
"I feel like we're solid. We've been locked in at practice every day," Dorsey said. "Obviously today wasn't the best result, but we'll be ready when it comes to Columbia. We've just got to go one game at a time, though. We get Lemoore on Saturday, and we'll be ready for that one."
