Giants women's basketball punches ticket to state's Elite Eight with 63-47 win over CVC rival Fresno City
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
College of the Sequoias women's basketball team got exactly what coach Tyler Newton anticipated during the finals of the Northern California Regional playoffs: a fierce battle against a bitter conference rival in their third meeting of the season.
And the Giants responded by doing exactly what they've done all season against all comers for their first-year coach: find a way to win.
Top-seeded Sequoias overcame a sluggish first-half performance en route to a 63-47 victory over No. 9 Fresno City on March 8 at Porter Field to remain undefeated on the season while punching its ticket to the California Community College Athletic Association's Elite Eight championship tournament.
The Giants (30-0) are expected to face Palomar (24-6) when the Elite Eight begins March 14 at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut. Game time has not yet been announced.
"Hard fought win man. Fresno City was as unbelievable as I thought they would be," Newton said. "They punched us in the mouth early. We were all out of sorts. We regrouped at halftime. I thought we played our hearts out in the second half. Survive and advance. It wasn't pretty, but with what we've been through, I'm beyond proud of this group."
The Giants defeated the Rams (20-10) twice on their way to winning the Central Valley Conference title: 67-44 on Jan. 18 in Fresno and 70-55 on Feb. 12 in Visalia.
But, playing for the seventh time since losing reigning all-state point guard Campbell Vieg (Chico) to a season-ending injury and five days after the funeral of program assistant coach Larry Trigueiro (father of Sequoias' standout Morgan Trigueiro), the Giants were held to their fewest points in the first half of any game this season when they went into halftime clinging to a 25-24 lead.
Sequoias, which has shot 50.3 percent from the field on its home court this season, converted only 29.6 percent in the first half. The Giants were particularly off from 3-point range, making only 2 of 12 attempts.
"I think in the first half we got a little bit rattled and were playing out of character," said Sequoias' Kaitlin Giacone (Eureka), who contributed 10 points, four rebounds and a block.
Fresno City scored the game's first five points, were up 9-5 at the 5 minute mark and held the lead until a pair of free throws by Olivia Gill (Woodland) put the Giants ahead 10-9.
The Rams surged ahead again, 21-20, with 3:57 to play in the second quarter.
A layup by Anisa Torres (Caruthers) put Sequoias ahead for good, 22-21, with 2:58 remaining, but the score remained close until halftime.
The Giants began to find their range to start the third quarter, making four of their first five shots over the first 3 minutes -- 3-pointers by Morgan Trigueiro (Caruthers) and Torres, and 2-pointers by Giacone and Lucia Ricci (Seattle) -- to fuel a 10-2 run.
Sequoias extended its lead to double digits (43-32) for the first time on a Ricci layup off an assist from Jocelyn Medina (Arbuckle) with 3:40 left in the third quarter.
Fresno City would get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
""I feel like we just came out scared. We hit the panic button," said Medina, who finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals. "We went into the locker room and got our heads straight, came out and paid more attention to the scouting report and got our heads back in the game.
"We always tell ourselves the first 3-4 minutes of the third quarter are crucial. They define the game for us. So we made sure we got a couple buckets and a couple stops early."
The Giants outscored the Rams 20-9 in the third quarter to open a 45-33 lead.
Sequoias' lead grew as large as 19 points (58-39) with 4:40 remaining in the fourth quarter on a Medina layup that capped an 11-4 run. Morgan Trigueiro scored five of her game-leading 18 points during the run.
"I don't think we played the prettiest game tonight," said Trigueiro, who added five assists, three rebounds and three steals. "But good teams gut it out, and that's what we did. Good teams regroup at halftime and that's exactly what we did. We came out on fire and went on a little run, and that's what decided the game."
The Giants also received eight points, 11 rebounds, a steal and a block from Ricci; eight points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals from Torres; two points, a rebound, an assist and a steal from Teresa Sandoval (Hanford West); two points and a rebound from Gill; and a rebound from Karine Dhaliwal (Yuba).
"I thought we played more physical in the second half," Newton said. "More poise. We had more movement. I thought we were very stagnant in the first half, and those things helped us."
The Giants are advancing to the Elite Eight for the seventh time since 2015 and the 14th time overall in program history. Their last trip to the Elite Eight came in 2023, when they lost in the quarterfinals to Palomar.
It's the program's first trip under Newton, who led Butte College to three straight Elite Eights before being hired as Sequoias coach last spring. Medina, Trigueiro, Dhaliwal and Vieg all transferred to Sequoias after playing for Newton and helping the Roadrunners reach the state semifinals last season.
As the No. 1 seed from the North, as well as the state's season-long unanimously No. 1-ranked team, the Giants will face the South's lowest remaining seed in the state quarterfinals, No. 6 Palomar.
The Comets – whom Sequoias beat 80-60 on Dec. 21 – upset No. 3 Moorpark 50-49 in the SoCal Regional finals. No. 1 Orange Coast (86-36 over No. 8 Cerro Coso), No. 2 Mt. San Antonio (63-42 over No. 10 Grossmont) and No. 4 Glendale (55-50 over No. 5 Cypress) also won and advanced out of the South.
"We got a taste of it tonight. The Elite Eight is this but times 10," said Trigueiro, who, along with Medina, was an all-state selection last season. "It's the best of the best in front of us, and I think Palomar is next up on the chopping block. We've got to stay locked in and have good practices and just take it one game at a time."
In the NorCal Regionals, No. 2 San Joaquin Delta beat No. 7 San Francisco 86-56, No. 3 Sierra topped No. 6 Laney 73-61, and No. 5 Folsom Lake downed No. 4 San Jose 78-53.
The rest of the Elite Eight matchups are expected to pair Orange Coast (25-5) against Folsom Lake (24-5), Delta (22-8) against Glendale (25-4) and Mt. SAC (26-4) against Sierra (25-4). Times are to be determined.
Sequoias' only state championship came in 1987, when it went 35-0 under coach Tom Gilcrest.
