Giants fall in tune-up for 48th annual Gilcrest Invitational women's basketball tournament

By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
College of the Sequoias women's basketball team enters the 48th annual Gilcrest Invitational in an unfamiliar position.
With a sub-.500 record.
The Giants, who were ranked No. 2 in the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association preseason poll, dropped to 3-4 following a 75-74 loss to unranked Sacramento City on Dec. 1 at Porter Field House.
It's been 13 seasons since Sequoias has been under .500 entering the Gilcrest -- a state showcase featuring six squads ranked among the Top 25, including four of the top five -- which is scheduled to run Dec. 4-6 at Porter Field House.
"We're a bad basketball team right now," second-season Giants coach Tyler Newton said. "We've known that for a while. We don't have buy-in to what we're trying to do."
Sequoias is set to face unranked Los Angeles Valley (1-4) at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 in the final game of the Gilcrest's opening day.
The marquee matchup of Day One features defending state champion and preseason No. 1 Mt. San Antonio (7-0) against perennial power and No. 4-ranked San Joaquin Delta (5-0) in the tournament opener at 1 p.m. First-day matchups also include No. 5 Moorpark (7-0) against No. 10 Laney (5-3) at 3 p.m., and No. 21 Butte (8-3) against unranked Chabot (1-6) at 5 p.m.
Championship semifinals are set for 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., with consolation semifinals at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Dec. 5.
The championship game tips off at 4 p.m., with the third-place game at 2 p.m., the consolation championship at noon and the seventh-place game at 10 a.m. Dec. 6.
"It's a great tournament," Newton said. "A lot of really good teams are in the tournament. And if we don't decide to do the right things, then we're going to see more of the same (as the Dec. 1 loss to Sacramento City). So we have to figure out how to right the ship."
The Giants appeared to be on their way to a fourth straight win after opening the season with losses to state heavyweights No. 3 Orange Coast (67-63), Moorpark (58-49) and Mt. SAC (60-56).
A jumper by Demi Boykin (Marysville) put the Giants ahead by eight points (69-61) with 6 minutes and 40 seconds remaining in the game.
But Sacramento City responded with an 11-1 run -- led by eight points from Sierra Tuliau -- to surge into a 72-70 lead with 3:44 left.
Sequoias tied it 72-72 on a Boykin layup with 44 seconds left, but the Panthers regained the lead (75-72) on a Leilani Edinburgh 3-pointer with 21 seconds to go.
 Nyla Anderson (Austin, Texas) missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer for the Giants with 14 seconds left, but Gabby Brooks (Henderson, Nev.) grabbed the offensive rebound and Boykin made a layup with 6.9 seconds left to cut the gap to 75-74.
Boykin came up with a steal on the in-bounds pass to give Sequoias a chance at the win, but two shot attempts in the final 4 seconds didn't fall.
As time expired, the Panthers' reserves stormed the court in a wild celebration seldom seen at Porter Field House, where the Giants were 13-0 last season. Rather than being angered by the celebration, Newton directed his team to watch it.
"Because of our reputation previous, not that this team has earned the reputation, but when people beat us, it's like their Super Bowl," said Newton, whose teams hadn't lost a home game in five seasons dating to his tenure as coach at Butte. "One of the things I've been talking to this team about is pride. Pride in what you do everyday. We haven't bought into that.
"I wanted them to watch them celebrate on our home floor, because to me, that's not OK. I wanted them to know it's not acceptable to give a lackluster performance. (Sacramento City) earned it. Kudos to Sac City. They played harder and tougher than us. I'm not mad at what they did. I just wanted our kids to see what it means to beat our program. We have to have more pride."
Sequoias hindered its chances of winning by shooting 36.9 percent (31 of 84) from the field. It was the fifth time in seven games that the Giants have shot below 40 percent from the field after shooting 48.1 percent last season while going 31-1 and reaching the state semifinals.
Their shooting percentage dipped to 28.6 percent (6 of 21) in the fourth quarter.
"Our offense is completely out of sorts," Newton said. "When we do things that we don't practice and try to play individually, it doesn't work."
Sacramento outrebounded Sequoias 59-38, while receiving 23 points from Tuliau and 17 from Edinburgh.
"We knew they were going to come in and be tough," Newton said. "We said we needed to box out and rebound, and they outrebounded us by 21. We said No. 23 (Edinburgh) and No. 32 (Tuliau) were their best players, and they were their leading scorers. So when you have a scouting report that you need to adhere to and you don't adhere to it, that's what happens."
Boykin and Brooks led the Giants with 14 points apiece. Boykin also contributed four rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block, while Brooks had two rebounds and an assist.
Kalysa Phanhsavang (Stockton) finished with 10 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists for Sequoias.
Anderson, Claire Olia (Walnut) and Izabel Mendez (Caruthers) all delivered seven points for the Giants, with Anderson also contributing five assists, a rebound and a block, Olia adding two rebounds and Mendez chipping in three rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Sequoias also received six points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals from Sydney Chesnut (Henderson, Nev.); four points, eight rebounds and an assist from Maya McNeal (Marysville); three points, two rebounds and two steals from Ava King (Bakersfield Christian); two points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist from Vivian Moore (Central East/Fresno); and two rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block from Olivia Gill (Woodland).
"I've got to find a way to help them understand how important buy-in is," Newton said. "It's on me to figure out how to right the ship. We have a talented team. They are really good kids. We're just not clicking right now and I've got to find a way to make us click."