Mendez, Brooks help No. 17 Giants open CVC women's basketball race with 84-60 win over No. 20 Taft

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

Izabel Mendez and Gabby Brooks helped College of the Sequoias women's basketball team turn the page from an up-and-down pre-conference season.

Mendez and Brooks combined for 30 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and only one turnover as the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association state No. 17-ranked Giants rolled to an 84-60 Central Valley Conference-opening victory over No. 20 Taft on Jan. 7 at Porter Field House.

While integrating seven freshmen and two sophomore transfers, Sequoias went 7-9 during the pre-conference season. Eight of those losses came against state-ranked opposition, including the teams ranked Nos. 1-5, respectively, in Mt. San Antonio, Folsom Lake, Orange Coast, Laney and Moorpark.

Now, the Giants turn their attention toward trying to capture a second straight conference championship and securing a spot in the Northern California Regional playoffs.

"I've been frustrated with why we're not clicking the way I think we should be because I know how good we can be," Giants coach Tyler Newton said. "Never once have I thought we are a bad basketball team. But we have a lot of young girls who are trying to figure it out and they are trying hard. It's taken us all longer than we've wanted, but at the end of the day, once conference starts, you are zero and zero, preseason record doesn't matter. And you get a chance to take it one game at a time and try and go compete. I think if we can use our experience and get these girls to believe a little bit more, if we put it all together, it's going to be pretty fun."

Freshman Mendez (Caruthers High) delivered 10 points, seven assists, six rebounds, a steal and zero turnovers, while sophomore transfer Brooks (Henderson, Nev.) contributed 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and one turnover to lead Sequoias over Taft (14-3, 0-1). It was the best all-around performance for Mendez, and the second-highest scoring output for Brooks this season.

"That's what I expect of them. I told them that's what I thought I was getting when they were coming here," Newton said. "The problem we've had is they have a game like that and then all of a sudden the next game, they will be down here and two other girls will be up here. We've got to figure out a way for everyone to bring their dish to the party at the same time."

Sequoias took the lead for good (5-4) on a layup by Olivia Gill (Woodland) off an assist from Mendez with 6 minutes and 54 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Giants' lead reached double-digits (14-4) on a jumper by Demi Boykin (Marysville) with 4:40 to play in the first and soared to 20 points (51-31) on a free throw by Vivian Moore (Central East High-Fresno) with 5:37 left in the third quarter.

Sequoias' lead grew as big as 29 points (84-55) on a layup by Mallary Gonzalez (Hoover High-Fresno) with 2:31 to play in the fourth quarter.

All 12 players who suited up for the Giants scored, including 11 points, six rebounds and two steals from Boykin off the bench.

Sequoias' bench outscored Taft's 58-22, with Moore providing eight points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist; Sydney Chesnut (Henderson, Nev.) contributing seven points, two rebounds and one assist; Maya McNeal (Marysville) getting six points, two rebounds and a steal; Ava King registering four points, five rebounds, and assist and a steal; and Gonzalez adding two points and a rebound.

The Giants also received six points, two assists, two steals and a rebound from Kalysa Phanhsvang (Stockton); five points, three rebounds and a steal from Claire Olia (Walnut); three points, five assists and three rebounds from Nyla Anderson (Austin, Texas); and two points, three rebounds, a steal and a block from Gill.

"I feel like our girls still aren't playing to their full potential," Newton said. "We get two or three (players playing well) and we look ok. But we still haven't got all five clicking at once. And that's our focus right now. How do we get everyone clicking at one time to play the way we need to play? Obviously, when you win like this, it's awesome. But you look at 26 turnovers, that's unacceptable. We need to be 15 or less. When you look at our finishing on the break when we're up numbers, very poor. We could have added another 10 or 20 points if we reduced our turnovers and finished our layups. Again in games like this when it didn't really matter, that's cool, but moving forward, those will matter, so we have to clean that up."

Up next for Sequoias is a road game at Reedley (11-6, 0-1) scheduled for 5 p.m. Jan. 10. The Tigers are ranked No. 15 in the Northern California poll by the CCCWBCA.

The Giants next home game is set for 5 p.m. Jan. 17 against No. 19 Fresno City (10-6, 0-0).