December 20, 2025

Bragg's big night propels Giants over Orange Coast in opener of COS Classic men's basketball event

Orange Coast

Sequoias

Final	1	2	T
Orange Coast	31	22	53
Sequoias	46	53	99

By Nick Giannandrea

COS ATHLETICS

Javon Bragg was expected to play a complementary role as a reserve forward for College of the Sequoias men's basketball team this season.

But following injuries to the Giants' two primary big men, the 6-foot-7 freshman out of Corcoran High has been thrust into a starting position in the post.

And Bragg delivered a monster performance on opening night of the six-team COS Classic.

Bragg played a game-high 33 minutes and scored a game-leading 32 points to go along with 11 rebounds and two blocks to lead the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches' Association state No. 10-ranked Giants past Orange Coast 99-53 in a nonconference game Dec. 19 at Porter Field House.

Bragg made his second straight start for the Giants, and third overall this season, because 6-10 center Zaquien Whitehead (Columbus, Ga.) has been sidelined with an injury. He is expected to return no later than by the start of Central Valley Conference play in January. Sequoias' other 6-10 post, Andre Stinson (Buffalo, N.Y.), is out for the season with an injury.

"Javon has been great. Javon's temperament is the same every day. Just a phenomenal kid. He's never too high or never too low. Really coachable," Giants coach Dallas Jensen said. "It's funny because losing Andre Stinson and then with the injury to Whitehead recently, we've had to shift Javon into more of a five-man role. It's allowed him the opportunity to play inside-out more. And he can just put the ball in the basket. It's unorthodox, but the boys love him like crazy. They love seeing his success and they are so eager to feed him the basketball. He's been a revelation over the last few weeks.I'm really happy for him."

Sequoias (8-3) got off to a sluggish start while falling behind 5-1 against Orange Coast (0-11) through the game's first 4 minutes.

But Bragg scored 12 of the Giants' next 16 points, including a free throw with 9:53 remaining in the first half to help his team surge into the lead, 17-11. Sequoias led the rest of the way, growing its advantage to 46-31 at halftime behind Bragg's 16 points.

The Giants opened the second half with a 10-2 run, capped by consecutive layups from Bragg, to push their lead behind 20 points (56-33) with 16:29 left in the game.

Sequoias' lead reached its zenith (97-50) on a pair of free throws by Jamaal Phatty (Frankfurt, Germany) with 2:20 to go.

Despite winning the game by a 46-point margin, their largest of the season, the Giants committed 26 turnovers.

"I thought we came out flat. We didn't value possession at all the entire game," Jensen said. "These young men, I love them. I love this team to death. I think they are great kids. They are fun to be around. But they need to compete a little bit harder and want it a little bit more."

The Giants suited up only eight members of their 12-man roster because of injuries. In addition to Stinson and Whitehead, wing Rippen Gill (Centennial High-Bakersfield) and guard Gabe Gutierrez (Bakersfield Christian) were sidelined. Gill is lost for the season while Gutierrez is awaiting results of an MRI to determine the length of his absence.

"It's a lot of mixing and matching right now. And that's even in practice. I just feel like we are navigating through the season a little bit different this year," Jensen said. "I will say I believe in the bodies we have. The healthy bodies are more than capable. Very, very talented and very interchangeable and versatile. And they are coachable. But I think some of them are still trying to figure out not only who they are as a team identity wise, but also who they are individually and how they impact the game and how they impact winning. We have a couple of guys right now, I love them to death but they are still trying to figure it out. But if we can get our healthy bodies to all click at the same time, this team still has a chance to be very good."

Phatty delivered 17 points, six rebounds, six blocks, two assists and a steal as Sequoias won its second straight game.The Giants also received 13 points, six rebounds, three steals and an assist from Jayden Abuyen (Centennial-Bakersfield); 10 points five rebounds and two assists from Kareem Barnett (Miami); 10 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block from Cameron Kelly (Atlanta); eight points, three assists and two steals from Kion Hayes (Savannah, Ga.) and seven points, 10 assists, five rebounds, two steals and two blocks from Mason Dorsey (Los Angeles).

Sequoias is scheduled to face Butte (8-8) at 2 p.m. Dec. 20 during the middle game of the COS Classic's final day. Butte lost to Porterville 71-70 in overtime during its event opener. The other game saw Lemoore edge Pasadena 74-72 in overtime.The rest of the schedule on Dec. 20 features Pasadena (5-6) against Porterville (3-10) at noon, and Lemoore (5-7) against Orange Coast at 4 p.m.