Giants draw 11th seed, will host No. 22 Delta on Feb. 25 in opening round of NorCal Regional men's basketball playoffs
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
College of the Sequoias men's basketball team will not have a first-round bye in the Northern California Regional playoffs for the first time in Dallas Jensen's six championship seasons as the program's coach.
The Giants will not have a second-round home game if they get that far, which would also be a first during Jensen's tenure.
And that's about what Jensen expected for Sequoias, which was seeded 11th in the 24-team NorCal Regional playoff bracket.
The Giants (22-6) open the postseason by hosting No. 22 San Joaquin Delta (13-14) in a first-round game scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at Porter Field House, which will also be the site of the California Community College Athletic Association's Elite Eight state championship tournament.
"I think we're right where I anticipated us being," Jensen said. "But to me, it just doesn't matter this year. I'm just happy we're in it and happy we're playing fairly good basketball right now. I'm just excited for us to have the opportunity to be in the playoffs."
Sequoias and Delta did not play during the regular season but had two common opponents: Cuesta and Cosumnes River.
The Mustangs beat Cuesta 82-72 while losing twice to Cosumnes Rivers, 72-52 and 78-53.
The Giants topped both, downing Cuesta 94-53 and Cosumnes River 70-67.
"I know their coaches are really good, they are well disciplined and they can shoot the basketball," Jensen said of Delta, which finished tied for fourth in the Big 8 Conference.
If Sequoias beats Delta, it would play at sixth-seeded and Bay Valley Conference champion Yuba (22-6) in the second round on Feb. 28.
Looming on the opposite side of the bracket quadrant is a familiar opponent, No. 3 West Valley (22-6), which beat the Giants 59-51 in the 2023-2024 state championship game.
The Vikings, who would host a regional final should they get that far, have made the Elite Eight field in each of the past four seasons. The regional finals are set for March 7, with the Elite Eight scheduled for March 13-15 at Porter Field House.
The other top-eight NorCal Regional seeds -- which all receive first-round byes -- are No. 1 San Francisco (27-1), No. 2 Santa Rosa (24-4), No. 4 San Jose (22-6), No. 5 Modesto (23-5), No. 7 Las Positas (25-3) and No. 8 Cosumnes River (23-5). Sequoias beat Cosumnes River 70-67 and lost to San Jose 90-86 in double overtime, both on the road.
"It's all the same in my opinion," Jensen said. "You've got to beat someone at the end of the day. West Valley is a power. Yuba is as good as anyone in Northern California. And that's not to overlook Delta.
"I was asked if I could pick any of the quadrants, which would I choose. And I genuinely don't care. I'm just worried about us, and playing good basketball."
Sequoias is riding a seven-game winning streak into the program's seventh consecutive postseason appearance.
The Giants tuned up for the playoffs by thundering Columbia 95-66 at home Feb. 20 to tie the Claim Jumpers for a share of their seventh straight Central Valley Conference title. After losing to Columbia 76-73 on a buzzer-beating deep 3-pointer during the first round of CVC play, Sequoias took the lead for good 14 minutes into the rematch and never looked back, getting 23 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds and a steal from Mason Dorsey (Los Angeles) and 24 points, four rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block from Cameron Kelly (Atlanta).
The Claim Jumpers (23-5) were seeded ninth and have Cosumnes River and San Francisco as possible opponents if they advance.
"I knew our boys were really focused and engaged, but I did not expect it to be such a complete performance," Jensen said. "That's the best we've played for 40 minutes all season. To do that and build some momentum going into the playoffs was great. I just hope we can maintain and maybe exceed that moving forward."
"I was asked if I could pick any of the four quadrants, which would I want, and I genuinely don't care," Jensen said. "I'm just worried about us and playing good basketball."
Sequoias will be led into the postseason by seven players who earned All-Central Valley Conference honors, including the Most Valuable Player in sophomore wing Kelly, who averaged 19.1 points and 6.4 rebounds per game while shooting 50.7 percent from the field.
"I'm so happy to see Cam get it," Jensen said. "He was the heartbeat of our team the entire year and came up big in big moments."
The Giants had three first-team All-CVC selections in sophomore guard Dorsey, sophomore guard Kareem Barnett (Miami) and sophomore guard Kion Hayes (Savannah, Ga.).
In conference play, Dorsey averaged 11.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 8.6 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.1 blocks; Barnett averaged 11.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.0 steals; and Hayes averaged 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and shot 34.9 percent from 3-point range.
Honorable mention went to sophomore center Zaquien Whitehead (Columbus, Ga.), who averaged 5.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.2 blocks.
Forward Javon Bragg (Corcoran High) was named Freshman All-Conference after averaging 8.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.
Kelly, Whitehead and Barnett earned First-Team All-Defense honors, while sophomore guard Jayden Abuyen (Centennial High-Bakersfield) -- who averaged 6.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.6 steals and 1.9 assists -- and Dorsey were named honorable mention All-Defense.
"I think they deserved it," said Jensen, who was selected the CVC's Co-Coach of the Year. "They all had really good years and bought into their roles and helped facilitate winning."
