Sequoias snap a two-game losing skid, Jose Cuello anchors COS to win over West Hills
Facing the prospect of an 0-3 start to Central Valley Conference play, Jose Cuello came to the rescue for College of the Sequoias men's basketball team.
The sophomore guard from Harlem, N.Y., poured in 14 of his game-leading 27 points during the final four minutes to help the Giants pull away from West Hills-Lemoore for a 76-65 victory Jan. 17 at Porter Field House.
Sequoias, which is ranked No. 15 in the state by the California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association, improved to 13-4 overall and 1-2 in the conference. No. 23 West Hills-Lemoore fell to 12-4 overall and 2-1 in the CVC, one of four teams ahead of the two-time defending champion Giants in the conference standings.
"This is a big, big win," Cuello said. "It's giving us momentum. It's getting us back on track."
Cuello put the Giants ahead to stay at 62-60 when he sank a 3-pointer off an assist from Jaylon Lee (Las Vegas) with four minutes and one second remaining in the game.
On Sequoias' next possession, Lee kept it alive with an offensive rebound, one of his game-co-leading 13 rebounds overall, and Alex Argandar (Modesto) fed Cuello for a second straight 3-pointer with 3:16 left for a 65-60 lead.
West Hills-Lemoore got back within two points at 67-65 with 1:44 left on a basket by Terryn Mosley, but Cuello put the Giants back up by five points (70-65) when he drained another 3-pointer off an assist from Lee with 1:15 to play.
Cuello would make 6-of-6 free throws the rest of the way to help Sequoias snap a two-game losing skid.
"I'm glad we all stuck together," Cuello said. "I give it all to my teammates for trusting me to take those shots and putting me in the right spots to take those shots.
"After I hit the first one, I was like ah, I need another one. They were giving me a lot of space, so I was like, I just got to knock it down."
After opening CVC play with losses to No. 13 Columbia (83-80 in overtime) and No. 17 Merced (69-67) on the road last week, the Giants raced out to an 18-5 lead against West Hills-Lemoore through the game's first five minutes, capped by a 3-pointer from Omari Nesbit (Sacramento).
But the Golden Eagles responded with a 15-7 run to forge a 25-25 tie following James Nichols' basket with 5:31 left in the first half.
The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes before West Hills-Lemoore closed the first half on a 7-0 run, punctuated by Trey Lowery-Booker's dunk to go into halftime ahead 38-31.
Sequoias trailed by as many as 12 points (46-34) with 16:49 remaining in the second half.
"Credit to (the Golden Eagles). They played a heck of a game," Cuello said. "But after they punched us in our mouth, we took it on the chin and reacted and stuck together."
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Cuello also had five assists, four rebounds and a steal for the Giants. Lee added 11 points, four assists, three blocks and two steals.
The Giants also received 16 points, six rebounds, three steals and a block from Jaden Haire (Hanford West); 12 points and three rebounds from Newsbit; three points, four rebounds and two steals from Davis White (Santa Clarita); three points, two rebounds and a steal from Kion Hayes (Savannah, Ga.); two points, five assists and a rebound from Argandar; two points and a block from Cameron Clark (Gwinnett, Ga.); an assist, block and a steal from James Freeman (Sacramento); an assist and a steal from Mikey Ficher (Tulare Western); and a rebound from Samuel Bazunga (Paris, France).
"What was key today compared to the first two games is that we stuck together even through adversity the whole 40 minutes," Cuello said. "(In the first two conference games,) we would play in spurts. You can't play in spurts in this conference. You see what happens when you play in spurts. You have to play a complete 40 minutes."
Sequoias' next game is set for 3 p.m. Jan. 20 at Porterville (6-11, 0-3). The Giants will remain on the road at 6 p.m. Jan. 24 against West Hills-Coalinga (7-9, 1-2), before returning home to host CVC co-leading and No. 30-ranked Fresno City (10-7, 3-0) at 3 p.m. Jan. 27.
COS women cruising in CVC play
Two-time reigning champion COS has opened CVC women's basketball play with a pair of blowout wins.
But it's the halftime deficits the Giants have faced in both games — against teams with sub .500 records, no less — that concerns coach Doug White.
After trailing by a point at the end of a sluggish first half, Sequoias shot 58% (15-of-26) in the second to pull away for a 59-37 victory over West Hills-Lemoore on Jan. 17 at Porter Field House.
The Giants, who are ranked No. 19 in the state by the California Community College Women's Basketball Coaches Association, improved to 12-6 overall and 2-0 in the CVC, a game behind state No. 6-ranked Fresno City (15-4, 3-0) in the conference standings. West Hills-Lemoore drops to 4-11 overall and 0-3 in the CVC.
Sequoias started CVC play on Jan. 13 with a 79-64 win at Merced (5-13, 1-2) in a game it trailed by a point at halftime.
"Luck is going to run out on us," White said. "We should be putting them away. Fresno is putting them away. We need to put them away early, too."
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The Giants appeared to be headed toward halftime with a lead as they had possession up 22-21 with 12 seconds left. But a turnover led to Amaya Sanchez's layup at the buzzer for a 23-22 Golden Eagles lead. Sequoias finished 3-of-18 from 3-point range in the first half.
West Hills-Lemoore got a 3-pointer from Yuliza Padilla to start the second half, but Sequoias responded by outscoring the Golden Eagles 20-4 the rest of the third quarter.
Lucia Ricci (Seattle, Wash.) scored seven points during a 12-0 run to close the third quarter that turned a 30-30 tie into a 42-30 lead for the Giants.
Sequoias continued to add to its lead during a 17-7 fourth quarter that saw Sarah Upshaw (Las Vegas) contribute four points and Taylor Whitfield (Sierra Pacific-Hanford) add three.
The Giants scored 18 of their 37 second-half points in the paint.
"They came out flat. They played flat. They didn't pressure the ball," White said. "They wouldn't run the offense the way we want it ran. We want to attack the basket, and we don't want to shoot ourselves out of a game.
"Yet we shot 3-for-18 from the 3-point line after we told them we don't want to miss any more 3-pointers. We want to get the ball inside. But they decided to do what they wanted to do. So we had a talk about it at halftime. Then we came out and started attacking the basket and turned the game around."
Another key to Sequoias' second-half turnaround was finding a way to neutralize Sanchez, who scored all 18 of her points in the first half for the Golden Eagles.
"We started keeping her from going to the basket," White said. "They were content to let someone else guard, rather than themselves stepping over and stop her from driving (in the first half)."
Geizzle Jones (Bullard-Fresno) scored 10 points, to go along with four assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block to lead the Giants.
Anisa Torres (Caruthers) had eight points six rebounds, four steals and three assists; Trinity Ferro (Corcoran) contributed eight points, four rebounds, two steals and a block; while Ricci added seven points, seven assists and five rebounds for Sequoias.
The Giants also received six points and two rebounds from Whitfield; six points, four rebounds and an assist from Maci Chavez (Kingsburg); four points, four rebounds and two assists from Kyla Wandick (Bakersfield); four points, four steals, two assists and a rebound from Jacqueline Ruiz (Kingsburg); four points, a rebound and a block from Upshaw; two points and two assists from Andrea Perez (Porterville); and five rebounds, a block and a steal from Darleth Felix (Tulare Union).
Sequoias' next two games are on the road, traveling to Porterville (3-14, 1-2) at 5 p.m. Jan. 20 and to Taft (12-6, 0-2) at 6 p.m. Jan. 24.
The Giants return to Porter Field House on Jan. 27 for a showdown against Fresno City. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the nightcap of a doubleheader with the men's team that starts at 3 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Jose Cuello anchors COS to win over West Hills
