3C2A Men's Basketball Semifinal #2: College of the Sequoias downs defending champion Fullerton in OT thriller, 71-60
Men's Basketball Tournament Central
WALNUT - After a buzzer-beater by College of the Sequoias sophomore guard Jose Cuello sent the game into overtime, the Giants controlled the extra five minutes and defeated defending state champion Fullerton, 71-60, in the second semifinal Saturday night at Mt. San Antonio College to advance to the 3C2A Men's Basketball Championship game against West Valley College on Sunday afternoon.
West Valley punched its ticket earlier in the evening by defeating Yuba, 55-48, in the other semifinal.
Trailing by a bucket with seven seconds left in regulation, Cuello took the inbounds pass, dribbled the length of the court, and from the right side drained a leaning two-point shot just inside the three-point stripe that was all net as time expired.
“Honestly, we were down two and I looked at my coach and drove it to the right wing and just put it up,” Cuello said. “As I went by (Coach Dallas Jensen) he said ‘… Jose go’. He said, ‘Go get a bucket’. I love that guy to death for trusting me and the rest is history.”
History indeed, as the last time the Giants won a state title was 42 years ago in 1982.
Overtime was nearly all COS, as they outscored the five-time champs, 19-8.
Leading the way in the extra period was forward Cameron Clark with seven points. The sophomore had 13 in the game.
Fullerton, which had won two of the last three state titles, held a 46-44 lead with 5:44 remaining in regulation. The Hornets held the lead all the way until that final regulation buzzer-beater that sent the game into OT.
“I’m just so proud of these guys,” Jensen said. “I mean, there was just full belief the entire game. I think the thing that I love the most was even in all the late-game situations in the timeouts, it wasn’t drawing up a hundred sets. It was what they believed in.
“This team is just wired different and it's just something unique and different.”
Leading the way for COS was sophomore guard Omari Nesbit with 18 points, followed by freshman forward Jaden Haire with 16 and Cuello with 14.
“This is a blessing,” Nesbit said. “We always wanted this at the beginning of the season, and we stuck together and we (grinded) and we knew what we wanted. (COS) hadn’t had a state title in a long time.”
Fullerton was led by sophomore guard Jeremiah Davis with a game-high 22 points, followed by Amound Anderson II, JQ Strong and Jaden Byers each with nine points.
In the first six minutes of the opening half, only 11 points were scored as COS took an early 9-2 lead as Nesbit had a slam dunk. Fullerton responded after that thundering basket and outscored the Giants, 19-11, on a 3-pointer by Strong to take its first lead of the half, 21-20.
Byers added four free throws in the last minutes of the half for the Hornets on their way to a 33-30 lead at the break.
Leading the way at the half for Fullerton with nine points each were Strong and Byers, while Shawn Woodsen added six. COS was led by Nesbit with 13 points and Cuello added eight.
The Giants grabbed the early lead in the second half on a dunk by freshman forward Jaden Haire to lead, 35-34.
In the remainder of the second half, neither team led by more than three points, until the final minute when Fullerton led by four, 51-47.
(John Sherrard, 3C2A)
