By Nick Giannandrea
The wait is almost over for College of the Sequoias women's basketball team.
After months of starts, stops and uncertainty, the Giants are set to face Bakersfield at 4 p.m. March 5 at Porter Field House. Fans won't be admitted at this time, but the game will be live streamed at https://youtu.be/NxqdT84woH8.
It will launch an abbreviated nine-game season that has been months delayed -- and at times, no certainty to happen -- because of ongoing safety precautions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's been a hurdle, over and over it seems," said 11th-year Giants coach Ray Alvarado. "But the great thing is we get to play. That's the best part for our student athletes."
Sequoias is among 18 of the state's 91 women's basketball-playing colleges that opted to compete this season, which will conclude April 1. The season typically runs between November and March, and features a 28-game regular season plus state playoffs for those that qualify.
The Giants will compete in a one-off bubble of teams regionally based around central California, including home and away games against Bakersfield, Antelope Valley, Allan Hancock and Taft, and a single home game against Cuesta.
While records and statistics will be kept, there will be no conference titles or state playoffs, and the season will not count against a player's athletic eligibility.
But despite the modifications, don't expect Sequoias to lack motivation.
"There is always something to play for. Our goal is to win the games we get to play," Alvarado said. "Our expectations stay the same whether we play five games, 15 games or 30. You are going to see them play hard and play physical and play together. We have a lot of pride in what we do."
And Alvarado believes he and assistants Doug White, Thomas Castro and Fidel Alva have assembled a team that would have been among the state's best in a normal season.
"Without a doubt," Alvarado said of his 12-player roster. "That's why I am disappointed we can't play a full season. This team would have had a lot of growth and could have gone a long way."
The Giants return six players from a team that went 19-10 last season and made the Northern California Regional playoff field for the eighth straight time under Alvarado.
That group is led by three players who logged major minutes last season in Serena Ybarra (Coalinga High), Sapphire Jones (Hanford) and Felicia Ramirez-Licea (Caruthers).
Ybarra, a 5-7 guard, averaged 9.1 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.4 steals a game in 2019-2020.
Jones, a 5-7 guard, contributed 8.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.5 steals a game, while Ramirez-Licea delivered 10.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
Sequoias also welcomes back Hailee Edwards (Ridgeview-Bakersfield), Neli Diaz (McFarland) and Kuda Ceesay (Atlanta).
Edwards, a 5-9 guard, averaged 5.3 points over the Giants' first six games before missing the rest of the season with an injury.
Diaz, a 5-7 guard, was a key reserve last season, averaging 5.3 points per game, while Ceesay, a 6-3 center, is an emerging presence inside who averaged 0.6 points and 2.6 rebounds a game.
"Our sophomores are all really good players," Alvarado said. "We're definitely going to learn on them to lead and show the way."
The Giants also feature an accomplished group of newcomers headlined by freshmen Celeste Lewis and Alana Roberts, who were both four-year varsity players at Hanford's Sierra Pacific High.
They combined to help the Golden Bears go 117-24 while making four deep runs into the California Interscholastic Federation's Division IV playoffs, including a state championship in 2017-2018 and a finals berth last season that was never played because of Covid-29 precautions.
Lewis, a 5-10 guard, averaged 13.9 points, 4.9 assists, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 1.0 blocks a game during her four seasons at Sierra Pacific.
Roberts, a 5-10 forward, averaged 11.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.1 blocks per game during her prep career.
"Celest is an exceptional passer and a heck of a point guard," Alvarado said. "Alana is a gift, too. I really want to see her play. We're really excited to get some of the local players who accomplished a lot in high school and come from championship programs. We feel fortunate they joined our program because they immediately lift us up to another level."
The Giants' roster also includes a community college-tested newcomer in Avon Carter. The 5-7 sophomore guard transferred from Diablo Valley College, which reached the state's Elite Eight championship tournament last year before it was canceled because of Covid-19 precautions. Carter averaged 5.8 points and 4.8 rebounds in 12 games for the Vikings.
Freshmen Nikola Hudson (Liverpool), Ella Thompson (Mammoth Lakes) and Ravynn Anielski (Santa Maria) round out the squad.
Hudson is a 5-8 guard out of IMG Academy in Florida, which dubs itself the world's premier men's and women's prep school basketball program
"She's hard-nosed, works hard and is in the gym all the time," Alvarado said. "She's going to be a tough guard for us."
Thompson is a 6-1 center who averaged 17.3 points, 15.5 rebounds and 3.8 blocks in four varsity seasons for Mammoth High.
Anielski was named one of the best players of the past decade in the Santa Maria area by the Santa Maria Times after a three-year varsity career at Pioneer Valley High that produced averages of 14.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.2 steals a game.
"The freshmen coming in are high level and high achieving," Alvarado said. "They will be ready to lead as well."
Alvarado praised Sequoias' administration -- including President/Superintendent Brent Calvin and Athletics Director Brent Davis, -- its athletic training staff and the school's nursing program for their efforts that have allowed the Giants to regain a bit of normalcy after a year that's been anything but.
"I could see how our student-athletes would feel down about things, but we managed to get through that," Alvarado said. "What was important for us was to get back in the gym and get some structure and something for them to look forward to daily. And now to get to have some games is an extra bonus. There are (73) jucos not getting to do this, so we are very fortunate and thankful."
COLLEGE OF THE SEQUOIAS 2020-21 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
March 5: vs. Bakersfield, 4 p.m.
March 6: at Bakersfield, 4 p.m.
March 12: vs. Antelope Valley, 4 p.m.
March 13: at Antelope Valley, 1 p.m.
March 19: at Allan Hancock, 3 p.m.
March 20: vs. Allan Hancock, 3 p.m.
March 26: vs.Cuesta, 5 p.m.
March 31: vs. Taft, 3 p.m.
April 1: at Taft, 3 p.m.