Ceres High School's varsity boys basketball team remained winless on the year following an 0-3 showing at Turlock's Frank Godinez Tournament.
"We just got to get better," Ceres High head coach Brian de la Porte said. "That's the bottom line."
The Bulldogs, 0-5 in preseason play, placed last at the eight-team tournament.
Ceres High, which totaled more than 60 turnovers last week, is still trying to develop on-court chemistry.
The Bulldogs have four new starters.
"We just got to take care of the ball and play better defense," de la Porte said. "We have a lot of things to work on."
Modesto High edged Ceres High 46-42 for seventh place on Saturday.
"We had a chance to beat them," said de la Porte, whose team led 23-20 at halftime.
Binder Atwal scored a team-high 13 points against the Panthers.
Jimbo Pernetti, Jose Nava, Harman Chung and James Rice had 11, eight, seven and three points, respectively.
The Bulldogs were beaten 66-49 by Laguna Creek on Friday.
Atwal had 23 points.
Rice, Pernetti and Chung added 12, eight and six points, respectively.
Ceres High opened the tourney with a 55-38 loss to Pitman on Thursday.
Rice tallied 11 points.
Atwal collected 10 points.
Pernetti chipped in with five points.
Chung and Caden Johnson both contributed four points.
The Bulldogs cut a 17-point deficit to seven heading into the final period.
"We used a lot of energy to get back in the game and ran out of gas in the end," de la Porte said.
Ceres High will play in the Rocklin Tournament, Dec. 15-17.
"I think we're going to be really tough once we get everyone on the same page," de la Porte said.
Oakdale 60, CV 45
Led by its bench players, Central Valley High School's varsity boys basketball team cut a 12-point deficit in half midway through the third quarter of last week's meeting with Oakdale.
Unable to complete the comeback, the Hawks lost 60-45 to the Mustangs Wednesday night in Ceres.
"It's a learning experience," Central Valley head coach Darryl Dickson said.
Miguel Rodriguez scored a team-high 14 points for the Hawks, who dropped to 1-2 in non-conference play. Camron Thornton tallied 13 points. Hawk Duarte and Milton Uti collected five and four points, respectively. Jordan Sek and Jaron Dickson both contributed three points. Ja'Quan Gardner, Cristian Chavez and Salvador Venegas all had one point.
Oakdale's Justin Martinez led all scorers with 21 points. Nathan VanRyn and Vince Fauria added 10 and eight points, respectively.
The Mustangs scored the majority of their points inside.
Central Valley's man-to-man defense was ineffective.
"They were bigger than us," Rodriguez said. "We could have played them better. We were out of position."
Said Dickson: "We had defensive lapses. I'm going to take the blame."
The Hawks allowed 38 points in the opening half.
"We just got to get better," Ceres High head coach Brian de la Porte said. "That's the bottom line."
The Bulldogs, 0-5 in preseason play, placed last at the eight-team tournament.
Ceres High, which totaled more than 60 turnovers last week, is still trying to develop on-court chemistry.
The Bulldogs have four new starters.
"We just got to take care of the ball and play better defense," de la Porte said. "We have a lot of things to work on."
Modesto High edged Ceres High 46-42 for seventh place on Saturday.
"We had a chance to beat them," said de la Porte, whose team led 23-20 at halftime.
Binder Atwal scored a team-high 13 points against the Panthers.
Jimbo Pernetti, Jose Nava, Harman Chung and James Rice had 11, eight, seven and three points, respectively.
The Bulldogs were beaten 66-49 by Laguna Creek on Friday.
Atwal had 23 points.
Rice, Pernetti and Chung added 12, eight and six points, respectively.
Ceres High opened the tourney with a 55-38 loss to Pitman on Thursday.
Rice tallied 11 points.
Atwal collected 10 points.
Pernetti chipped in with five points.
Chung and Caden Johnson both contributed four points.
The Bulldogs cut a 17-point deficit to seven heading into the final period.
"We used a lot of energy to get back in the game and ran out of gas in the end," de la Porte said.
Ceres High will play in the Rocklin Tournament, Dec. 15-17.
"I think we're going to be really tough once we get everyone on the same page," de la Porte said.
Oakdale 60, CV 45
Led by its bench players, Central Valley High School's varsity boys basketball team cut a 12-point deficit in half midway through the third quarter of last week's meeting with Oakdale.
Unable to complete the comeback, the Hawks lost 60-45 to the Mustangs Wednesday night in Ceres.
"It's a learning experience," Central Valley head coach Darryl Dickson said.
Miguel Rodriguez scored a team-high 14 points for the Hawks, who dropped to 1-2 in non-conference play. Camron Thornton tallied 13 points. Hawk Duarte and Milton Uti collected five and four points, respectively. Jordan Sek and Jaron Dickson both contributed three points. Ja'Quan Gardner, Cristian Chavez and Salvador Venegas all had one point.
Oakdale's Justin Martinez led all scorers with 21 points. Nathan VanRyn and Vince Fauria added 10 and eight points, respectively.
The Mustangs scored the majority of their points inside.
Central Valley's man-to-man defense was ineffective.
"They were bigger than us," Rodriguez said. "We could have played them better. We were out of position."
Said Dickson: "We had defensive lapses. I'm going to take the blame."
The Hawks allowed 38 points in the opening half.
