Ceres High School's varsity boys basketball team opened Western Athletic Conference play with a 67-58 loss at Livingston on Jan. 2.
The Bulldogs exacted revenge on Friday, beating the Wolves 55-45 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.
Ceres High entertained its homecoming crowd and snapped a two-game losing streak.
"It was really important to bounce back," Bulldogs head coach Julio Marquez said.
The Bulldogs (11-9, 5-3) remained in a tie for second place in the WAC standings with Patterson.
Ceres High's Puneet Sahi scored a team-high 13 points versus Livingston last week.
Nick Burt and Haaydn Martinez added 12 and nine points, respectively.
Ramon Coral and Joshneil Sandhu chipped in with five points apiece.
Austin Stiles and Jonathan Williams both tallied four points.
Ismael Ontiveros collected two points.
Brad Bussard had one point.
"Everybody contributed," Marquez said.
Livingston's Anthony Deol and Harman Singh both scored 10 points.
Deol and Singh combined for 42 points during the first meeting.
"We shut down their two best scorers this time," Marquez said. "We played more man defense instead of zone."
The Bulldogs limited the Wolves to just five points in the fourth quarter last week. Deol scored two, while Singh had none.
Gauchos get payback
El Capitan edged Ceres High 50-47 on Wednesday at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.
The Bulldogs outlasted the Gauchos 52-51 on Jan. 7 in Merced. Burt accounted for the game-winning basket in the waning seconds.
"They're a pretty athletic team," Marquez said. "They don't quit."
Sandhu poured in a team-high 18 points.
Burt, Sahi, Martinez and Coral had 13, 10, four and two points, respectively.
The Bulldogs led 29-19 at the break.
El Capitan outscored Ceres High 31-18 in the second half.
"They applied pressure to us and we didn't do very well," Marquez said. "We turned the ball over. They knocked down some pretty big shots."
Ceres High will face host Los Banos tonight at 7:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs will play at Patterson (Feb. 11) and Central Valley (Feb. 13) next week.
