Ceres High School's freshman girls basketball team had its Western Athletic Conference title hopes dashed by Central Valley.
The Hawks won the crosstown game, 44-11, on Feb. 8.
The Bulldogs closed out the WAC season with a 30-15 victory while playing host to Pacheco on Feb. 16.
"It was a good way to end the year," Ceres High head coach Mike Arnold said. "Our goal was to try to get everyone on the team to score. We were one girl short."
The Bulldogs compiled a 14-4 overall record and finished second overall in the WAC standings (10-2).
"I'm very happy," Arnold said. "The girls played hard all year long. They were focused for every game. They had positive attitudes. I liked seeing that."
Ceres High's Vivian Moreno tallied a team-high seven points against Pacheco.
Mariah Trevino, Lauren Gonzalez and Isabella Ramriez totaled five, four and three, points, respectively.
Jullissa Arreola, Gabriela Carrasco, Angelina Knights, Kyara Rodriguez and Celeste Vieyra all chipped in with two points apiece.
Casondra Cruz added one point.
Jacquelyn Pulido, one of Ceres High's starting players, had an opportunity to score but passed to a wide-open teammate.
The Bulldogs led 19-11 at the break.
Ceres High outscored Pacheco 11-4 during the second half, including 5-0 in the final period.
"The whole team was involved," Arnold said.
Ceres High lost twice to undefeated Central Valley in WAC play, including 52-20 on Jan. 21.
The Bulldogs needed to split with the Hawks to earn a share of the conference title.
"It was good to play a team like that," Arnold said. "They motivated our girls to be better. I'm happy for Central Valley. They have great talent."
The Bulldogs and Hawks had a combined record of 38-4 (22-2 in league) this winter.
"When they get to the varsity level, they're going to be fun to watch," Arnold said.
Jennifer Arnold, Mike's younger sister, was supposed to coach Ceres High's freshman girls basketball team this season.
Mike agreed to step in for Jennifer, who couldn't fill the head position after being hired as a first-year teacher at Virginia Parks School.
Jennifer was Mike's assistant coach.
Mike and Jennifer graduated from Ceres High in 2004 and 2006, respectively.
"She helped me as much as she could," Mike said. "When you have an extra set of eyes you can trust, it makes it (coaching) a lot easier. We butted heads a lot growing up. We were very competitive. We became better athletes because of it."
BOYS HOOPS
Ceres High's freshman boys basketball team enjoyed a positive finish to the 2015-16 season.
The Bulldogs earned a measure of revenge with a 63-55 win over host Pacheco in WAC play on Feb. 16 in Los Banos.
"We played one of our best games of the year," Bulldogs head coach Tracy Bull said.
Ceres High center Elijah Hughes scored a career-high 27 points while making his first start of the season.
"He carried us," Bull said. "He's got great touch on his shot. The future is very bright for Elijah."
Bulldog teammates Caleb Cannella, Brock DeWitt, Gavin Andres, Gary Condit, Brock Moore and Chris Murry added 11, eight, six, five, four and three points, respectively.
Ceres High shot 50 percent (22 of 44) from the floor, 56 percent (6 of 11) from 3-point range and 25 percent (1 of 4) from the free-throw line for the game.
The Bulldogs compiled an 11-10 overall record and placed fifth in the WAC standings (4-8).
"We had an extremely talented group of players," Bull said. "I still believe we were the best team in league. Every game we played was pretty close. We just didn't finish."
