Ceres High varsity girls basketball head coach Heather Jones praised her team's gutsy play following Thursday's 49-33 Western Athletic Conference season-opening setback at Los Banos.
"The score doesn't reflect how well we played," she said. "It was competitive until the end."
The Bulldogs dropped to 1-7 overall and 0-1 in the WAC.
Ceres High had just one player score in double figures against Los Banos.
Sophomore Nicole Bates paced the Bulldogs with 17 points.
Freshman Adriana Haynes tallied four points. Edith Peralta, Kinsey Ward, Jessica Arreola, Triana Burgess, Perla Vargas and Alyssa Sanchez all contributed two points.
"We ran out of steam in the fourth quarter," Jones said.
Ceres High will play host to crosstown-rival Central Valley tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.
"The girls are excited," Jones said.
Bulldogs crush Tigers
Ceres High's junior-varsity girls basketball team opened WAC play with a 35-17 win against host Los Banos on Thursday.
"We got off to a really good start," Bulldogs head coach Jeff Borden said. "We played great defense. We held the other team to six points in the first half."
Ceres High improved to 9-4 overall and 1-0 in the conference standings.
"It's probably one of the most balanced, athletic teams I've coached," Borden said. "Everybody contributes."
Rayohna Sagapolu paced Ceres High last week with seven points.
Ariel Knights, Callie Nunes and Jade Moore collected six, four and three points, respectively.
The Bulldogs built a commanding 26-6 lead in the opening half.
"We got really, good team chemistry," Borden said. "That's a big key."
CHS girls unbeaten
Ceres High's freshman girls basketball team remained undefeated on the year after blowing out host Los Banos 42-14 on Thursday.
The Bulldogs improved to 8-0 on the year and 1-0 in the WAC.
"I'm not too worried about our record," head coach Kristen McClure said. "We're trying to get them to learn the basics and get prepared for JV. Everyone has improved so much since the beginning of the year. They're only going to get better."
Alexis Contreras collected a team-high 13 points against the Tigers.
Aliyah Smith added nine points.
Dawgs suffer another loss
Ceres High's junior-varsity boys basketball team challenged Los Banos for three quarters during last week's WAC opener. Ahead 33-32, the Bulldogs mustered just two points in the final period en route to a 44-35 loss to the Tigers on Friday at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.
"It's heartbreaking lose a game like this," Ceres High head coach Abel Maestas said.
The Bulldogs dropped to 1-14 on the year and 0-1 in league play.
Martin Reyes led Ceres High in scoring with 13 points. He made five of six free throws.
Harman Bansal added 12 points.
Ceres High boys best LB
Shooting guard Jefferson Lemus had a breakout game while making his first start for Ceres High School's freshman boys basketball team last week.
Lemus scored a career-high 13 points during the Bulldogs' 56-30 WAC season-opening victory over Los Banos on Friday at Phil de la Porte Gymasium.
"He was dominant," Bull said.
The Bulldogs improved to 11-3 on the year and 1-0 in the WAC.
Ceres High relied on 10 different players last week.
Elijah Niblett tallied eight points.
Haaydn Martinez and Nick Jones totaled seven points apiece.
Jordan McGrath and Kamio Borja finished with six and five points, respectively.
Ismael Ontiveros and Jacob Langan scored three points each.
Chris Lubinsky and Conner Johnson both contributed two points.
