Central Valley’s varsity boys basketball team lost a pair of Central California Conference games at home by a combined 13 points last week.

“It shows we can compete with the top teams in our league,” coach Mike Rodriguez said.

The Hawks fell to fourth place in the CCC standings after being beaten 60-52 by El Capitan Friday night in Ceres.

Central Valley dropped to 8-13 overall and 2-4 in the conference standings.

The second-place Gauchos improved to 16-5 and 5-1.

“It would have been a huge win for us,” Rodriguez said. “We’re still only a game back for third place.”

Hawk Max Sanchez scored a team-high 17 points against the Gauchos.

Grant Neang added 12 points.

Daniel Villasenor tallied nine points.

Central Valley trailed from start to finish in losing 71-66 to third-place Buhach Colony on Jan. 16.

The Hawks got within two points with less than one minute to play.

“It was definitely a winnable game,” Rodriguez said. “We just have to get off to better starts.”

Villasenor netted four treys on his way to pouring in a team-high 21 points versus the Thunder (12-10, 3-3).

Sanchez buried five treys and totaled 19 points.

Neang collected nine points.

The Hawks trailed 36-25 at intermission.

“We came out pretty flat,” Rodriguez said. “We were down 26-12 at the end of the first quarter. We won every quarter after that.”

 CV girls winless in CCC

Vying for its first-ever Central California Conference victory, Central Valley’s varsity girls basketball team remained winless in league play this past week after losing back-to-back games.

The Hawks dropped to 2-16 overall and 0-6 in the CCC standings.

“It’s not the coaching,” Central Valley senior guard Lupe Becerra said. “It’s us individuals. It’s mainly our communication. We’ve been working on that. It’s getting better. We just have to keep a positive mindset.”

The Hawks suffered their ninth straight loss on Thursday, falling 61-33 at first-place El Capitan.

The Gauchos improved to 14-8 on the year and 5-1 in conference play.

Sue Dhillon led the Hawks in scoring with 15 points.

Andrea Cortes and Preet Sangha both tallied six points.

 Angelina Knights and Isabella Andres contributed five and two points, respectively.

Buhach Colony raced past Central Valley 50-27 on Jan. 15 in Atwater.

The Thunder (8-13, 3-3) finished in third place during the first half of the CCC season.

 “They’re a very fast team,” Becerra said. “They beat us in transition.”

Knights collected a team-high nine points.

Dhillon totaled eight points.

Cortes and Alyssa Maeyama chipped in with four points apiece.

Sangha added two points.

The Hawks will begin the second half of the CCC season this week.

“We’re going to try our best,” Becerra said. “I definitely think we can beat at least two teams.”

The Hawks competed in the Western Athletic Conference the previous eight seasons.

Central Valley moved from the WAC to the CCC as part of the Sac-Joaquin Section’s conference realignment plan.

“This league is definitely harder,” Becerra said. “You can’t have any off days.”