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CV boys limit Livingstons backcourt to 29 points
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Karnveer Chahal accounted for nine of Central Valleys 16 first-quarter points versus host Livingston on Friday. - photo by DALE BUTLER/The Courier

Central Valley's varsity boys basketball team executed its defensive game plan to near-perfection during Friday night's 66-51 Western Athletic Conference season-opening win over host Livingston.

The Hawks limited the Wolves' talented backcourt of Simranjit Singh and Kevin Alvarez to a total of 29 points, including a combined 17 in the first, second and fourth quarters.

"The goal was to make them work harder than normal to score points," Central Valley head coach Darryl Dickson said. "That would tire them out by the end of the game. I knew if we executed the game plan, we'd have a great chance to win."

The Hawks improved to 5-10 on the year and 1-0 in the WAC standings.

Livingston dropped to 6-12 and 0-1.

"Overall, we played well," Dickson said. "We didn't have a lot of mistakes. We came out with a high level of intensity and took the crowd out of the game. The kids did a great job executing, especially defensively. I'm really satisfied. It's a great start to league."

Central Valley's Harinder Sidhu knocked down four treys on his way to tallying a team-high 17 points.

Karnveer Chahal, Gurshan Chahal, Ralph Afortunado, David Serrano and Phillip Jackson contributed 13, 10, eight, six and four points, respectively.

Andres Rojo and Max Sanchez both scored three points.

Oso Fregoso added two points.

The Hawks shot 75 percent (9 of 12) from the free-throw line.

Karnveer, who started at small forward, missed last season with ACL and MCL tears in one of his knees.

"It's not easy coming back from a major injury," Dickson said. "This is the first game it looked like he wasn't worrying about his leg. He gave us a nice lift."

Livingston's student cheering section erupted just about every time Singh touched the ball or put up a shot.

Simranjit led all scorers with 20 points, but wasn't a factor during the first, second and fourth quarters thanks in large part to Central Valley's triangle-and-two defensive scheme.

Alvarez collected nine points.

Dominic Brunelle, Adrian Pacheco and Gurpreet Chohan chipped in with seven, six and five points, respectively.

Sebastian Pulido and Harkaran Raggi both had two points.

Sidhu totaled 11 points as the Hawks grabbed a 35-28 lead in the opening half.

"Harinder's ability to shoot the ball is amazing," Dickson said.

Karnveer Chahal had nine points in the first quarter.

"He got us going," Dickson said.

The Hawks outscored the Wolves 31-23 after intermission.