Alexis Contreras and Rayohna Sagapolu chatted and posed for a picture following last week's crosstown clash between Central Valley's and Ceres High's varsity girls basketball programs.

Contreras and the Hawks closed out the Western Athletic Conference campaign with a 49-30 victory against Sagapolu and the visiting Bulldogs on Senior Night last Thursday.

Central Valley beat Ceres High for the seventh straight time.

"This is one of our best games against Ceres High," Contreras said. "It feels good to keep the streak going."

The Hawks improved to 11-12 overall and placed second in the Western Athletic Conference (7-3).

The Bulldogs compiled an 11-15 record and finished fourth in WAC standings (5-5).

"We did want to get first," Contreras said. "We still finished in the top three. We played to the best of our ability."

"It's disappointing not getting to playoffs," Sagapolu said. "We did the best that we could with what we had."

Contreras and Blanca Espinoza paced the Hawks with 10 points apiece.

Adria Robinson tallied eight points.

Adriana Haynes and Mahogany Simon both had six points.

Chetna Kumar, Delores Uti and Lupita Becerra added four, three and two points, respectively.

Leena Bassi paced the Bulldogs with eight points.

Sagapolu and Camryn Silva tallied seven points each.

Kaylee Holloway and Natalia Cortez had six and two points, respectively.

Central Valley outscored Ceres High 27-10 during the first half.

The Hawks' lead ballooned to 24-4 midway through the second quarter.

"We played great tonight," Padilla said.

"They moved the ball around and we weren't keeping up," Sagapolu said. "We just needed better communication. We weren't talking."

Contreras, Espinoza, Robinson, Haynes and Uti, Central Valley's five seniors, were recognized prior to tipoff.

"We're not going to play together again," Alexis said. "We're going to go off to difference colleges."

Hawk players wore customized socks bearing Padilla's face during Central Valley's final home game.

"He actually asked for a pair at halftime," Contreras said. "He saw them after we did the national anthem. He started laughing. It's our last year. We thought we'd so something funny."

Central Valley improved its all-time record versus Ceres High to 13-10 last week.

The Hawks topped the Hawks 45-38 on Jan. 19 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

Central Valley qualified for the postseason for the fourth straight year.

The Hawks fell short in their quest to defend their WAC title.

Unbeaten Patterson (10-0) took first.

"It is what it is," Padilla said. "We did a good enough job to get there (to playoffs). They played with a lot of heart."

Los Banos (6-4) edged out Ceres High for the WAC's third and final playoff spot.

"We did well considering all the obstacles we had to go through," Sagapolou said.

Mike Turpin was supposed to coach Ceres High this winter.

Assistant Chad Hammond replaced Turpin, who had brain surgery before the start of the season.

Mike attended last week's game.