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CV junior-varsity girls crush opponents
CHS varsity girls struggle late in game
erobinson.tiff
Central Valley High School junior-varsity girls basketball standout Elizabeth Robinson elevates over a pair of Pacheco defenders during Thursdays Western Athletic Conference home game. The Hawks won by blowout, 54-15. - photo by DALE BUTLER/The Courier

Ceres High School's much-improved varsity girls basketball team challenged three-time defending Western Athletic Conference champion Patterson during the opening eight minutes of last week's meeting.

The Tigers shut out the host Bulldogs in the final period on their way to pulling away for a 35-24 victory on Jan. 12 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

"We stayed with them for three quarters," Ceres High head coach Kristen McClure said. "They pulled away in the fourth. Patterson has a good team."

The Bulldogs dropped to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in the WAC standings.

Ceres High won just a total of seven games last season.

"It's nice," Bulldogs standout player Nicole Bates said while talking about her team's turnaround from a year ago. "We're having a lot of fun this season. We're playing really well together. We just have to keep playing hard."

The Bulldogs had no players score in double figures versus the Tigers (7-9, 3-1).

Nicole Bates and Jessica Arreola led the Bulldogs with six points apiece.

Ceres High mustered zero points in the final period.

"We weren't hustling back on defense," McClure said. "That's what lost it for us."

Hawks unbeaten in WAC
Central Valley High School's junior-varsity girls basketball team won twice by blowout in WAC action this past week.

"We have a lot of room for improvement," Hawks head coach Jode Johnson said.

Central Valley cruised past Pacheco, 54-15, on Thursday in Ceres.

Mahogany Simon totaled a game-high 18 points for the Hawks.

Trinity Avila added 10 points.

Sunaina Dhillon had nine points.

Robinson scored a game-high 17 points during Central Valley's 39-25 win at Los Banos on Jan. 12.

Simon collected eight points.

Central Valley improved to 10-4 on the year and 3-0 in the WAC standings.

Bulldogs win twice
Ceres High's junior-varsity girls basketball squad won two of its first three conference games.

"I have really high hopes we'll be a winning team," Bulldogs head coach Aimee Gunzenhauser said. "Our defensive press has been looking a lot better. We're finally starting to work together instead of individually."

Host Ceres High opened WAC play with a 37-32 win over El Capitan on Jan. 5.

Camryn Silva collected a team-high 10 points.

The Bulldogs earned a narrow 35-31 victory while battling host Los Banos on Jan. 7.

Angelina Ursua scored a team-high 12 points against the Tigers.
Silva added 10 points.

Ceres High dropped to 8-7 on the year and 2-1 in the conference play after losing 37-29 to visiting Patterson on Jan. 12.

Silva had a team-high nine points.

CV improves to 15-0
Central Valley's freshman girls basketball team kept its perfect record intact this past week.

The Hawks improved to 15-0 overall and 3-0 in the WAC after posting a 35-12 victory over Pacheco on Thursday in Ceres.

Yesenia Zuniga paced Central Valley with 11 points.

Zuniga buried five treys and totaled 25 points while leading Central Valley past host Los Banos, 42-22, on Jan. 12.

BOYS BASKETBALL
Ceres High's junior-varsity boys basketball team dropped two of its first three league games.

The Bulldogs fell to 8-7 on the year and 1-2 in the WAC after losing 47-35 at Patterson on Wednesday.

Gurraj Purewal totaled a team-high 12 points for Ceres High.

Inder Sandhu scored a game-high 27 points as Ceres High pulled away for a 58-51 win against visiting Los Banos on Jan. 8.

Purewal tallied 18 points..
Host Ceres High lost 38-33 to El Capitan on Jan. 6.

Dawgs test Tigers
Ceres High's freshman boys basketball team opened WAC play with back-to-back home losses the week of Jan. 4-8.

The Bulldogs played their best game of the season in falling 62-60 in overtime at heavily-favored Patterson on Wednesday.

"It was like a heavyweight fight," Ceres High head coach Tracy Bull said. "Each team fought hard for 36 minutes."

Gary Condit tallied a team-high 18 points for the Bulldogs, who dropped to 7-5 overall and 0-3 in the WAC standings.

Chris Murry made five treys and finished with 17 points.

Gavin Andres, Brock Moore, Ethan Willform and Brock DeWitt netted eight, seven, five and two points, respectively.

The Bulldogs shot 38 percent (15 of 40) from 2-point range, 47 percent (7 of 15) from 3-point range and 35 percent (9 of 26) from the free-throw line.

Down 41-35, Patterson outscored Ceres High 18-12 in the fourth quarter to force overtime. The two teams combined for 16 points in the extra stanza, including nine by the Tigers. "It's a hard game to lose but I'm so proud of our players and effort," Bull said.