Central Valley’s varsity boys basketball team is no longer winless in league play.

The Hawks snapped a six-game losing streak with a 59-57 victory at Merced on Jan. 27.

“It gives our team so much confidence,” sophomore Yoshi Kumar said. “Winning shows what our team is made of. We’re not going to give up.”

Kumar’s late-game heroics propelled the Hawks past the Bears.

He broke a 57-57 tie by making two free throws with 2.1 second left in regulation.

“I had to step up,” Kumar said. “Our team really needed this. I didn’t feel that much pressure. I was confident.”

Kumar totaled 13 points against Merced.

Kadin Manor scored a game-high 26 points.

Rajeev Saini had five points.

Jordan Lombardo and Amari Taylor both had four points.

Jacob Ingraham had three points.

Juan Brambila and Xavier Valencia each had two points.

“Everyone wanted to win desperately,” Manor said. “We were tired of losing. It was an intense game. We played our hardest. Our shots were falling.”

“It was amazing to see my team’s spirit go up,” Kumar said. 

Central Valley lost 60-58 to host Atwater on Jan. 29.

“It came down to the last possession,” said Manor, who missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer with 3 seconds to play.

Manor scored 11 points.

Lombardo led the Hawks with 14 points.

Sunny Khabra added 13 points.

Kumar and Angel Zamarripa had six and four points, respectively.

Saini and Andy Souksavath both had three points.

The Hawks lost 83-52 to the Falcons on Jan. 8 in Ceres.

Central Valley dropped its Winterfest Homecoming game, 70-35, to Golden Valley Friday night in Ceres.

The Hawks never recovered after falling behind 40-17 during the first half, including 16-4 in the period.

Lombardo totaled a team-high 11 points.

Taylor had seven points.

Ingraham and Zamarripa both had five points.

Kumar, Manor and Souksavath all had two points.

Andruw Valencia added one point.

Central Valley (5-20, 1-8) will play at Patterson today.

The CCC contest will begin at 7:15 p.m. 

“We’re starting to get on the same page,” Manor said.