Central Valley's and Ceres High's junior-varsity girls basketball teams engaged in a back-and-forth battle during the first half of their crosstown contest.

The Hawks seized the momentum in the second half, pulling away for a 37-21 win against the visiting Bulldogs on Jan. 23.

"We have more energy playing in our home gym," Central Valley freshman standout Gabby Benenati said. "Everyone is cheering us on. We want to win for our fans."

Makayla Bailey paced the fourth-place Hawks (2-4) with a game-high 14 points.

Benenati collected 12 points.

Jazmine Perez and Norma Vera tallied eight and two points, respectively.

Andrea Cortes had one point.

Lysaida Munoz paced the sixth-place Bulldogs (0-6) with nine points.

Allison Stiles, Bryana Falepouono and Cheralyn Durossette collected eight, three and two points, respectively.

The Hawks led 13-12 at intermission.

Central Valley outscored Ceres High 24-9 during the final 16 minutes.

Benenati scored seven of her 10 second-half points in the fourth quarter.

"We discussed things at halftime and picked up the energy," Gabby said. "We were running our plays right. We connected well as a team."