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Dawgs, Hawks suffer losses on hardcourt
Jaleen Melendez
Jaleen Melendez scored a career-high 32 points during the Ceres High girls basketball team’s 72-66 loss at Grace Davis on Jan. 17. - photo by Dale Butler

Ceres High’s and Central Valley’s girls basketball teams each lost twice in league play last week.

The Bulldogs dropped to 4-15 overall and 1-6 in the Western Athletic Conference standings following Thursday’s 47-33 loss to Mountain House at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

“They had a good team,” head coach Megan McGill said. “They were super athletic. They have girls that can shoot. We just didn’t rebound very well. We struggled because their girls were tall.”

Arrayah Stallworth led Ceres High with eight points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Jaleen Melendez tallied eight points, two rebounds and two steals.

Marissa Renteria totaled seven points, three rebounds and two assists.

Sovannary Carter had five points, five rebounds and one assist.

Carmen Espinoza had three points, one rebound and one block.

Ally Gamboa Rozell had two points, four rebounds and three steals.

Grace Davis held on for a 72-66 win over Ceres High on Jan. 17 in Modesto.

The Bulldogs cut a 15-point deficit to three in the fourth quarter.

Ceres High’s full-court press defense slowed down Grace Davis’ offense.

“We caused some turnovers and we capitalized,” McGill said. “It’s not a stat for a team but our girls don’t quit. They’re fighters.”

Melendez paced the Bulldogs with a career-high 32 points. She also had four steals and two rebounds.

“She had a great game,” McGill said. “All of her shots were falling. She had some nice drives. She’s also a good free-throw shooter.”

Renteria added 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Ally Gamboa Rozell had six points, five rebounds and one assist.

Sovannary Carter had six points, two rebounds and two steals.

Stallworth had four points, nine rebounds and two assists.

The Hawks dropped to 1-17 overall and 0-5 in the Central California Conference standings after falling 48-21 to Patterson on Jan. 19 in Ceres.

Julyanna Valencia led Central Valley with five points.

Marion Dennison tallied six points.

Alexa Alberto, Alexi Alvarez, Makayla Dennison, Jennifer Mejia Gonzales and Jannet Valencia all contributed two points.

Central Valley lost 61-6 at El Capitan on Jan. 17.

Makayla Dennison and Marion Dennison each scored two points.

Mejia Gonzales and Janessa Godinez finished with one point apiece.

BOYS HOOPS

Central Valley’s boys basketball team faced Patterson and El Capitan this past week.

The Hawks closed out the first half of the CCC season with a 68-59 loss to Patterson on Friday in Ceres.

The Tigers spoiled Central Valley’s homecoming.

“The kids played hard,” head coach Mike Rodriguez said. “We had our chances to win.”

The Hawks dropped to 6-16 overall and remained in last place in the CCC standings (0-6).

Patterson improved to 13-8 and 4-2.

“We’ve had some close ones,” Rodriguez said while assessing his team’s performance against conference opponents. “We could have at least three wins the first round of league. We didn’t close out those games.”

Jomari Ocasiones tallied 21 points, three rebounds and one assist versus the Tigers.

Gage Mastropierro had 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

Jayson Casias had 14 points, 12 rebounds and three steals.

Cameron Bradshaw had five points, three assists and two rebounds.

Patterson battled back from an eight-point deficit in the third quarter.

“We struggled to get our offense going late in the game,” Rodriguez said. “We gave up 27 points in the fourth.”

Central Valley suffered a 65-35 loss while playing host to El Capitan on Jan. 17.

“We could have performed better,” Rodriguez said. “We had a lot of turnovers. We didn’t shoot the ball well.”

The Hawks had just one player score in double figures against the Gauchos (11-10, 3-2).

Casias collected 19 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

Mastropierro had six points, six rebounds and three steals.

Jellmar Mata had three points.

Split for Dawgs

Ceres High’s boys basketball team moved to 8-12 on the season and 3-4 in the Western Athletic Conference standings this past week after winning one of two games.

The fourth-place Bulldogs topped last-place Grace Davis 63-51 on Wednesday at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

Lebron Stallworth poured in a game-high 37 points versus the last-place Spartans (3-13, 0-6).

AJ Brown had nine points.

Adrian Ontiveros, Ricky Stanley, Tarrell Lee-Gill and Xzayvier Martinez contributed eight, four, three and two points, respectively.

Ceres High put up a fight before losing 62-51 on the road to first-place Mountain House on Friday.

Stallworth scored a team-high 14 points against the Mustangs (18-2, 7-1).

Ontiveros netted 13 points.

Stanley and Ortega both totaled nine points.

Martinez had six points.