Ceres High School's freshman boys basketball team won two of three games at its home tournament, staged Dec. 2-4, at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

The Bulldogs won a third-place plaque.

"Overall, I thought the kids played very well," Ceres High head coach Tracy Bull said.

Ceres High closed out the tournament with an impressive 66-36 win over Livingston on Dec.4.

"Everybody got some playing time," Bull said. "That was nice."

Gary Condit made all nine of his free throws and totaled a game-high 22 points.

Elijah Hughes and Brock DeWitt added 16 and 13 points, respectively.

The Bulldogs outscored the Wolves 44-21 in the middle periods.

Ceres High trailed 8-5 at the end of the first quarter.

"We made a commitment to pick up the tempo," Bull said. "We got some transition buckets. It was pretty fun."

Ceres High lost 47-36 to eventual-champion Ripon on Dec. 3.

"Ripon has a good team," Bull said. "We just didn't play well. It was a collective effort."

Christian Murray buried six of nine treys on his way to tallying a team-high 19 points for the Bulldogs.

Brock Moore tallied seven points.

DeWitt and Ethan Willform finished with three points apiece.

Gavin Andres scored two points.

Condit had one point.

The Bulldogs trailed 18-11 at halftime and 31-17 heading into the fourth quarter.

Ceres High used a 17-8 run to cut a 14-point deficit to five with three minutes left in regulation.

The Bulldogs drained four 3-pointers.

Ripon accounted for eight of the game's final 10 points to secure the win.

"I thought they were beatable," Bull said. "We struggled to make shots in the first three quarters."

Ceres High rallied past Escalon, 36-32, on Dec. 2.

"We were fortunate to beat Escalon," Bull said. "We were a little overconfident. They're precise with what they do. They don't turn the ball over."

Condit collected a team-high 10 points. He made four of six foul shots down the stretch.

Moore and Gavin Andres chipped in with eight points each.
Hughes, Caleb Cannella and Wilform contributed four, three and two points, respectively.

DeWitt added one point.

Ceres High limited Escalon to just 11 points in the second half.

The Bulldogs outscored the Cougars 13-4 in the fourth quarter. Ceres High converted 7 of 10 free throws.

"Our defense was pretty darn good," Bull said.

Ceres High trailed by as much as 12 points in the third quarter.

"We showed a lot of moxie," Bull said. "We could have lost by 20."

DeWitt, Ceres High's floor general, was named the tournament's co-MVP.

Brock totaled 17 points.

"He's a great leader," Bull said.

Condit, Ceres High's shooting guard, was an all-tourney selection.

He averaged 11.0 points per game and shot 82 percent (14 of 17) from the charity stripe.

"His quickness was a problem for everybody," Bull said.

Ripon and Turlock placed first and second, respectively, at the Ceres High tournament.

Ceres High (3-1) will play in the Buhach Colony tourney this Thursday, Friday and Saturday.