Ceres High’s boys basketball program won two of its three league games this past week.

Central Valley’s boys hoops team lost three times.

“The kids played hard,” said Hawks’ head coach Mike Rodriguez. “We’re still making too many mistakes. We got to fix that.”

The fifth-place Bulldogs dropped to 7-11 on the season and 2-3 in the Western Athletic Conference following Friday’s 62-54 loss at Los Banos.

The first-place Tigers improved to 14-2 and 5-0.

“We had our chances,” Ceres High coach T.J. Walker Jr. said. “We came up short.”

Lebron Stallworth led the Bulldogs with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Ricky Stanley collected 12 points and three rebounds.

Adrian Ontiveros had 10 points, five assists and two rebounds.

Xzayvier Martinez had nine points and eight rebounds.

Ceres High and Los Banos shot 15 and 17 free throws, respectively, in the opening half.

The Tigers shot nearly three times as many foul shots (17-6) as the Bulldogs during the second half.

“We weren’t doing anything differently,” said Walker. “We just didn’t get the calls.”

The Bulldogs trailed 32-30 at the break. Ceres High fell behind by as much as 11 points in the first quarter.

The Tigers battled back from a four-point deficit late in the game.

“We played good basketball. We didn’t finish.”

Ceres High coasted to a 64-38 win over Johansen on Thursday in Modesto.

Ontiveros led the Bulldogs with 18 points and five assists.

Stallworth added 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Stanley had 12 points and six rebounds.

Ceres High earned its first conference win with a 67-35 victory against Pacheco on Jan. 9 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

Stallworth led the Bulldogs with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

Aj Brown totaled 10 points.

Ontiveros tallied seven points, six assists and five rebounds.

The Bulldogs will play host to Grace Davis today (7:30 p.m.) and at Mountain House on Friday (7:15 p.m.). 

Central Valley dropped to 6-13 overall and 0-4 in the Central California Conference after losing 65-27 to Golden Valley on Jan. 13 in Ceres.

The Hawks played for the third time in five days.

“The kids were a little tired,” noted Rodriguez. “It’s not why we lost but it was a contributing factor. The style we play is pretty exhausting. We try to make every game a track meet. We really push the tempo.”

Jayson Casias led Central Valley with 12 points, 10 rebounds and one assist.

Jomari Ocasiones had seven points and three rebounds.

Gage Mastropierro had six points, eight rebounds and two assists.

Buhach Colony avenged a 12-point loss with a 63-62 victory over Central Valley on Jan. 11 in Atwater.

Casias led the Hawks with 19 points, 10 rebounds and one assist.

Mastropierro tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.

Andrew Ruiz added 10 points, five rebounds and two steals.

Central Valley lost 77-47 to Atwater on Jan. 9 in Ceres.

Casias led the Hawks with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four steals.

Mastropierro had 13 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Andre Flores contributed five points, six rebounds and one assist.

Central Valley will play host to El Capitan today and Patterson on Friday. Both games will begin at 7:15 p.m.