Central Valley’s varsity boys basketball team played three games in a five-day stretch last week.

The Hawks prevailed twice and tasted defeat once.

“We executed our game plans pretty well,” head coach Mike Rodriguez said. “It was just an all-round good effort.”

Central Valley improved to 8-11 overall and 2-2 in the Central California Conference Friday evening with a 63-53 victory over host Patterson. “I was burnt out,” Rodriguez said. “The kids had a lot of energy. They were ready to go. I was surprised they had the legs left to press all game.”

Hawk Daniel Villasenor made all six of his free throws on his way to tallying a team-high 15 points versus the Tigers.

Max Sanchez, Grant Neang and Tony Gaut scored 13, 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Hawks built an 18-9 lead in the first quarter.

“We set the tone early,” Rodriguez said. 

Central Valley struggled during the second half in losing 68-48 to visiting Golden Valley on Wednesday in Ceres.

“We had too many turnovers in the third quarter,” said Rodriguez, whose team led 24-23 at intermission. 

Kadin Manor drained four treys and finished with a team-high 18 points.

Villasenor added 11 points.

Neang had nine points.

Central Valley secured its first-ever CCC victory by beating Atwater 48-45 on Jan. 7.

Sanchez broke a 45-all tie with a 3-pointer from the right corner with 11 seconds left in regulation.

“We called a timeout and ran one of our sets,” Rodriguez said. “The kids executed the play. Max hit a big shot for us.”

Sanchez totaled 17 points.

Villasenor, Neang and Manor all contributed nine points.

Central Valley will host Buhach Colony tonight and El Capitan Friday. Both games will get underway at 7:15 p.m.