Ceres High's varsity boys and girls basketball programs will be running their home tournaments simultaneously at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium, Dec. 19-21.

Ceres High's girls will face Pitman on Thursday (8 p.m.), Bret Harte on Friday (6:30 p.m.) and Modesto High on Saturday (4:30 p.m.).

"I haven't scouted any of the other teams," Bulldogs head coach Heather Jones said. "I just want to see improvement from my team."

Sophomore Nicole Bates and junior Perla Vargas will lead the Bulldogs.

Bates was named to the Western Athletic Conference First Team while starring at the varsity level as a freshman. She averaged a team-leading 15.0 points per game while guiding the Bulldogs to a third-place finish in league play (7-5).

"They're both hard workers," said Jones, a former standout player with Ceres High. "I expect more out of her (Bates) because she's the point guard of the team. We both have the same type of personality. We want to win every game possible."

Ceres High (0-3) will try to secure its first victory of the season this week.

"We started the season off rocky," Jones said. "The wins will come. Our hard work will pay off."

Ceres High's boys will play against Oakdale on Thursday (6:30 p.m.), Modesto High on Friday (8 p.m.) and Bear Creek on Saturday (3 p.m.).

Harman Chung, Abel Reyes and Dylan Canatsy will lead the Bulldogs (4-2).

Chung, a senior post player, earned all-tournament honors while propelling Ceres High to the consolation championship in Turlock last week. He averaged 15.7 points per game.

Harman earned WAC honorable-mention accolades as a junior. He averaged 14.0 points and 8.8 rebounds for the third-place Bulldogs (7-5).

"We want to improve every game and contend for the title," Bulldogs head coach Julio Marquez said. "It would be nice winning it, especially for the seniors. You always want to do well at your home tournament. We want to have a successful year."