Ceres High School's junior-varsity boys basketball team moved to 10-2 on the year and 3-0 in the Western Athletic Conference following Friday's 46-20 victory over Los Banos at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.
Nick Jones totaled a team-high 12 points for the Bulldogs.
Marcellus Boykins added seven points.
Austin Crain and Ismael Ontiveros collected six points apiece.
Wyatt Ogden tallied five points.
Jeff Lemus and Gilbert Rodriguez both contributed four points.
Chris Lubinsky had two points.
Ceres High raced out to a 25-10 lead in the opening half.
Ceres High won, 37-34, at El Capitan on Wednesday.
Ogden buried 11 of 16 foul shot on his way to tallying a team-high 13 points.
Jones, Crain and Lubinsky finished with 10, seven and six points, respectively.
Ontiveros added one point.
The Bulldogs shot 46 percent (28 of 61) from the field for the game.
JV Hawks suffer first loss
Patterson snapped Central Valley's 13-game winning streak last week.
The previously-unbeaten Hawks lost 59-57 to the host Tigers in Western Athletic Conference action on Wednesday.
Central Valley's junior-varsity boys basketball team bounced back with a 74-28 victory over Hilmar in non-league play on Thursday.
David Glukhovskiy poured in a game-high 28 points for the Hawks (14-1, 1-1 WAC).
Harinder Sidhi scored 12 points.
Shan Chahal tallied 11 points.
Jaspreet Singh and Erik Mejia both netted six points.
Oso Fregoso and Rodney Stahl contributed four points each.
Wilbert Soriano had two points.
Nick Garcia added one point.
Central Valley led 65-25 at the end of the third quarter.
Central Valley made just 8 of 16 free throws during its two-point loss at Patterson.
Sidhu made four treys and totaled 14 points.
Fregoso also scored 14 points.
Glukhovskiy, Mejia, Chahal and Soriano had seven, six, five and four points, respectively.
Jonathan Barragan and Jacob Guerrero collected two points each.
Stahl had one point.
Joe Okitu buried four treys and tallied a game-high 23 points for the Tigers.
Kwalmeri Rue added 15 points.
Central Valley fell behind 29-26 in the opening half.
The Hawks outscored the Tigers 31-30 the rest of the way.
Frosh Dawgs rebound
Ceres High School's freshman boys basketball squad lost 49-45 to El Capitan on Wednesday in Merced.
The Bulldogs avoided another letdown by topping Los Banos 50-42 on Friday at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.
"It was clearly a team win," Ceres High head coach Tracy Bull said. "We outplayed them. They hit eight 3-pointers. That's what kept them in the ball game."
The Bulldogs improved to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in the Western Athletic Conference.
Ceres High will play host to Patterson today at 4:30 p.m.
Inder Sandu torched Los Banos for 21 points.
Gurraj Purewal added 16 points.
Adrian Magdaleno, Austin Schmidt and Cristian Garcia scored seven, three and two points, respectively.
Monte Wallace contributed one point.
Sandhu and Purewal were relied upon heavily.
"They carried us," Bull said. "They had 37 points between them. They played tremendously well."
Garcia, Ceres High's starting center, picked up three fouls and scored no points in the first half.
"He's been our MVP all year," Bull said. "He's such a dominant player."
Ceres High scored two points in a 12-minute span during the second half of last week's four-point loss to El Capitan.
"We got good looks," Bull said. "We just couldn't buy a basket. We did everything we could do to extend the game. No excuses. They have good size. They have a quick guard."
Ceres High trailed 32-24 heading into the fourth quarter. The Gauchos outscored the Bulldogs 14-2 in the third period.
Ceres High rallied in the final period on the strength of an 18-6 run. The Bulldogs totaled 20 points.
"We finally woke up," Bull said. "Certainly, we can win the rematch."
