Central Valley had to wait a year to exact revenge.

The Hawks' junior-varsity girls basketball team defeated crosstown-rival Ceres High 29-24 in Western Athletic Conference play on Thursday at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

"We really wanted to win today," Central Valley head coach Kevin Dupree said. "We lost to them twice last year as freshmen."

The Hawks improved to 2-0 in the WAC standings.

The Bulldogs dropped to 2-1 in conference play.

Alyssa Costa led the Hawks with eight points.

Simi Sahota and Celest Lepe chipped in with seven and six points, respectively.

Jadah Jackson and Krystal Perez both scored three points.
Sophia Kumar added two points.

Ariel Knights led Ceres High with 10 points.

Jade Moore contributed four points.

Rayohna Sagapolu and Allyson Hailey collected three points each.

Callie Nunes and Kadie Brenning both scored two points.

Central Valley trailed 18-14 at intermission.

The Hawks limited the Bulldogs to just six points in the second half.

"I'm surprised, honestly," Dupree said. "That's amazing. The only way for us to win games is by playing better defense. We put emphasis on it at halftime. We pressured the ball a lot more. We got in their face and contested shots. We made sure no shot was easy."

Costa's inside basket, which was set up by Jackson's pinpoint pass, gave Central Valley a 29-24 lead with 26 seconds to play.

Neither team scored the rest of the game.

"It was close from start to finish," Dupree said. "It's a rivalry game. We want to beat them in every sport."