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Martinez propels CHS frosh boys past CV
Dawgs improve to 15-3 on the year, 5-0 in league play
iontiveros.tiff
Ismael Ontiveros and Ceres Highs freshman boys basketball team elevated their level of play in a 71-45 win over Central Valley. - photo by DALE BUTLER/The Courier

Ceres High School's freshman boys basketball team played its most complete game of the year while blowing out Central Valley.

The Bulldogs dominated the Western Athletic Conference crosstown showdown, 71-45, on Jan. 10 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

"I'm really happy for the boys," Ceres High head coach Tracy Bull said.

Bulldog Haaydn Martinez scored 22 of his career-high 26 points in the opening half. Martinez drilled 6 of 11 treys during the game.

Ismael Ontiveros, Jefferson Lemus and Jordan McGrath netted nine, six and five points, respectively.

Nick Jones, Elijah Niblett and Adrian Espinoza tallied four points each.

Conner Johnson collected three points.

Gilbert Rodriguez, Blane Abeyta and Jacob Langan all had two points.

"Haaydn was on fire," Bull said. "He's been our leading scorer all year."

Harinder Sidhu scored a team-high 11 points for Central Valley.

Wilbert Soriano added eight points.

Aondray Peoples, Eugene Kondratyuk, Rodney Stahl and Jonathan Barragan all contributed five points.

Erik Gomez had one point.

Ahead by just seven points at halftime, Ceres High outscored Central Valley 23-0 in the third period.

The Bulldogs led 55-25 heading into the fourth quarter.

"It's a good win for the boys," Bull said. "We got contributions from everybody. We had great ball movement. We played with great energy."

Ceres High (15-3, 5-0) will play at Central Valley (0-3) this Friday at 4:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs have won 11 of their last 12 games.

"We have a really good team," Bull said. "I'm disappointed we're not 17-1. We gave two games away. We expect to go undefeated in league. The only team that can beat us is ourselves."

JUNIOR VARSITY
Ceres High's junior-varsity girls basketball team defeated Patterson and Los Banos in Western Athletic Conference play last week.

Freshman Rayohna Sagapolu hit two free throws with 1.6 seconds left in regulation to lift the Bulldogs to a 46-44 victory over Patterson on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

"When she got up to the line, she looked very confident," Ceres High head coach Jeff Borden said. "She's mentally tough."

Callie Nunes added 10 points. She buried two treys.

Jasmine Moore and Ariel Knights collected six points each.

Allyson Hailey and Adryana Knights scored five and two points, respectively.

The Bulldogs trailed 30-22 at the end of the third quarter.

Ceres High outscored Patterson 24-14 in the final period.

"We did a pretty solid job playing defense," Borden said.

Ceres High edged visiting Los Banos 31-26 on Thursday.

Sagapolu and Ariel Knights paced the Bulldogs with seven points apiece.

The Bulldogs led 18-15 at the break.

Ceres High outscored Los Banos 13-11 after intermission.

The second-place Bulldogs (4-1) will play at crosstown-rival Central Valley on Thursday. Tipoff slated for 6 p.m.

Hawks 58, Raiders 43
Central Valley's junior-varsity girls basketball team edged Central Catholic 37-31 on Jan. 7 in Ceres.

The Hawks won the second meeting, 58-43, on Jan. 14 in Modesto and earned a Western Athletic Conference series sweep of the Raiders.

"We want to try to win league or be one of the top teams," Central Valley head coach Kevin Dupree said. "If you're not focused, anything can happen in the game of basketball."

Central Valley improved to 10-2 on the year and 3-0 in the WAC.

The Hawks extended their unbeaten streak to five games.

Alyssa Costa collected a team-high 15 points for Central Valley.

Jadah Jackson tallied 12 points.

Celest Lepe, Krystal Perez, Teresa Diaz and Diamond Lopez contributed nine, six, five and four points, respectively.

Simi Sahota and Sophia Kumar both scored three points.

Nicole Munoz had one point.

Central Valley outscored Central Catholic 28-13 in the middle periods.

Central Valley will play host to crosstown-rival Ceres High on Thursday at 6 p.m. The Hawks defeated the Bulldogs 29-24 on Jan. 9 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

"I see it being a close game that will be decided in the fourth quarter," Dupree said.