Central Valley High School's varsity girls basketball team traveled to Merced during the opening week of Western Athletic Conference play.

The Hawks seized control in the first quarter and rolled to a 45-33 win over first-year El Capitan Friday night.

"We ran our plays and finished," Central Valley head coach Jesse Padilla said. "We executed."
The Hawks improved to 8-5 on the year and 1-0 in the WAC standings.

The Gauchos dropped to 0-1 in conference play.

"We'll get better," Padilla said.

Central Valley's Mikayla Mabie filled the stat sheet with 12 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

Teresa Diaz had 12 points, three steals and one rebound.

Lindsey Alexander collected six points, two rebounds, two steals and one assist.

Celest Lepe tallied four points, three steals and one rebound.

Alyssa Costa contributed four points and five rebounds.

Nicole Munoz added three points, five rebounds and one steal.

"Everybody did pretty well," Padilla said.

Central Valley stormed to an 18-6 lead in the opening period.

"We were confident," Padilla said. "We played them before at the Golden Valley Tournament. We knew who their shooter was. We keyed on her. We full-court pressed them for three quarters."

Central Valley will play against Patterson this week.

Sophomore forward Adriana Haynes, formerly of Ceres High, will make her debut with the Hawks. She sat out the first month of the season to satisfy a CIF transfer rule.

"She played with us during the summertime," Padilla said. "I like her height. She has a nice 15-foot jumper."