Ceres High’s varsity boys basketball team raced out to a 15-3 lead versus Johansen during last week’s Western Athletic Conference game.

But it was all for naught as the Vikings reeled off 18 straight points and held on for a 55-51 win over the Bulldogs Friday evening at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

Ceres High failed to exact revenge for a 49-40 loss suffered at Johansen on Jan. 8.

“Obviously, we thought we were going to win,” Bulldogs’ post player Samar Singh said. “We came in with good energy. We couldn’t sustain it. They played hard the whole game.”

“When our offense is not rolling, we take a step back defensively,” Ceres High head coach T.J. Walker Jr. said. “That’s not a good identity to have. We have to figure it out. We have to keep working hard and trying to get better.”

Ceres High dropped to 7-12 overall and fourth in the Western Athletic Conference (1-5).

Johansen moved to 5-14 on the season and into a two-way tie for second place in the WAC standings (3-3) with Los Banos.

“We can beat most of the teams in our league,” Singh said. “We just have to get our minds right and do what we’re supposed to do.”

“The effort is there at times,” Walker said. “Our confidence is not where it needs to be. When you start losing games, it’s tough. Us as a group have to believe in each other.”

Johansen’s 18-0 scoring barrage turned a 12-point deficit into a six-point lead.

“We were playing how we were supposed to play,” Singh said. “The energy was high. The crowd got us hyped. Once we started missing shots on offense, we let that dictate our defense. We stopped pressuring and let them do whatever they wanted to do. It was demoralizing.”

“We have stints on the floor where we look like a varsity team,” Walker said. “The spells that we have (on offense) are really hurting us.”

Ceres High will play at Mountain House today and Lathrop on Friday. 

Both league games will begin at 7:15 p.m.

We’ll keep working,” Walker said. “We’ll figure this out. We’ll right the ship.”

“We got to finish the season strong to have a shot at playoffs,” Singh said.