High schools throughout the Stanislaus District, including Ceres and Central Valley, canceled athletic events in recent weeks due to rainy weather.

“I’ve been switching stuff left and right,” said Hawks’ athletic director Greg Magni. “We basically didn’t play any games for 10-14 days because it was wet. In 2016, there was similar weather patterns but not as intense.”

“It’s something we got to deal with but we need the rain,” Bulldogs’ AD John Bussard said. “You just got to roll with the punches.”

Central Valley’s girls soccer team was supposed to play Atwater on Jan. 5, Buhach Colony on Jan. 10 and Merced on Jan. 12. All three matches were rescheduled.

The Central Valley boys soccer team’s games versus Atwater on Jan. 5 and Buhach Colony on Jan. 10 were rescheduled.

Central Valley’s wrestling dual meet against Buhach Colony on Jan. 10 was canceled and will be staged later this month.

Central Valley’s girls basketball team was supposed to face Buhach Colony on Jan. 10. The game will be played at the end of the month.

Central Valley’s wrestling, girls basketball and boys and girls soccer games versus Buhach Colony were canceled as schools in Merced were closed that day.

“Merced County got flooded,” Magni said.  

“From what I read, the 20th of January is when there is supposed to be clear weather,” he added. “All we can do is try to get in as many games as we can.”

Ceres High’s girls soccer games versus Los Banos on Jan. 4, Lathrop on Jan. 9 and Grace Davis on Jan. 11 were all canceled.

Ceres High’s boys soccer team was supposed to battle Los Banos on Jan. 4 and Grace Davis on Jan. 11. Both games were rescheduled.

Ceres High’s home playing field was too muddy to play on.

“We go through this every year,” Bulldogs’ head coach Gilbert Zamora Jr. said. “We’re used to it.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Central Valley’s and Ceres High’s girls basketball teams posted a combined record of 0-5 against conference rivals last week.

The Hawks dropped to 1-15 overall and 0-3 in the Central California Conference standings after losing 45-13 to Golden Valley on Jan. 12 in Merced.

“The effort is there,” Central Valley head coach Ryan Donnelly said. “There have definitely been some improvements since the beginning of the season. They understand the game more.”

The Dennison sisters, Makayla and Marion, both tallied a team-high four points versus the Cougars.

Julyanna Valencia had three points.

Jannet Valencia added two points.

“Offensively, we got the shots we wanted,” Donnelly said. “We just missed. That’s been our biggest struggle all year.”

Central Valley sustained a 63-6 loss at Atwater on Jan. 9.

“They have the best team in our league,” Donnelly said. “They have a really good defense. We struggled handling their full-court press. We had a lot of turnovers.”

The Hawks will play host to the Patterson Tigers this Thursday at 7:15 p.m.

“There are some teams in this league we can beat,” Donnelly said. “We just have to prepare the girls the best we can. Our biggest focus right now is making layups and shots.”

The Bulldogs dropped to 4-13 on the year and 1-4 in the Western Athletic Conference with a 50-46 loss to Los Banos on Jan. 12 at Phil de la Porte Gymnasium.

Ceres High lost 47-37 to visiting Johansen on Jan. 10.

Arrayah Stallworth led the Bulldogs with 13 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Marissa Renteria had 10 points, six rebounds and one assist.

Ally Gamboa Rozell had four points and 10 rebounds.

Sovannary Carter had four points and eight rebounds.

Jaleen Melendez had four points and one rebound.

Pacheco defeated Ceres High 53-36 on Jan. 9 in Los Banos.

Gamboa Rozell led the Bulldogs with eight points, seven rebounds and one steal.

Renteria had eight points, five rebounds and one assist.

Melendez had eight points, two assists and one rebound.

Carter had six points, four rebounds and one block.

Stallworth had two points, 10 rebounds and one assist.

The Bulldogs will play host to the Mountain House Mustangs on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

BOYS SOCCER

Central Valley’s and Ceres High’s boys soccer teams netted positive results in league play this past week.

The Hawks pulled away for a 3-1 win over the host Merced Bears in Central California Conference action on Thursday.

“They continue to work well together,” head coach Horatio Garcia said.

Central Valley improved to 11-3-4 overall and 2-1-0 in the CCC standings.

Merced dropped to 5-3-1 and 2-2-0.

“If we continue to work hard, we should have a chance to fight for the league title against Golden Valley,” Garcia said.

Nicolas Gil, Julio Larranaga and Yahir Perez all scored one goal versus the Bears.

Perez started at striker. He logged playing time at right winger during the beginning of the season.

“We needed someone to step up,” Garcia said while talking about Perez’s position change. “Yahir’s speed is second to none. He’s fast. His ball control is amazing.”

Enrique Lopez collected one assist.

Oscar Mercado and Osvaldo Cisneros both made two saves at goalkeeper.

Merced failed to convert a pair of one-on-one chances against Mercado in the opening 40 minutes.

“He’s improved since the beginning of the season,” Garcia said. “He’s contributed enormously.”

The Hawks held a slim 1-0 lead at intermission.

“It was very competitive,” Garcia said. “They kept is close for the first 10-15 minutes. They have a couple strikers that are really fast. That made it tough on us.”

Central Valley outscored Merced 2-1 during the second half.

“We made some adjustments,” Garcia said. “We made six substitutions to incorporate more speed in our attack.”

Visiting Ceres High and Mountain House battled to a 4-4 tie on Friday.

Both teams erased deficits.

“We should have won the game,” assistant coach Danny Barragan said. “Simple errors cost us. They took advantage of our mistakes.”

The Bulldogs moved to 3-7-3 overall and 1-2-2 in the Western Athletic Conference standings.

“This team has been making progress,” Barragan said. “We have talented players. We just need to work more as a team and communicate better.”

Leonel Baz, Fernando Galvan, Yahir Medina and Nicholas Vieyra all scored once versus Mountain House.

Medina also contributed at goalkeeper, along with Christopher Vega.

Ceres High squandered leads of 2-1 and 4-3.

“They scored on our errors,” Barragan said.

Weather permitting, Central Valley will play host to first-place Golden Valley on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

Ceres High will play at Johansen on Friday at 6:15 p.m.