Fueled by its energetic crowd, Central Valley High School's junior-varsity boys basketball team thrashed crosstown-rival Ceres High 67-53 on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs beat the Hawks twice last season.
"It's a lot of fun playing in front of the hometown fans," said Juan Manriquez, Central Valley's 6-foot-7, 320-pound center. "They cheer you on. It gets you pumped up."
The Hawks improved to 2-4 in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
Ceres High dropped to 2-4 in league play.
Central Valley guard Maleek Berry poured in 16 of his game-high 20 points after intermission. Tranjit Singh contributed 12 points. Manriquez and Manuel Garcia each collected nine points. Parker Griffin, B.J. Prak and Kenneth Mesa scored eight, five and three points, respectively. Waleed Majeed had one point.
The Bulldogs had one player score in double figures against the Hawks this past week.
Michael Ghimenti tallied a team-high 11 points.
Brad Bussard had eight points.
Dylan Canatsy and Jimmy Bates both collected seven points.
Angel Garcia, Harmon Singh, Terry Brogdon, Jacob Edwards and Brent Bussard added six, five, four, three and two points, respectively.
"Once the first half ended, we were pretty sure we were going to win," said Manriquez, whose team led 35-23 at the break.
The Hawks finished off the Bulldogs with a 23-8 run in the second half. Berry totaled 16 points. Maleek's floater in the lane put Central Valley ahead 64-40 with 3:41 to play.
"The effort was there," Ghimenti said while evaluating Ceres High's overall performance. "We just didn't do the little things today. They played a good game."
The Bulldogs beat the Hawks twice last season.
"It's a lot of fun playing in front of the hometown fans," said Juan Manriquez, Central Valley's 6-foot-7, 320-pound center. "They cheer you on. It gets you pumped up."
The Hawks improved to 2-4 in the Western Athletic Conference standings.
Ceres High dropped to 2-4 in league play.
Central Valley guard Maleek Berry poured in 16 of his game-high 20 points after intermission. Tranjit Singh contributed 12 points. Manriquez and Manuel Garcia each collected nine points. Parker Griffin, B.J. Prak and Kenneth Mesa scored eight, five and three points, respectively. Waleed Majeed had one point.
The Bulldogs had one player score in double figures against the Hawks this past week.
Michael Ghimenti tallied a team-high 11 points.
Brad Bussard had eight points.
Dylan Canatsy and Jimmy Bates both collected seven points.
Angel Garcia, Harmon Singh, Terry Brogdon, Jacob Edwards and Brent Bussard added six, five, four, three and two points, respectively.
"Once the first half ended, we were pretty sure we were going to win," said Manriquez, whose team led 35-23 at the break.
The Hawks finished off the Bulldogs with a 23-8 run in the second half. Berry totaled 16 points. Maleek's floater in the lane put Central Valley ahead 64-40 with 3:41 to play.
"The effort was there," Ghimenti said while evaluating Ceres High's overall performance. "We just didn't do the little things today. They played a good game."
