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Varsity boys finish fifth in league
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When the Ceres High varsity boys basketball team overcame a 13-point deficit in the fourth period, Jake Laudenslayer and the Davis Spartans didn't panic.

Laudenslayer scored nine of his game-high 27 points in the final five minutes and the Spartans held off the Bulldogs 61-52 Friday night in Modesto.

"We got the momentum and they called a time out," said Ceres High senior Derrick Goblirsch. "It messed up our rhythm."

Senior Zack Wiedenbeck scored a team-high 18 points for Ceres (9-18), which finished in fifth place in the Modesto Metro Conference with a 3-12 record. Sophomore Kevin Dupree added 13 points. Junior Bryant Hill and sophomore Ross Tate each had six points.

"I still think we should have made the playoffs," said Ceres coach Jason Martin.

Louie Torres and Stephan Mason added 10 and eight points, respectively, for Davis, which placed last in the MMC standings at 2-13. The Spartans went 9-18 overall.

The Spartans outscored the Bulldogs 19-16 in the third period for a 48-35 lead.

The Bulldogs used a 13-0 run to even the score at 48-all with 4:58 remaining. Wiedenbeck and Hill scored seven and six points, respectively.

Davis outscored Ceres 13-4 in the final 4:42. Laudenslayer made 6 of 6 free throws.

"I was happy with the effort," Martin said. "We played hard."

Added Goblirsch: "We ran out of gas."

Ceres led 14-13 at the end of the first period.

The Bulldogs fell behind by 10 after missing 21 of 22 shots in the second period.

"The second quarter killed us," Goblirsch said.

Ceres shot 27 percent (17-for-62) from the field and 50 percent (12-for-24) from the foul line for the game.

Davis shot 31 percent (16-for-52) from the foul line and 75 percent (23-for-31) from the charity stripe.

CHS falls on Senior Night

Derrick Goblirsch, Zack Wiedenbeck, Rafael Valencia and Charlie Cunha received a warm ovation prior to the start of Wednesday's game against Downey. Competing in front of their home fans for the final time, the four seniors were hoping to lead the Bulldogs to an upset victory over the playoff-bound Knights.

Downey senior Brad Bispo kept that from happening. He went 13-for-21 from the free-throw line and scored 23 points during the Knights' 59-41 win over Ceres.

"Bispo's a great athlete," Wiedenbeck said. "He's so strong."

Wiedenbeck scored a team-high 10 points. Matt Schwark, Goblirsch and Valencia added nine, six and four points, respectively, for Ceres.

Dominique Landers, Zeph Tyson and Andre Poree had 15, eight and six points, respectively, for Downey.

Ceres built an 18-9 lead in the first quarter.

Led by Tyson, Poree, Bispo and Landers, the Knights outscored the Bulldogs 16-4 in the second quarter. Tyson had six points, Poree and Bispo both scored four, and Landers added two.

Downey led by three, 25-22, at halftime.

The Knights extended their lead to 15 in the third quarter. Bispo accounted for 12 of Downey's 20 points. He went 8-for-8 from the foul line. Ceres tallied just eight points in the quarter.

The Knights outscored the Bulldogs 14-11 in the fourth quarter.

Downey shot twice as many free throws in the game.

The Knights made 21 of 35 from the charity stripe.

The Bulldogs made 5 of 7 from the foul line.

"It would have been really special if we won at home," Wiedenbeck said.

"I think we could have beat them if we finished inside. We missed our layups. That's what killed us." - By DALE BUTLER / Staff Reporter of The Ceres (Calif.) Courier