Central Valley’s and Ceres High’s junior-varsity boys basketball teams battled this past month with the Hawks earning bragging rights with a 64-52 victory against the Bulldogs in front of a large crowd on Jan. 24.

“The atmosphere was pretty awesome,” Central Valley head coach Anthony Fareria said. “It was electric. There was definitely a higher energy than most games. The program as a whole takes that (crosstown) game very serious. 

The second-place Hawks (9-3) and fourth-place Bulldogs (5-4) will close out the Western Athletic Conference season this week.

Ceres High will play host to Central Valley this Friday at 6 p.m.

“At the beginning of the year, I didn’t know what to expect,” Fareria said. “I just wanted to see the kids work hard and continue to grow.”

Central Valley’s Parteek Sol buried six treys on his way to tallying a game-high 24 points.

Xavier Manor, Jacob Barajas and Julian Sanchez contributed seven, six and five points, respectively.

Orion Joliff and Karmpreet Sandhu both scored fourth points.

Jackson Dooley and Joshua Rubio both had two points,

The Hawks buried 10 3-pointers against Ceres High.

“Our offensive strategy is to play fast,” Fareria said. “Being 15 deep, we’re able to sub guys in and out.”

Ceres High had three players score in double figures against Central Valley.

Elijah Robinson, Raymond Cortez Jr. and Tavian Ellis tallied 14, 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Felipe Morales added nine points.

Nathaniel Macias had six points.

The Bulldogs made seven 3-pointers.

Ceres High challenged Central Valley.

Down 48-30, the Bulldogs outscored the Hawks 22-16 during the final period. 

“We played well the first three quarters,” Fareria said. “The fourth quarter, Ceres got hot. We were able to weather the storm.”

Central Valley staved off Ceres High’s comeback attempt to the home crowd’s delight.

“The fans were going back and forth,” Fareria said. “The kids enjoyed it.”

“It’s a fun game the whole town buys into,” he added.