Roundup: Merced girls open CCC play with win. Atwater’s Davis reaches 100 career wins.
The Merced High girls basketball team overcame a slow start to defeat Buhach Colony 60-30 to win their Central California Conference opener on Thursday night on Vince Clemons Court.
The Bears (12-2 overall, 1-0 CCC) made just 4 of 18 shots in the first quarter, which still gave them a 9-6 lead.
Merced settled in during the second quarter and cruised the rest of the way.
The Bears used a 10-0 run in the second quarter to take control of the game. Sophomore Amari Stamps scored nine of her 13 points in the second quarter as Merced took a 31-14 lead into intermission.
“I think we had a combination of nerves and rushing shots early on,” said Merced coach Art Solis. “We were forcing it when we didn’t need to force it. I think nerves played a role in our shot selection. We just took a little time to settle our feet.”
Amaya Ervin came off the bench to score a game-high 18 points and finished with seven steals for Merced. Sierra Smith added 11 points for the Bears.
Karlee King led the Thunder (7-9, 0-2) with nine points.
Buhach Colony struggled against Merced’s pressure, turning the ball over 26 times.
Atwater 53, El Capitan 36 in Atwater – The Falcons rebounded from their 46-40 loss on Tuesday to Pitman with a victory over the Gauchos. In the process Atwater coach JR Davis picked up career win No. 100.
Kelsey Valencia led the Falcons (8-7, 1-1) with 14 points. Jazlyn Barron added 13 and Jessica Reyes scored 11 for Atwater.
Pitman 62, Golden Valley 41 in Turlock – The Pride improved to 2-0 in the CCC with a home win over the Cougars (5-10, 1-1). Leah Doyle lead Golden Valley with 11 points. Delia Moore and Keionnie Clemons both scored eight for GV.
Livingston 49, Downey 40 in Modesto – Annie Winton scored 22 points to help the Wolves win their final nonconference game. Alizabeth Huerta added 16 points for Livingston (9-6).
Le Grand 61, Delhi 21 in Delhi –Alexa Ultreras scored 31 points to help the Bulldogs cruise past the Hawks. Lily Vazquez added 10 points for Le Grand.
Boys Soccer
Buhach Colony 2, Golden Valley 1 in Atwater – The Thunder won the CCC opener. Albert Valencia scored the Cougars’ only goal on an assist from Manny Madrigal.
Turlock 7, El Capitan 3 in Merced – Allen Sanchez scored two goals and assisted on two others to lead the Bulldogs past the Gauchos. Beni Mejia added two goals and an assist for Turlock.
Nestor Montes scored two goals for El Capitan and Jairo Vega added another score.
This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 9:57 PM with the headline "Roundup: Merced girls open CCC play with win. Atwater’s Davis reaches 100 career wins.."