Atwater girls clinch Central California Conference title as Falcons star hits milestone
The Atwater High girls basketball team had plenty to celebrate on Tuesday night.
The Falcons’ 57-45 victory over Golden Valley clinched a perfect 8-0 run through the Central California Conference, clinching the seventh conference championship in the program’s history.
Not only did the Falcons cut down the nets on Tuesday night, but senior Amoni Claiborne became just the third player in program history to surpass 1,000 career points. Claiborne joined her former teammates Kelsey and Lexi Valencia in the 1,000-point club. The Valencia twin sisters were also watching from the stands on Tuesday night.
“It’s a great experience,” Claiborne said. “It’s my last year and in my last game I get the 1,000 points and we win the CCC championship on senior night. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
Atwater sweep
The Atwater girls and boys won CCC championships in the same year for the first time in school history. The boys also went undefeated in league in their run to their first title since 1978, snapping a 43-year drought.
“It’s a good feeling,” said Atwater girls coach JR Davis. “I’m just glad we got to play a season.”
Like most teams this spring, it was a challenge for the Falcons to play this spring. There were athletes playing multiple sports at the same time. They had to go through COVID testing multiple times per week.
Dominant Run
The Falcons did it and dominated the CCC. Atwater won its conference games by an average of 37 points.
Golden Valley (6-2) gave the Falcons their biggest challenge. The Cougars lost 59-55 earlier in the season to the Falcons and they stuck around on Tuesday night.
Cougars junior Isela Gonzalez scored 15 points and senior Malaysia Lucero added 13 points.
The Falcons finally pulled away in the second half as Claiborne led all players with a game-high 22 points. Maya Manzanares and Jessica Agundis both added eight points for Atwater.
Milestone
Most of the drama in the second half centered around Claiborne’s quest for 1,000 career points. She came into the game needing 16 points to hit the milestone and scored 14 points in the first half.
It seemed like everyone in the gym knew she needed just one basket in the second half to hit the mark as they crowd oohed and aahed with each shot she took in the third quarter.
“I told them not to tell me when I got close,” Claiborne said. “I didn’t want to think about it. I wanted it to come naturally. That’s the most my coaches ever talked to me at halftime so I knew I was close.”
Claiborne finally scored on a driving layup with 1:03 left in the third quarter and the crowd erupted. Her family hung a sign on the wall, celebrating the 1,000-point milestone.
Davis called a timeout immediately to let Claiborne have her moment as her teammates rushed her to celebrate.
“I was kind of worried because she doesn’t play well against Golden Valley,” Davis said. “Last time we played them she tried to force it and we barely won. Since then she’s been in a zone. I’m glad it happened.”
