After celebrating league championships, Merced-area teams turn their focus to playoffs
Winning a league championship is one of the top goals for any Merced-area basketball team.
It means something for players to be able to enter their gym years from now and see their team up on the championship banner hanging on the wall.
Last week, four Merced Union High School District teams got to experience that thrill as the Merced and Golden Valley high school boys teams earned a share of the Central California Conference championship. The CCC girls title was also split between Atwater and El Capitan.
Seconds after grinding out a 65-58 double-overtime victory over El Capitan on Wednesday, the Cougars players jumped up and down and joined their crowd in chanting: “CCC! CCC!”
The victory clinched the program’s first conference championship since 2020.
“It feels great,” said senior center Isaiah Carter, who scored 23 points despite picking up three first-half fouls and playing through foul trouble against El Capitan. “I didn’t win one my freshman, sophomore or junior year so I came into this season hungry.”
The Cougars’ title run wasn’t easy.
The CCC race was tightly contested with Golden Valley, Merced, El Capitan and Atwater separated by just a few games throughout conference play.
The Cougars (21-7 overall, 8-2 CCC) had to grind out wins, finding ways to pull out victories in close games.
“Our guys just trusted the process,” said Golden Valley coach Derrick Jacobs. “They bought into what the coaches were preaching and also bought into each other. Every player has a role on a team, and once every player accepted their role, that’s when the team became a team.”
It started with Carter as the anchor inside. At 6-foot-6, the senior was a threat to score and controlled the boards. Junior Zay Goode gave the Cougars another scoring option and a matchup nightmare to a taller guard who could take smaller guards down low. Senior Jeff Tangaan gave GV another scoring threat in the form of a shooter from outside.
“Having someone like Isaiah makes your life easier,” Jacobs said. “You can put the ball in and you know something good is going to happen. Either he’s going to go one-on-one and get a bucket, miss it and get a rebound, or they’re going to double and we’re going to open up somebody else.”
Merced earned its share of the championship with a perfect 5-0 run through the second half of the conference schedule. The Bears bounced back from a tough 49-46 loss to GV on January 29 to win out, including road wins at El Capitan, Atwater and Golden Valley.
The Bears (19-9, 8-2 CCC) finished the season with a strong defensive effort in a 47-28 victory against GV at Cougar Arena on Friday. night. It’s Merced’s first championship since 2022.
“Early on we had a couple of losses by four or five points and that’s part of the process,” said Merced coach Adrian Sanchez. “It’s not a good feeling but I told them if you continue to work and you continue to stick with it, you’re headed in the right direction.”
Merced junior guard Valentin Vasquez led the way with 17 points. Vasquez also came up huge in the Bears’ 72-63 win over El Capitan that helped propel Merced during their late surge. Vasquez scored 17 of his 22 points in a fourth quarter that saw the Bears erase a 10-point deficit against the Gauchos on January 31.
Sanchez said it was special to see his players celebrate the title on Friday night.
“I don’t think kids understand what it takes and they can get discouraged because they are working constantly, the expectation and demand is high,” Sanchez said. “They may wonder is this really worth it? So when they come out and do something like they did tonight, it just solidifies all the work and everything they put in.”
The Sac-Joaquin Section released the playoff matchups on Saturday. The CCC will send four boys to the playoffs.
Despite finishing fourth in the CCC, Atwater (22-6) earned the top seed with a No. 9 seed in Division II and will travel to No. 8 Antelope (19-9) on Wednesday in the first round. The Falcons went 17-1 during their nonconference schedule.
Merced is the No. 12 seed in Division II and will open at No. 5 Lodi (20-8) on Wednesday and Golden Valley is the No. 13 seed and will play at No. 4 Jesuit (19-8).
El Capitan (17-10) is the No. 10 seed in Division III and will travel to Modesto to play No. 7 Beyer (25-3) on Wednesday.
Stone Ridge Christian (20-8) will begin its bid for a second consecutive section championship as the No. 1 seed in Division VI after a perfect 12-0 run to a Southern League championship. The Knights will have a first-round bye.
Mariposa (13-14) will play a play-in game as the No. 17 seed in Division V against No. 16 Vanguard College Prep (17-11) on Tuesday.
CCC Girls
The El Capitan and Atwater high girls teams ended the season as co-CCC champions.
The championship was a fifth consecutive conference title for the Falcons (23-5, 9-1 CCC). It’s been an impressive run with Atwater compiling a 52-2 record in the CCC during the last five years.
Atwater has been led by a deep rotation that includes reining Merced Sun-Star Player of the Year Karissa Hukill and the senior trio of Jolie Hart, Andrea Sandoval and Cami Gibson.
El Capitan has been the only team to hand the Falcons those two losses, including a 57-47 victory on Feb. 6 that helped set up the shared championship. It’s the Gauchos first CCC title in program history since the school opened in 2013.
“One thing that this group of players has that makes them stand out from my previous teams is the grit and mental toughness to win big games,” said Gauchos coach Tyler Dietz. “They proved that this whole season by winning some impressive preseason games and of course by defeating Atwater to get a share of the CCC league title.
El Capitan has been led by senior Shantelle Magana, junior Mady Dietz and freshman Alexis Valenzuela.
Both teams are poised to make deep playoff runs.
The Falcons are seeded No. 2 in Division II after making a semifinal run last season. Atwater will host the winner of a play-in game between No. 15 McNair and No. 18 Kimball on Tuesday at Falcon Arena.
El Capitan is the No. 4 seed in Division II and will host No. 13 Grace Davis of Modesto on Tuesday. Merced (16-11) is the No. 16 seed and will host No. 17 Lodi (13-14) on Monday in a Division II play-in game at Vince Clemons Court.
Fresh off winning its first conference championship in school history, Pacheco (21-7) is the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 Fairfield (20-8) on Tuesday. Los Banos (17-9) is the No. 7 seed and earned a home game against No. 10 Ceres (21-7) on Tuesday.
Southern League teams Le Grand, Mariposa and Stone Ridge Christian all qualified for the playoffs. Le Grand (10-9) is the No. 16 seed in Division V and will open at No. 1 Bret Harte (21-4) on Tuesday. Mariposa (17-7) is the No. 9 seed and will travel to John Adams Academy (14-14) in El Dorado Hills on Tuesday.
The Stone Ridge Christian girls are the No. 8 seed in Division VI and will host No. 9 Stockton Christian (13-9) on Tuesday.
