Prep roundup: Golden Valley girls clinch CCC basketball championship

The Golden Valley High School girls basketball team wrapped up a second consecutive Central California Conference championship in dominant fashion, rolling past Atwater 67-33 on Tuesday night at Cougar Arena.

Golden Valley improved to 21-4 overall and 8-0 in the CCC. The win clinched a tie for the championship, and when Merced finished its 54-47 win over Pitman about a half-hour later, the outright title belonged to Golden Valley.

“Our primary goal is to always win a league championship,” said Cougars coach Matt Thissen, whose team extended its overall winning streak to 11 and conference winning streak to 18. “Now we’re in a situation where if we keep winning, we may improve our seeding, wherever that puts us.

“I know our league, outside the area, is not really highly thought of, so we can’t afford to slip up anywhere.”

It was a tough night for the Falcons, who lost their third consecutive game to fall to 16-8, 3-5. Atwater struggled against the Golden Valley fullcourt press, and when the Falcons did get into their halfcourt offense, they couldn’t score inside against the Cougars’ twin towers, Abbee Croninger and Kayla Commons.

The Falcons lack strong perimeter scoring, and they missed all nine three-point attempts.

Inside, Atwater repeatedly had shots blocked as Commons finished with seven blocks to go with 12 points and nine rebounds. Croninger had three blocks.

“We don’t teach any of our players to block shots,” Thissen said. “We preach contest shots and box out. I can’t fault them for getting their hands on the ball. It really helps our defense.”

The blocked shots forced the Falcons out of their offense, said Atwater coach J.R. Davis.

“Our bread and butter is inside, so when you block our shots and take that away, we stall,” Davis said. “Our post players become one-dimensional.”

The Falcons shot just 14 of 51. Add 21 turnovers, and it’s a recipe for a blowout.

Golden Valley led 30-12 midway through the second quarter. Stephanie Moore scored 15 of her game-high 24 points in the first half for the Cougars.

“I don’t know if it’s just an intimidation-against-Golden Valley thing or what,” Davis said. “We come out and we don’t run the offense. There was just no fire.”

The Falcons must win their final two games and hope for help to make the postseason.

After relying on defense in recent weeks, the Cougars’ offense is coming to life.

“I think we just needed to play at home,” Thissen said. “We had 59 points last game and 67 (Tuesday). We’ve been playing on opponents’ courts for a long time.”

Merced 54, Pitman 47 in Turlock – The Bears picked up a needed win on the road to help their postseason chances. Lexi Thompson scored 14 points and Symone Gilliam 13 to lead Merced (16-9, 4-4 CCC).

The Bears are tied with Turlock for the third and final CCC playoff spot with two games remaining. Merced travels to Atwater on Thursday.

Livingston 48, El Capitan 32 in Merced – Sharn Sahota scored 22 points and Annie Winton 11 for the Wolves (16-7, 8-1 Western Athletic Conference).

Dos Palos 50, Mendota 40 in Dos Palos – Kayla Hall scored 16 points to lead the Broncos (11-6, 5-1 West Sierra League). Teya Vincent scored 11 points and Grace Schofield 10 for Dos Palos.

Wrestling

Buhach Colony 69, Atwater 9 in Atwater – The Thunder wrapped up a share of the CCC championship by going 5-0 in dual matches. Buhach Colony was led by Kyle Downs (106 pounds), Dawson Saephanah (126), Thomas Vasquez (132), Noah Hall (138), Keelan Buckner (145), Salvador Sanchez (195) and Steven Inocencio (220), who recorded pins.

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 10:44 PM with the headline "Prep roundup: Golden Valley girls clinch CCC basketball championship."