Ceres hasn't had much luck against Lathrop recently, but that could start to change on Friday. The Ceres Bulldogs will head out to challenge the Lathrop Spartans at 7:30 p.m. Ceres is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 54.5 points per game this season.
Ceres lost 62-37 to Johansen on Wednesday. The match marked the Bulldogs' lowest-scoring contest so far this season.
| 01/03/24 vs Lathrop | 11 |
| 01/08/25 vs Johansen | 10 |
| 01/22/24 @ Lathrop | 9 |
| 01/31/24 @ Johansen | 9 |
| 01/05/24 @ Beyer | 8 |
Ceres' defeat came about despite a quality game from Tremond Karriem, who posted no points and ten rebounds. That's the most boards Karriem has posted since back in February of 2024. The team also got some help courtesy of Manuel Ortega, who had five points along with eight boards and three steals.
Even though they lost, Ceres smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 18 offensive boards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now pulled down at least eight offensive rebounds in seven consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Lathrop won against Pacheco on Monday with 57 points and they decided to stick to that point total again on Wednesday. Lathrop snuck past Grace Davis with a 57-52 win. The victory made it back-to-back wins for Lathrop.
Ceres better keep an eye on Joseph Perkins. He was instrumental in Lathrop's win, going 11 of 24 on his way to 29 points and five steals. The team also got some help courtesy of Justin Neal, who posted 11 points and five rebounds.
Lathrop is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four contests, which provided a massive bump to their 6-9 record this season. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 60.0 points per game. As for Ceres, their loss dropped their record down to 6-10.
Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Ceres has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 30.9 boards per game. However, it's not like Lathrop struggles in that department as they've been averaging 26.7 rebounds. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.
Ceres came up short against Lathrop in their previous meeting back in January of 2024, falling 67-59. Can Ceres avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
