Basketball Recap: Ceres' Luck Changes for the Better on Wednesday

Ceres won the last time they faced Livingston, and Manuel Ortega did his part to make sure it happened again. The Ceres Bulldogs snuck past the Livingston Wolves with a 69-65 victory on Wednesday thanks in part to Ortega, who dropped a double-double on 33 points and 15 boards. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rebounds.

Livingston lost despite a true team effort on offense, the best among them being Adrian Aguirre, who went 6 for 14 on his way to 17 points in addition to five boards and four steals. Aguirre has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Jayshaan Bains was another key player, going 6 of 13 en route to 21 points along with five rebounds and three steals.

With the win, Ceres broke their three-game losing streak and moved their record to 8-14. As for Livingston, they have been struggling recently as they've lost ten of their last 11 matchups, which put a noticeable dent in their 7-14 record this season.

Ceres and Livingston could both be facing uphill battles in their next games considering their disadvantage in the MaxPreps California Rankings. Ceres will face off against Johansen at 7:30 p.m. on Friday down 462 places (889 vs. 427). Similarly, Livingston (ranked 984th) will meet Beyer (ranked 265th) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.