By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Crosstown matchups heat up CCAL schedules
Turlock girls basketball 1
Turlock’s Olivia Walker goes up for a score during the Bulldogs’ league win against Pitman on Tuesday (KATIE DAY/The Journal).

Students are back from winter break and the MLK holiday is in the rear-view mirror, which means that league races around the region, for high school sports, will start to heat up this week.

For instance, tonight alone there are three — count ’em, three — Turlock vs. Pitman showdowns.

The Bulldogs entertain the Pride in boys basketball at 7:30 p.m. After just two Central California Athletic League games, every team in the league, save for Pitman, has at least one league loss. 

Turlock comes back on Friday with a game against Downey in Bulldog Arena, while Pitman travels to Modesto to face Enochs. Plenty depends on what happens tonight, but Turlock, Enochs and Downey are all 1-1 in the CCAL right now, so these games are important for everybody. After all, you can’t win the league title in January, but you can sure lose it.

Meanwhile Pitman travels across town to take on Turlock tonight at 5:30 in boys soccer, while the Bulldogs travel to face the Pride in a 6:30 girls soccer matchup.

On Thursday, the Pitman and Turlock girls basketball teams don’t play each other — they played Monday, with Turlock earning a 38-33 victory — but both play crucial CCAL games. Turlock hosts Downey and Pitman travels to Enochs. Like the boys, these teams are clustered and each team will be looking to take command, or at least stay relevant, in the conference race.

Also on Thursday, Hughson’s girls basketball team will travel to take on undefeated Escalon (19-0). Hughson (4-1) is just a half-game back of the Cougars (4-0 in the Trans-Valley League). An upset would not only put the Huskies in first place, but it would be a confidence jolt that could carry them for the rest of the season.

On Friday, Denair has a pair of homecoming games when its boys and girls basketball teams host Delhi. The girls game starts at 6 p.m., while the boys tip off at 7:30.

On Friday at Saturday, the Turlock and Hughson wrestling squads will travel to take part int he Moro Bay High School tournament, while Pitman hosts its annual one-day Rumble in the Jungle on Saturday. Hilmar and Denair, among others, will be taking part.