The Turlock High School girls basketball team ended the 2025 calendar year with fireworks by dominating their division at the prestigious West Coast Jamboree in Livermore.
Widely considered one of the toughest girls basketball tournaments in the state, the Bulldogs won all three games slated on the week from Dec. 27-30 to win the Emerald bracket, and they did it in convincing fashion, outscoring opponents by a combined mark of 176-80.
The tournament run began Saturday with a 59-29 thumping of Presentation of San Jose. After a day off Sunday, the Bulldogs came out of the gates firing by throttling San Lorenzo by a 76-16 score. The bracket championship was clinched with a 41-35 victory over Emerald of Dublin.
The Bulldogs improved to 6-11 and extended their win streak to four games, as they defeated Oakdale by a 39-31 score on Dec. 22.
Leading the charge in the blowout over San Lorenzo was sophomore guard Precious Gonzalez, who poured in 27 points to lead all scorers. Gonzalez was red hot from the field, making 13 of 20 attempts. She also tallied five rebounds, two assists and six steals.
Gonzalez was one of four Bulldogs to score in double figures. Joining her was sophomore Valez Irasava with 14, junior Janessa Padilla with 11, and freshman Madalyn Cripe with another 11. The Bulldogs also received timely scoring from junior Rhiley Mendes and her eight points, as well as senior Bella Moran and her seven points.
Irasava again posted double digits with a 12-point performance on 5-of-11 shooting in the championship clincher against Emerald. The sophomore also grabbed six boards, two steals and a block.
For her consistent scoring and her efforts on both sides of the ball. Irasava was named the bracket’s Most Valuable Player, while Moran and sophomore Isabella Macias received All-Tournament honors.
The Bulldogs had a Tuesday night home clash with Buhach Colony, their penultimate non-conference game of the season. Their final tune-up for league play will come on Thursday when they travel to Stockton to play Stagg.
Turlock’s Central California Athletic League campaign will begin Tuesday, Jan. 13 when the Bulldogs travel to Modesto to take on Gregori for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
Hilmar’s dominant preseason
The Hilmar High girls basketball team is emerging as a force in the regional prep scene, defeating a flurry of area programs in the preseason and heading into the first week of Trans-Valley League competition with mountains of momentum.
The Yellowjackets were 9-2 heading into Tuesday’s TVL opener on the road against Ripon Christian (4-7), riding a four-game winning streak. It’s the program’s most wins during the non-conference slate since the 2022-23 season, when the Yellowjackets went 8-6 heading into TVL play. The Lady ‘Jackets ended up finishing 12-15 overall.
This year’s team is hopeful for better results this time around. Tuesday’s results against Ripon Christian results were not available by press time, and the conference calendar continues Friday with a 5:30 p.m. clash with Escalon (11-4).
Senior Emma Gomes has been dominant early on, leading the team in scoring while being amongst the top Yellowjackets on the defensive end.
Gomes has scored a team-high 66 points (8.3 ppg) while grabbing 73 rebounds and recording 15 blocks. Also contributing to the scoring at consistent rates has been the Stivers sisters, with freshman Haygen pouring in 61 (6.8 ppg) and junior Ava adding 55 (6.1 ppg).
Ava also leads the team with 13 assists and is second to Gomes in rebounds with 34. Haygen is third on the boards with 29 rebounds.
