Only two games remain in league play for the Pitman High girls basketball team after Thursday's Central California Conference battle with Buhach Colony.
Pitman had an off night shooting but looked to their relentless defensive effort to help lift the team 38-33 and into their sixth straight win.
“Obviously, we missed some shots we usually make even though we had some real good looks," said Pitman head coach Dustin Curtiss. "Defensively I thought we played amazing, to hold a team to 33 in a game and 13 at halftime, I thought we had a great game plan and the girls executed perfectly."
“I am satisfied with the game since we are a strong defensive team," said Pitman senior Cerah Moren. "It's one of the things we work on every day in practice, knowing when to key in and it's a reminder that we need to work hard on defense and we executed today, which was really good."
Pitman is now 16-9 overall and 8-2 in the CCC, sitting atop the standings. Turlock is currently second at 7-2.
With the loss, BC is also eliminated from playoff contention.
Pitman can secure the CCC title with a win against El Capitan in their penultimate game on Thursday and two Turlock losses.
"We knew we would have a strong team this year. I am just glad we are playing as good as we can and executing,” said Moren.
Moren, along with Andrea Selkow, Olivia Salafia and Kaylin Randhawa, have added the dynamic that has made the Pride extremely effective and a dangerous group.
They made it clear on Thursday that the CCC crown is more than likely to go through them this year.
They dominated the paint with the help of big post player Selkow, who added a double-double for the night.
Pitman led 11-7 after the first.
The Pride then extended the lead to 21-13 at halftime and didn't trail for the remainder of the night.
“I feel like Buhach brought some intensity since it was a big game for them, and so they were stronger defensively," said Selkow.
Pitman was outscored 20-17 in the second half, however, still managed to hold on for the win.
Selkow had a team-high 11 points. Moren added 10 while Salafia finished with 10 of her own. Randhawa added six.
Pitman last loss came against BC on Jan. 12 in a 58-40 final. Since then, they have not lost and have held all opponents to 44 points or less.
“It is a team goal to win CCC. The biggest key is communication. So for me, it's usually to guard post players and I think that puts me in a good spot to help my teammates,” said Selkow. “I want to make sure I play 110 percent and I feel like the rest of my team did well.”
Pitman's next game will be senior night against El Capitan at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.
“Our focus is the next game and more in depth is the next possession and we have to look at it for every possession, which has been our mindset lately, just focus on the moment and I think that helped us,” said Curtiss.
