Lathrop’s streak of postseason appearances is in danger of ending with every loss in the Western Athletic Conference, but coach Dwayne Davis isn’t focused on that.
His Spartans’ offensive struggles continued Monday in a 51-36 loss to title-contending Ceres.
Lathrop (3-7 WAC, 10-14 overall) has been knocked out of contention for one of the three automatic playoff berths but can still qualify with an at-large bid by finishing in the top 15 of the MaxPreps Sac-Joaquin Section Division III rankings. The Spartans entered the week at No. 16 but have now lost four in a row.
“If we do (make the playoffs), I’d be pleased, but I’m already pleased that we’re not the same team that started the season off,” Davis said. “They were young, and with the teams I scheduled we were going to take our hard knocks, but I think that taught us how to play. Now, we’re playing everybody tough.
“If we’re blessed enough to make it this year, great, but that’s not really my goal. My goal is to get better, and we’ve gotten better.”
Lathrop showed flashes of its improvement against the more experienced Bulldogs (8-2, 19-5), who were led by Lilly Staggs’ 25 points. The junior point guard made three of her team’s four 3-pointers. Wiry forwards Sovannary Carter and Arrayah Stallworth added 12 and eight points, respectively.
Ceres led 19-6 after the first quarter, but the scrappy Spartans opened the second with a 15-4 run. The Bulldogs were held without a field goal during that stretch, as Lathrop closed in 23-21 on Jaleiyah Ray’s two free throws. Staggs ended Ceres’ dry spell from the field with an uncontested layup after stealing a pass.
Ray scored all 10 of her points in the first half for Lathrop, which trailed 27-23 at halftime. The Spartans erupted for 17 points in the second period alone, but scored less than that over the final two quarters combined. Ceres outscored them 9-4 in the third and out it away with an 11-2 flurry to start the fourth.
“That’s probably the worst half we played since starting league,” Davis said. “We’ll take that lesson. We were playing great defense, stopping the cuts and denying the pick-and-rolls. In the second half, we didn’t capture that same intensity.
“On offense, four assists on 73 shots — I think that tells you a lot. It was a lot of ‘my turn to shoot,’ and we don’t have good enough shooters for ‘my turn to shoot.’”
Lathrop will look to snap its skid tonight at home against last place Johansen, which is no gimmie for the Spartans. The last time these two met, Lathrop battled back from a double-digit deficit for the win.
“We have our hands full (tonight),” Davis said. “We had a barnburner with them last time at Johansen, so we just need to play a complete game.”
Junior varsity
Lathrop 46, Ceres 36
The Spartans (9-1 WAC) blew open a 16-2 first-quarter lead and coasted from there.
Kalea Rogers led them with 14 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Zoha Ali also had a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Aaliyah Thompson made three 3s for nine points.
Freshman
Lathrop 35, Ceres 17
Kaliyah Urrutia set the tone with eight points in the first quarter, finishing with 18.
Brittany Valladares added six points and five steals. Laniyah Stroud-Prince chipped six points and three steals. The Spartans are now 9-1 in conference play.
