The City of Tracy’s Youth Hoops league opened play this past weekend at Williams, Hawkins and Jefferson schools. There were 16 games in all, which included comebacks victories, narrow wins and some lopsided scores.

Third- and fourth-grade boys

Tracy Heat 16, Tigers 13

In one of the closest contests of the day, the Tracy Heat jumped out to a 9-5 lead after the first quarter and behind a team high nine points by Colton Miles held off the Tigers to get the win. The Tigers cut the lead to 12-9 at half, but couldn’t overcome the deficit. Jeffrey Couch and Caden Duke each scored two points for the Heat. The Tigers were led by John Harris’ nine points, while both Jimmy Jin and Zack Tenner scored two each.

Royal Thunder 15, Raptors 9

The Raptors jumped out to a 9-8 lead after the first quarter, but the Thunder clamped down on the defense for the final three quarters. They scored seven unanswered points against the Raptors for the win. The Thunder was led by Daniel Zepeda’s four points. Satya Kethineni and Gavin Garcia added three points, while Beau Green and Isaac Mesones both scored two during the win. For the Raptors, A.J. Cruz, Jesse Gonsalves and Harbir Brar all tallied two points each.

Panthers 23, Shooters 15

The Panthers jumped out to a 17-9 halftime lead. The Shooters outscored the Panthers 6-0 in the third quarter, but the Panthers used a 6-0 surge in the final quarter to earn the win. Shakeb Tutakhil led the Panthers with a game-high eight points, Tony Figueroa added six while Allan Hunter and David Hunter both scored three. For the Shooters, Isaiah Secoquian had a team-high five points while Kyle Silva and Giovani Bonardi both added three.

Falcons 23, Eagles 8

The Falcons, behind a game-high 11 points from R.J. Merluza, led early during a convincing win over the Eagles. The Falcons ran out to a 15-8 lead after the first quarter and held the Eagles scoreless the remainder of the game. In addition to Merluza’s eleven points, Daniel Spencer added five and Julian Chavez three. For the Eagles, Gabriel Andora and John Mirante scored four points each.

Third- and fourth-grade girls

Sparks 14, Cowgirls 10

The Cowgirls had a strong first quarter to forge an 8-5 halftime lead, but the Sparks were fired up during the second half and outscored the Cowgirls 6-2 in the final two quarters for the comeback win. Mariah Cobb led all scorers with nine points and Breyah chipped in three. The Cowgirls were led by Janessa Zomora’s six points.

Ballers 14, Wild Jaguars 8

The Ballers held a narrow 6-4 lead after the first quarter and kept the Jaguars scoreless in the second and third quarters to pull away for the win. The Ballers used a balanced scoring attack in the win, with Jagveer Gill, Marisol Munoz and Stevie Rollins each scoring four points in the win. For the Wild Jaguars, Rylie Costa led all scorers with a game high five points, while Danielle Corell added two.

Fifth- and sixth-grade boys

Running Rebels 28, Raptors 24

In an exciting contest that came down to the final quarter, the Running Rebels outscored the Raptors 8-4 for the hard-fought victory. The Running Rebels took a 7-0 lead after the first quarter and maintained a 17-10 at the half. But the Raptors outscored the Rebels 10-3 in the third quarter to forge a 20-20 tie, before the Rebels strong fourth quarter secured the win. Victor Chavez led the winners with 13 points. Tyron Connor, Aaron Fider and Eligan Secoquian all added five points for the winners. The Raptors’ Gabriel Murphy led all scorers with 18 points, while Saul Virgen added four and Lava Vakalahi tossed in two.

Hornets 14, Intimidators 7

The Intimidators jumped out to a 6-4 lead after the first quarter, but the Hornets turned on the defensive pressure the rest of the game and limited the Intimidators to just one point the remainder of the contest. At halftime, the Hornets led 8-6 and would outscore the Intimidators 6-1 in the second half to take the win. Derek Eubanks led all scorers with eight points for the Hornets, B.J. Bennion added four and Hilal Morrar tossed in two. For the Intimidators, Tarig Gaba scored all seven of their points.

Warriors 16, Bombers 8

This game was decided in the third quarter when the Warriors, leading 6-2, outscored the Bombers 10-2 for the win. Ryan Ma led the Warriors offense scoring a game high six points while Rany Sidiaren and Jacob Hink added four. Nigel Wilkins, Colton Duke, Gregory Spenser and Charles Kelsey all scored two points for the Bombers.

Young Gunz 31, Fuel 20

The Young Gunz broke open a close contest by outscoring the Fuel 14-5 in the fourth quarter. The team had jumped out to a comfortable 17-10 lead at the half, but the Fuel outscored the Gunz 5-0 in the third quarter to cut the lead to 17-15. Derick Corell lead all scorers with 12 points for the winners, while Grant Lasserre added eight, Phillip Ordonez six and Alex Klassen five. For the Fuel, A.J. Pangaliman had eight points while Ethan Vocal and Kyle Hendricks added four.

Fifth- and sixth-grade girls

Hot Cheetos 18, Purple Reign 11

The Hot Cheetos jumped out to a 12-8 halftime lead and continued to pull away in the second half for the win. No individual scoring information was available from this game.

Skyrockets 13, Hot Shots 4

In a dominating offensive and defensive performance, the Skyrockets soared over the Hot Shots in this contest. Led by Julia Gosiengfiao’s game high six points, the Skyrockets jumped out to a 6-2 lead after the first quarter before outscoring the Hot Shots 5-0 in the final quarter. Gaby Garcia also scored three for the winners. Angela Rondeau scored all four points for the Hot Shots.

Seventh- and eighth-grade coed

Thunder 17, Mavericks 15

In a hard-fought back-and-forth contest, the Thunder rallied in the fourth quarter to pull out this close game against the Mavericks. The two teams were tied at 6-6 at the end of the first quarter but the Thunder took a 10-8 lead at halftime. The Mavericks then outscored the Thunder 5-3 to tie the game 13-13 after three quarters. Connor Hill scored four of his team-high seven points in the final frame to boost the Thunder to the win. Simratjit Brar added six points and both Jacob Brown and Talili Leaea scored two. For the Mavericks, Tyler Fratus lead all scorers with 11 points and both Austin and Josh Torres added two.

Knights 29, Saints 24

After falling behind by a score of 16-8 in the first quarter, the Saints made a spirited run at the Knights but came up five points short in this contest. The Saints 7-2 run in final quarter helped close the gap, but the Knights’ 16-point first quarter and seven-point third frames were too much. The Knights had six players score, led by Colin Axner’s 10 points. Taylor Herrera also added six points while Omar Sharifi and Sean Scoville each tallied four points. For the Saints, Joe Valerio had a game-high 17 points and Trevor Baker added five.

Purple Reign 34, Titans 25

The Purple Reign pretty much sewed this game up in the first half outscoring the Titans 26-8 for the win, despite the Titans’ Justin Goulart’s game-high 21 points. Leading the scoring for the Reign was Rubin Mann with 14 points. Also helping out offensively was Elijah Hunter who tallied eight points, Cameron Lott with six and Collin Waddops with four. In addition to Golart’s 21 points, Kevin Arokiaraj added four for the Titans.

Blackhawks 23, Supersonics 20

The Blackhawks pulled out a narrow victory with a strong fourth quarter. After a slow first half that resulted in the the team nursing a narrow 6-4 lead, the Supersonics pulled into a 14-point tie at the end of the third quarter by outscoring the Blackhawks 10-8. In the final quarter, the Blackhawks balanced attacked put nine points on the board while the Supersonics could only muster six of their own. Jake Rodriguez led the Blackhawks in scoring putting nine points on the board, while Garcia Delfino and Joseph Tobias added six for the winners. For the Supersonics, Amal Thamil had a game-high 13 points and Terrell Harper added six.

The Youth Hoops weekly roundup is reported by the City of Tracy Parks and Community Services Department.