Gridley Boys Varsity Basketball Win 4th Straight League Title
Feb 26, 2020 12:00AM ● By By Joshua Porcayo
Gridley High School senior varsity basketball player, Cesar De La Torre (#10), goes up for the layup as a Sutter Huskie goes up for the block at Farmers Hall on Friday, February 14, 2020. Photo Courtesy of Joshua Porcayo
GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Gridley High School boys varsity basketball team secured their fifth straight Butte View League championship for the school in a home victory against Sutter High School on Friday, February 14, 2020. Current GHS Athletic Director, Nathan Link, coached the Bulldogs to a league title during the 2015-2016 season. Since Coach Chay Dake took over the program in 2016, he has helped coach the Bulldogs to four straight league titles.
With the victory on Senior Night, the Bulldogs secured a number three seed for the Northern Section California Interscholastic Federation Division 4 playoffs. As a number three seed, Gridley will have a first round bye and host a home game on Friday, February 21, 2020 against the winner of Anderson and Wheatland.
In a post game interview with Coach Dake, he said, “the playoffs are crazy. I’m going to stick to the game plan and keep working with my guys. Not looking forward too far, but just the next game.”
In his last regular season game of his high school career, standout point guard, Tony Murillo, dropped 24-points on the night against the Huskies. “Going back to that game that we lost [in Sutter on January 21, 2020], we wanted to come in and dominate, and that’s what we did, especially on senior night. We wanted to come in here and handle business.” The Bulldogs blew out Sutter 76-41 in front of a packed crowd and Dawg Squad.
Murillo’s teammate and fellow senior classman, Cesar De La Torre, contributed huge to the victory with eight points in the fourth quarter. “It’s senior night, I wanted to show these younger guys what it’s all about,” said De La Torre.
Fellow senior classman, Colby Norton, finished with six points in the game, and Tyler Zanatto finished with two points in the game.
The Bulldogs finished the regular season 9-1 in league (20-7 overall). You can catch the Bulldogs in action for round 2 of the NSCIF Division 4 playoffs at Farmers Hall on Friday, February, 21, 2020. Tip-off is 7:00PM. Good luck Bulldogs!
