MERCED -- Los Ba&#241;os High's girls sophomore basketball team pulled off a tight 36-33 Central California Conference victory over host Merced High on Tuesday night.</p><p>Despite going 4 of 20 from the free-throw line, the Tigers still improved to 9-2 in the CCC with one game left on the schedule.</p><p>"The girls came through with some big shots at the end," Los Banos head coach Saul Mejia said. "Alexis (Barcellos) hit a 3 and we came up with turnovers.</p><p>"The girls played tough and got the 'W'."</p><p>Los Ba&#241;os was in a three-way tie for second place with one game left in CCC play.</p><p>"I think Atwater and Turlock are 9-2, and we all beat each other," Mejia said. "For sure we win at least a share (of the CCC) with a win on Thursday."</p><p>LB closed out the season on Thursday against Pitman High of Turlock, but results weren't available for press time.</p><p>Against Merced, LB took care of business.</p><p>Barcellos knocked down a 3-ball, which was assisted by Alyssa Luna. That made the score 32-39.</p><p>Barcellos also scored Los Ba&#241;os' next bucket to make it 34-31, and sophomore post Morgan Hurley put away the final putback on an offensive rebound to make up the final score.</p><p>"We were up by five at halftime," Mejia said. "Merced never took the game. We were in control.</p><p>"We turned the ball over a couple of times, but we just played awesome defense and came up with the big shots."</p><p>Barcellos led the way with 14 points and Hurley added 7. Tiffany Liu finished with 6 points and so did Christina Saores. Luna rounded out the total with one.</p><p>At the freshman level, Los Ba&#241;os fell to 1-10 in the CCC following a 42-12 CCC loss against Merced on Tuesday.</p><p>Tekerra Borden led Merced with 18 points, while Danica Rodriguez led the way for Los Ba&#241;os with 5 points.</p><p>Ashley Berek, Sarah Douglas and Stephanie Del Bosque all chipped in 2 points.</p><p><i>To contact John-Joel Griffiths, e-mail jgriffiths@losbanosenterprise.com or call 826-3831 ext. 565.</i>