Golden Valley rips rival Merced

MERCED -- Golden Valley won its seventh consecutive game with a 64-47 boys basketball victory over crosstown rival Merced on Wednesday.

The Cougars are alone in first place atop the Central California Conference at 8-2 and 17-5 overall.

The Cougars got another strong performance from the Durbin brothers, Mark and Adam. Mark led everybody with 19 points and Adam added 14.

Golden Valley point guard A.J. Hernandez isn't know for his scoring, but he knocked down three shots from beyond the arc on way to a 13-point effort.

It took GV less than six minutes to open up a 15-5 lead and the game was never really in doubt.

Golden Valley took a seven-point lead into the second quarter when Hernandez caught fire. The third-year senior scored eight of GV's points during a 10-0 run that extended the lead to 29-12 with 2:32 left in the half.

Golden Valley eventually took a 36-19 lead into intermission.

Merced (3-7, 5-17) made just seven of 23 shots from the floor in the first half.

Meanwhile, the Cougars made 15 of 28 shots in the first half.