Generals shine in league games

The Shafter Generals basketball and soccer teams have flexed their muscles in the first half of the SSL season,with each team at or near the top in the league standings.

The Shafter High boys basketball team are 3-1 in South Sequoia League play, with their lone loss a tough one on the road to Chavez, 63-51. Domnik Torres ended the game with a team high 14 points. The wins were against Taft, 65-41, McFarland, 65-32 and Arvin76-41.

In the Taft game, the Generals had three players score at least 10 points. Tim Ramirez had 14 points, followed by Gabriel Iruh with 12 points and Domnik Torres with 11 points.

Gabriel Iruh was the star of the game in their win against McFarland, with a game high 23 points. Torres had 10 points and Ethan Guttierez had 13 points.

The girls team is 8-11 overall but had a brutal schedule in the early season. In SSL play, they are 3-1. They had a tough road loss to Taft by a score of 45-42. Leading scorer for the Lady Generals was Monica Birrueta, who led them against Taft with 15 points, but the Lady Generals dropped the game.

They had wins against Chavez, 45-39, with Birrueta and Abigail Perez with 13 points apiece, and a thrilling victory over McFarland, 55-54.

On the pitch, the Boys soccer team is 7-2 overall with a 4-1-1 record in league play. The Generals manhandled Kennedy 5-0, along with victories over Chavez, 2-1, rivals Wasco, 2-1, McFarland, 2-1, and a tie against Chavez, 1-1. Their only loss in league was a 1-0 setback to Arvin.

As for the girls, that team has become one of the best in Kern County, with an 8-2 overall record and 4-0 in SSL play.

Against McFarland -- a 4-0 victory -- the Lady Generals saw Crystal Ramos score two goals, along with goals from Ariana Gila and Priscilla Barajas. Shafter then pounded Chavez, 7-1. They also had a league win by a 5-0 score.

[CORRECTION, 1/26/20: The caption of a picture accompanying this story misidentified the the Lady General kicking a ball. She is Kimberley Esparza.}