‘Something you would dream of’: Livermore snaps 121-game EBAL losing streak with win over Amador Valley

Livermore is done losing in the East Bay Athletic League. 

For over a decade, the Cowboys’ boys basketball team had gone winless in EBAL play, a streak dating back to 2014. 

But that 121-game streak is in the history books.

Facing Amador Valley, an early-season favorite in the EBAL, Livermore won 74-63, with the lead approaching 20 points in the fourth quarter and the Cowboys holding the advantage down the stretch to secure the streak-snapping victory.  

“We were pretty good,” Livermore coach Mike Tripp told BANG. “We played hard tonight, and we’re no longer the doormat of the EBAL. I mean, our league is the best, I think. It’s so competitive now. It was a big win for us. They played so well. It was a great win. It’s the first in many, many moons.”

Sophomore Amare Chandler scored 27 points to lead Livermore (14-3). Senior Dylan Wherry added 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, and senior CT Harper added 12 points. 

Tripp also credited senior Zach Lininger, whose defense held Amador Valley star Jaylen Smith to seven points. Smith has averaged over 20 points per game this season. 

The winning moment provided a generation’s worth of catharsis to the fans in the Livermore gym. 

“The student body was unbelievable,” Tripp said. “The place was packed. And with 30 seconds to go in the game, the game’s in the bag, and they’re going crazy. And then the horn goes off, and they rush the floor. Just jubilation. 

“It was something you would dream of, and it came true. When the horn went off, I stepped on the baseline. I just watched my guys and the student body embrace, and it was awesome.”

Tripp is in his second stint at Livermore after previously coaching the Cowboys from 1991-2003. He returned in 2023 and has had Livermore on the ascent since then. 

This may not be Livermore’s peak this season. But the Cowboys are certainly pretty high up in the clouds after the historic win. 

“I’ve been doing this for 40 years,” Tripp said. “Came back to where I started and tried to get these guys believing in themselves and knowing that they can win, they can beat anybody if they’re focused and believing. And then to see it come true after all the hard work that we have put in in the offseason, to win a game like this at this stage in my career, it’s second to none. 

“When I step back and look, this is what it’s all about, man. These guys are so deserving. The school is so deserving over the years of not winning, year in and year out. To be able to get this one tonight, it was just a great situation.”