East Union kept their Valley Oak League title hopes alive with an emphatic 64-49 victory over Central Catholic in a must-win scenario Friday night at the Dalben Center.

“I was really pleased with how we played tonight at both ends of the floor,” East Union coach Dalton Ell said. “They are a very good, well-coached team with a talented scorer, and we knew coming in we’d need to take it to an extra level if we were going to come out with a win.”

East Union (7-3, 18-7) put itself on the outside looking in in the VOL title picture after a 55-50 loss at Sierra last Friday night. The Lancers now need first-place Mountain House to stumble down the stretch for a chance to share the league crown.

The week layoff coming into Friday night did not affect the Lancers’ intensity on the defensive end. East Union came out pressuring Central Catholic (7-4, 15-12), forcing four turnovers and propelling it to an 11-7 lead after the first quarter.

Second-chance opportunities were non-existent, as the Lancers swarmed on the glass led by Lorenzo Jones (12 rebounds) and Salesi Toki (six rebounds).

“We pride ourselves on limiting second chances,” Ell said. “When we’re working like we did on the defensive end tonight and putting together strong performances on the boards, we’re going to be tough to beat.”

Central Catholic’s 2-3 zone gave East Union problems early, as the Lancers started 3-for-11 from behind the arc. The dry spell from distance coincided with Raider standout Jordan Magana getting hot to put Central Catholic ahead 21-20 midway through the second quarter. A Jackson Fay 3 broke the drought from deep just 20 seconds later, helping the Lancers regain the lead for good.

“We know what kind of shooters we have on this team,” Fay said. “For a bit, the shots weren’t falling, but we know coach has the confidence in us to keep shooting. Most times, when you see one go in, others start to follow, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Fay’s big 3 was followed up by back-to-back 3s from Ayande Johnson to help the Lancers take a 27-22 lead into halftime.

The confidence that started with the run from deep late in the first half carried over into the third as East Union shot 5-of-7 from beyond the arc, paced by three 3s in the quarter from senior Rico Johnson.

The attack in the quarter and throughout the night was a balanced one, as five Lancers finished the game in double figures. Fay paced East Union with 13, while Ayonde and Rico Johnson scored 12 each, followed up by 10 a piece from Zydell King and Toki.

“We’re the best when we are balanced,” Ell said. “We know we have nine guys that are going to play a lot, and all of them can score. It makes you really hard to defend as a team when points in bunches can come from that many places.”
The attack from Central Catholic was a much different one, as the game’s leading scorer, Magana, made shot after shot to keep the Raiders in the game on the way to 29 points. Magana helped keep Central Catholic within striking distance after the 27-point third quarter from East Union, as the teams went into the final break with the Lancers up 54-41.

“We knew Magana was going to likely get his tonight,” Ell said. “The focus for us was on stopping everyone else and limiting opportunities and I think that was the difference in the game.”

The rest of the Raiders team combined for 20 points total in the game.

A Central Catholic 3 to open the fourth cut the lead to 10, but just like they had all night, East Union relied on the shot from outside, as Aydande Johnson answered with a 3 himself. On the next possession, Lancer fans were treated to a throwback to football season, as Kirk Simoni found Fay cutting to the basket to stretch the lead back to 15. East Union would hold Central Catholic to just eight points in the quarter en route to a 64-49 victory.

East Union will head into the final week of the season with games at home against Oakdale and at Manteca, needing wins to keep its league title hopes alive.

“This is a crazy league that has been full of wild results,” Ell said. “We tell our guys, all we can control is the next game in front of us, and while we’d love to see Mountain House drop a game, our focus is on us and the task in front of us.”

Tip-off against Oakdale will take place Wednesday at 7:30 at the Dalben Center.