Manteca led visiting Sierra by 10 points early and won by nine, but on the way to a 64-55 Buffaloes win spearheaded by Nick Bell it was anybody’s ball game in Valley Oak League boys action at Winter Gymnasium.
“We stuck to the game plan early,” Manteca coach Jason Hitt said. “We pounded the ball inside and we went up big. Then our guards wanted to start shooting 3-pointers instead of working the ball and then it got away from us.
“Then we went back to pounding the ball inside — it was almost like we were on a roller-coaster ride. At the end of the game Sierra did a good job of switching up its defenses and our young guards could not adjust to that. Hopefully we will continue to get better throughout the course of the season and sneak into the playoffs.”
After Sierra (1-2 VOL, 10-7 overall) had narrowed a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to three, Bell (28 points, 17 rebounds) drained a pair of free throws with 2 minutes, 41 seconds left in the game for two of his 11 fourth-quarter points that took the wins out of the Timberwolves’ sails.
“We were just rebounding,” Bell said. “We kept rebounding the ball.
“It was a good battle. They were giving us some trouble but we cleaned it up.”
After grabbing a rebound off the defensive glass, Jordan Burciaga (18 points, 10 rebounds) gave Manteca (2-1, 8-10) a 55-48 lead when he powered in a layup.
“It’s all about executing,” Burciaga said. “This is our first year together and we have a lot of potential.
“It was a good win.”
Burciaga scored eight points in the first quarter to help the Buffaloes out to a 10-0 lead.
“We expected them to go inside on us,” coach Eddie Morales said. “But I thought we were going to handle it a little better.
“We have to play an entire 32 minutes — it’s a tough league and you have to play hard all the time.”
Sierra did not stay 10 points behind for very long. Kendrick Currey led a Timberwolves rally with seven of his team-high 26 points in the opening period to help Sierra take the lead at 13-10. There would be five lead changes in the first half and two more in the third period.
Currey came out of the locker room on a defensive mission, making three steals in the first minute of the second half, finishing with eight on the night. Isaiah Sanchez chipped in 12 points for the Timberwolves.
On Wednesday at 7 p.m. the Buffaloes host East Union, and Sierra travels to Weston Ranch.

Junior varsity
Manteca 64, Sierra 58
Morris Wilson led the Buffaloes with 18 points.
Braden Nussbaumer chipped in 11 points and Isaiah Roa added 10 points.
Nikko Nunez scored 14 points for the Timberwolves with Noah Ramil adding 12 points and Jason Aucello 10.

Freshman
Manteca 47, Sierra 40
The Buffaloes’ Camden Steckler led all scorers with 16 points and teammate Benito Escobedo added 14 points.
Daniel Rushing led the Timberwolves with 14 points followed by Jacob Barasi with 11.