It was important for visiting Manteca High to get off to a big lead early on in Tuesday's Valley Oak League rivalry game against East Union.
"That's always our game plan," said Buffaloes coach Brett Lewis after his squad rolled to a 57-49 victory at the Dalben Center.
Manteca (3-1 VOL, 14-6 overall) also looked to control the boards, doing just that while bolting out to a 15-4 first-quarter lead.
The Lancers (1-5, 10-12) trailed 10-0 to start the game before Dominic Garcia buried a 3 midway through the first to get his team on the board.
"We always play hard," said East Union James Ward of his scrappy team, "but it's tough having to scramble from any big deficit."
Isaiah Victor played a big role for the Buffaloes from the start, sinking five of his 11 points while hauling in four rebounds and two blocks during that span. The 6-foot-2 senior finished with seven boards and four steals.
Manteca used a balanced scoring attack through much of the game. In the second quarter, it was Isaiah Victor, Domonick Victor, Jorge Cedano, Spencer Briscoe and Dylan Gross contributing much to the offense.
The Buffaloes took a 32-15 lead into the break.
Outside a modest run by the Lancers to open the second half — Parmbir Khattra had a pull-up trey in transition during that 8-0 rally — Manteca increased its lead behind Miguel Sequeira's 3 and a bucket by Rashawn Ballard.
But it was Domonick Victor who stole the show. The 6-4 senior forward netted eight of his team-high 12 points in the quarter, including a throw-down slam dunk off a backboard feed from Briscoe shortly before the buzzer.
East Union's best showing came in the fourth. Down by 20, the Lancers — behind Asiah Scott, Christian Cuevas and Khattra — orchestrated a 16-2 run to trim the deficit to single digit.
"Being down by that much, we knew that time wasn't on our side," said Ward, who played basketball for MHS in the 1990s.
Lewis played for EU and even coached the Lancers before moving over to MHS.
Both shared in this old rivalry between the two schools.
"This game means as much to us as to the players," Ward said. "A rivalry is a rivalry."
Scott chipped in with 13 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Cuevas added 12.

Junior varsity
Manteca 46, East Union 34
Khalid Robinson scored 15 points to lead the Buffaloes over the Lancers.
Lane Cefalo led home team East Union with 10 points.