LATHROP — Following his team’s thrilling victory over Sonora on Monday, Lathrop coach Craig Ward feared a letdown Wednesday against visiting Pacheco in Western Athletic Conference action.
His fears were realized.
J.J. Griffith scored Pacheco’s first 11 points on an 11-2 run that landed the Spartans’ first team back on the bench for the balance of the first quarter. They came back in and doubled up the Panthers of Los Banos in the second period on the way to a 72-57 win.
“I was concerned after beating Sonora we would come in here and have a lull,” Ward said. “I told them that no matter what we did this game, we had to have our same identity which is tenacious defense, and we didn’t start out playing that defense so I sat the whole starting group.
“Kimalan (Perilla) is usually my sixth or seventh man and he came in and played tremendous. He rebounded, kept his man in front — he might even have earned himself a (starting) spot.”
Perilla scored seven of his 14 points in the first quarter and finished with 10 rebounds along with four steals and two blocks.
“Coach told us that we have just come off a big win against a great team,” Perilla said. “We needed to play harder now and eventually we came out and did our job.”
Noah Thiery was ready when he came back in the game in the second quarter, burying three 3-pointers as part of a 14-point effort in the period. He led Lathrop (2-0 WAC, 9-4 overall) with 17 points.
“We came out slow and the starters got taken out of the game,” Thiery said. “Our bench did a good job hanging in there and setting the tempo. We got back in the game and we were able to finish it off.”
After the opening-game barrage by the Panthers (0-1, 4-4) the Spartans defense got in the act, forcing 23 turnovers behind 20 steals. Amiel Adams nabbed six steals for Lathrop.
Eddie Cotton posted a double-double for the Spartans with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Griffith led Pacheco with 16 points.
Lathrop travels to Modesto on Friday to face Beyer at 7:15
Junior Varsity
Lathrop 64, Pacheco 43
Julian Chavez scored 19 points for the Spartans while Daniel Whaley and Harold Gary each chipped in 12 points each.
Freshman
Lathrop 51, Pacheco 40
Jason Seabron led the Spartans with 19 points and Zareef Fazli added 16 points.
