FOLSOM — Weston Ranch was plenty motivated for its Sac-Joaquin Section Division I first-round match-up with third-seeded Folsom on Wednesday.
Slighted by their No. 14 seed, which came with an out-bracket game the night before, the surging Cougars stunned one of the section’s top teams, 60-53.
Donjaé Lindsey led the way with 21 points, Mi’Son Coilton scored 14, Gavin Wilburn 12 and Jordahn Johnson 10. Jaylen Wells tallied 12 for Folsom (22-7), which trailed by as much as 10 in the third quarter.
Weston Ranch next travels to No. 6 Cosumnes Oaks (19-10) of Elk Grove.
“This is not an upset,” Weston Ranch coach Chris Teevan said. “We’ve been one of the four best teams in NorCal in the past month — the only thing that has stopped us was a half-court over a 6-foot-5 player.
“We know our kids already have a chip on their shoulder. We didn’t run and hide all year and we weren’t rewarded for that. All that did was turn that chip into a boulder, and we’re ready to roll.”
The Cougars (19-11) are indeed a different animal that previously faced off with Folsom, which handled them 77-54 in early January. Weston Ranch has won 13 of its last 14 games — the lone loss is a 74-72 heartbreaker against Central Catholic.
“We didn’t play that great offensively in this game,” Teevan said, pointing to missed layups and only three made 3-pointers. “But I thought we were tough defensively. We played these dudes a month and a half ago and that was the low point in our season. The growth we’ve shown as a team has been incredible.”

Division III
Manteca 63, Florin 62
SACRAMENTO — Trailing by two with 4.1 seconds left, No. 11 Manteca (15-14) had to inbound from its own baseline knowing that the sixth-seeded host Panthers (23-6) had fouls to give.
Buffaloes forward Nick Bell received the pass, took one dribble and dished it across midcourt to Spencer Briscoe who spun around an eager defender attempting to intercept it.
Briscoe bounced it twice and chucked it from the deep right wing before the buzzer, hitting all net to spark a wild celebration in front of the Manteca bench.
“That was pretty nuts,” Manteca coach Jason Hitt said. “We’re amped for the next game. Hopefully we can pull out another one.”
The Buffs head to No. 3 Wood (22-6) of Vacaville on Friday.
Briscoe finished with 11 points, and Bell had 16 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan Burciaga led all Buffs with 18 points to go with 11 boards. Ja’rod Webb poured in 25 for Florin.

Golden Valley 79, Sierra 70
MERCED — The No. 12 Timberwolves (14-13) exploded for 30 points in the final period, but the damage had already been done by No. 5 Golden Valley (23-6).
The host Cougars, who avenged a 10-point loss from back on Nov. 30, rolled to a 59-40 lead through three quarters and widened the margin to as much as 24 before Sierra made its move. Golden Valley made 12 3-pointers and was paced by Aurrion Harris’ 21 points.
Zach Curry and Kendrick Currey accumulated 22 and 20 points for sierra, respectively.
“(Golden Valley) pressured the ball really well and we didn’t respond well,” Sierra coach Eddie Morales said. “We knew what was coming; it just took us awhile to get going. We just couldn’t break that 10-15-point barrier and once we did it was too late.”