LATHROP – Manteca’s Kyle Bolding knows how to bury an opponent.
After a first half Saturday night that saw eight lead changes and two ties, the Buffaloes were pulling away from host Lathrop when with time running down in the third quarter Bolding launched a three-quarter-court bomb as time expired that grabbed nothing but net.
This gave the Buffaloes a lead that would not drop below double digits again on the way to an 81-61 Valley Oak League win at Lathrop High.
“I don’t practice that shot very often,” Bolding said. “My teammates got it to me in the right position, I threw it up and we hit it.
“I called it – I knew it was going in.”
Manteca coach Brett Lewis acknowledged the push that shot gave the Buffaloes.
“That’s one of those when you almost want to turn away when a kid throws it up,” Lewis said. “That was huge – that did kind of pour gas on the fire. That definitely gave us momentum going into the fourth quarter and we definitely rode it out.”
If Bolding fanned the flames, teammate Dwight Young kept the fuel coming. Young led all scorers with 26 points and scored 15 of his team’s 23 points in the fourth quarter when he drained two of his five 3-pointers, scorching the nets for a 73-percent shooting average on the night.
“My teammates found me when I was open,” Young said. “Our team wanted this win because we are on a roll right now and this was a big game.”
With Young patrolling the perimeter, teammate Tydus Verhoeven laid ownership to the paint. The 6-foot-7 senior dominated underneath, just missing a triple-double with 24 points, 19 rebounds and nine assists.
“Eventually we came out and we executed,” Verhoeven said. “Coming out with intensity like that is big. They were a very gritty team and we are glad we got the W.”
Verhoeven’s 19 rebounds were at least 10 more than anyone else on either team.
“We fight for every rebound,” Verhoeven said. “We kind of start a small-ball lineup so the whole team depends on me to get a lot of rebounds so I was just trying to do my role and help the team any way I can.”
Lewis had high praise for Verhoeven.
“If Tydus is playing as hard as he did tonight he is definitely the best player in the area,” Lewis said. “He is hungry right now and we have to keep riding that.
“We talked about wanting to make a statement. We talked about wanting to build on what we have been doing and continue to get stops and share the ball. I think we did a really good job of it. This is what we are capable of.”
At one point in the second period there were six lead changes in less than three minutes when Verhoeven (7-0 VOL, 15-5) scored five points in a row to key an 8-0 run to put Manteca ahead for good.
“They started moving the ball really well and our guys weren’t closing it out like we should,” Spartans coach Craig Ward said. “We weren’t rebounding and Tydus was able to get a lot of offensive rebounds which we could have prevented by boxing out.”
Junior Ballard led Lathrop (4-3, 12-8) with 21 points and six rebounds. Idowu Olaleye added nine points and Anthony Blase had nine rebounds.
East Union 64,
Kimball-Tracy 35
The Lancers (5-2 VOL, 13-7 overall) held the visiting Jaguars (1-6, 5-15) to 10 points or less in every quarter at Dalben Center.
“It was a great defensive effort,” East Union coach Ryan Tarr said. “We held their leading scorer (Drew Reddick) to just seven points.
The Lancers’ Gyse Hulsebosch led all scorers with 23 points and Blake Greenlee added 19 points behind five 3-pointers.
Sierra 58, Oakdale 32
The Mustangs (0-7, 3-18) managed double digits in just one quarter at Sierra High.
Carson Anderson paced the Timberwolves (3-4, 12-7) with a double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Eduardo Jasso added 12 points and seven rebounds with Jamille Grady making nine points.
