It is good to have a Tydus in your tank.
Manteca’s Tydus Verhoeven had a 5-0 run late in the first half Tuesday that was part of an 11-0 first-half-ending run that gave the Buffaloes some breathing room on the way to a 64-49 Valley Oak League win over visiting Sierra at Winter Gym.
“I tried to set the pace for the second half,” said Verhoeven, who finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two assists. “It was tough coming in back-to-back after the MLK game at St. Mary’s College, but it was a little close so I wanted to make a statement going into the locker room.”
The game was close through most of the first half three ties and six lead changes. A 10-foot, fall-away jumper by Verhoeven with 1:10 left in the first half put Manteca (5-0 VOL, 13-5 overall) ahead for good at 23-21.
The Buffaloes may have had some tired legs from their thrilling 86-84 overtime win Monday against Rancho Mirage in the 20th Annual MaxPreps/De LaSalle Martin Luther King Jr. Classic.
“We knew coming off of Monday’s game and not being able to prepare for a team like them was going to lead to some rough stretches,” Manteca coach Brett Lewis said. “We knew that they were going to come in and compete.
“We still could have executed a little bit better down the stretch but we are getting better with time.”
The Buffaloes continued their run by scoring six points in a row to start the second half to cap off their 17-0 spurt.
“I think we were up 21-17,” Timberwolves coach Scott Thomason said. “Then we stopped making shots and they went on a 17-0 run. There was a lid on the basket for us.
“Give Manteca credit. They just out-worked us and out-played us.”
Gino Campiotti scored the first four points of the second half for the Buffaloes and four of their last five points in the game, scoring 16 of his team-high 17 points in the second half.
“I started really slow,” Campiotti said. “I didn’t play very well in the beginning but I worked hard and tried to keep moving the whole time.
“I tried to get open as best as I could and listened to the coaches. I was able to come off some screens and eventually it started coming together.”
Manteca went to the free-throw line 14 times in the fourth quarter and Jorge Cedano made five of his six opportunities from the charity stripe in the final period when he scored seven of his 15 points.
“Coach wanted us to distribute the ball a little bit more,” Cedano said. “He put me back in and I got fouled a few times and was able to knock a few free throws down.”
Sierra (2-3, 11-6) was paced by Jaime Ochoa who shared high-point honors with Campiotti at 17. Ochoa added six steals, two rebounds and two assists.
Dwight Young chipped in 13 points for the Buffaloes, maintaining his torrid pace at the free-throw line by going 4 for 4 from the line.
 
Sophomore
Sierra 48, Manteca 46
The Timberwolves came back from a double-digit deficit for the two-point win.
Carl Rice and Romeo Sesma paced Manteca with 12 points each.
Dylan Gross had nine points for the Buffaloes in the first quarter and led all scorers with 16 points. Teammate Sal Safi added nine points.