After a slow start offensively Wednesday night, Manteca held visiting Tracy scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the second period and more than seven minutes in the fourth on the way to a 43-29 non-league boys basketball win for the Buffaloes.
“We started off really slow, couldn’t hit a shot and couldn’t get anything going, but when we did we were able to keep our lead. That’s why we focus and defense and rebounding.”
In the first quarter it was the Buffaloes (8-2) who had problems finding the net, with the Bulldogs (4-6) taking early leads of 6-2 and 9-4 before Manteca closed the period out on back-to-back 3-pointers by Garrison Reis and L.J. Legan (six points) to come within 13-12.
That six-point spurt began an 18-0 run with the Buffaloes’ Peyton Nieman (five rebounds, four steals), scoring four of his game-high 10 points in the run.
“At first, we were kind of struggling,” Nieman said. “We started out a little bit slow.
“But as a team, we picked it up and started to play good defense, keeping our hands up.”
Evani Gaeta chipped in eight points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals for Manteca.
“I think a big part of our team is energy,” Gaeta said. “Diving on loose balls and getting offensive rebounds boosts our team’s energy and helps us win games.”
The Buffaloes won the battle of the boards 32-23 with Santiago Sanders (four points, two blocks) grabbing seven rebounds, Micah Crawford (two points, two steals) making six rebounds and Garrison Reis (three points, two steals, assist, block) five. Elijah Nelson tallied eight points.
Malcom Akamien led Tracy with nine points.
Manteca hosts Lodi on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Junior varsity
Manteca 41, Tracy 24
Jeremiah Orona paced the Buffaloes with 14 points and Landon Butler chipped in eight.
Freshman
Manteca 39, Tracy 31
Shahab Safi led the Buffaloes with nine points and Misael Rodriguez added seven points.
