Manteca scored the game’s first 13 points Monday night on the way to a 77-39 win over visiting Ripon in a boys Sac-Joaquin Section Foundation Game at Winter Gymnasium.
“It was fun,” Buffaloes coach Brett Lewis said. “We started out like we wanted to – looking to run.
“We started with the run and then got good, open shots and played good defense.”
Kenny Wooten did not disappoint in his first game in front of the home crowd, alternating between resounding dunks and finger rolls to bring the crowd to its feet time after time. Playing just a little more than half the game, Wooten led all scorers with 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds while making four blocks.
“This was great,” Wooten said. “I love our home crowd and all our fans that come out. They made it exciting for me playing on the home court for the first time.
“We came out with a great tempo and we just had to keep the tempo up.”
The Indians came out of the locker room in the third quarter and went toe-to-toe with Manteca, outscoring the Buffaloes 12-11 in the third period.
“A lot of the little pieces we have to work on are just huge,” Ripon coach Rod Wright said. “We are not big, so we have to do a good job on boxing out. Once that first dunk happened, it was like, ‘Now what?’
“In the second half I told them that I didn’t care what the score was, that they needed to challenge themselves to do the best they could while they were out there. In the second half it was about moving the ball to get the extra pass.”
Tydus Verhoeven had 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals for Manteca. Cole Stevens and Jose Medina each had 12 points for Ripon.
East Union 65,
Ripon Christian 38
Host East Union raced out to a 23-13 lead and never looked back, using a stifling defense to spark the offense throughout. The Lancers held Ripon Christian to just 14 points in the second half and zero field goals in the final period.
We wanted to come out and apply the pressure on the defensive end,” East Union coach Ryan Tarr said. “We were able to force some turnovers and get some shots to fall and had a little momentum from that.”
Gyse Hulsebosch and Austin Miller paced East Union with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Zach Cortwright had 12 for the Knights.
Lathrop 73,
Golden Valley 67
LATHROP — The Spartans were well ahead 48-20 at one point in the second quarter but had to hold off Golden Valley of Merced in the end.
“We played really well in the first half, and our youth really showed in the second half,” Lathrop coach Nathan McGrath said.
Turnovers and foul trouble plagued Lathrop over the final two quarters. Junior Ballard pumped in 17 points, Idowu Olaleye added 15 points and six blocks and all 11 Spartans who suited up scored.
