Manteca started to dig itself a hole late in the first quarter and kept digging for most of the first half as Kimball left Winter Gym on Monday with a 52-28 Valley Oak League girls win.

The only lead for the Buffaloes (7-3 Valley Oak League, 15-6 overall) was at 6-5 with 2:30 left in the opening period. The Jaguars (9-2, 18-4) then closed out the quarter on a 7-0 run and continued that spurt into the second period for a 22-3 run.

Seventeen first-half Manteca turnovers were a large part of the Buffaloes early demise.

“You can’t win a game when you have over 25 turnovers,” Manteca coach Oscar Calix said. “That’s the biggest thing, and that was key going into the game — we had to limit our turnovers. You can’t continue to compete and stay in the game when you keep turning over the ball.

“And then we couldn’t knock down free throws and we couldn’t finish layups. Today, we just didn’t compete.”

The Buffaloes were held to single digits in three periods.

“We just play hard,” Kimball coach Michael Turpin said. “I tell the girls they can’t do anything wrong, as long as they play hard.

“And that’s what we do. We bring the fire every time. I love it.”

Izabella Sanchez paced Manteca with nine points, 11 rebounds and three steals. Ariel De La O added six points and 10 rebounds.

The Jaguars’ Giana Riley led all scorers with 15 points. Caiya Sims and Sierra Tulian added 10 points each.

The Buffaloes play at Central Catholic tonight at 7:30.

Junior varsity

Kimball 56, Manteca 53

Jada Ikharo posted a double-double for the Buffaloes with 23 points and 12 rebounds along with four assists.

Manteca’s Kahlina Williams added 12 points and Tamayah Valentine chipped in eight points and six rebounds.

Freshman

Kimball 35, Manteca 27

Aaliyarae Jacobs flirted with a double-double for the Buffaloes with 18 points and nine rebounds along with four blocks and two steals.