East Union High staged 8-0 runs on three occasions in Thursday's Valley Oak League clash against cross-town rival Sierra.
The result of that was a 79-59 victory at the Dalben Center.
"The game of basketball is all about runs — you try to go on as many of them as you can," said Lancers coach Jim Agostini.
In the process, East Union (5-1 VOL, 18-4 overall) kept pace with league-leader Kimball, an overtime winner over Manteca.
The Timberwolves (1-4, 12-8) enjoyed a strong first quarter. Behind the play of the freshman tandem of Makayla Kakala and Marci Chaparro, they led several times during a seesaw battle characterized by six ties and three lead changes.
Sierra rode that momentum into the second quarter, tying the game at 25-25 following a Natalie Dias basket.
But then East Union got it going behind a pair of freshmen standouts in Lani Tu’uga and Taylor Snaer.
Tuuga scored on a fastbreak, taking a cross-court pass from her sister, sophomore forward Ala Tu’uga shortly before the break. Lani Tu’uga closed out with a steal and a bucket.
The Lancers, who led 33-26, added to their lead with another run in the third. Snaer scored going coast to coast on a drive and Lani Tu’uga drove baseline for another two.
Tu’uga led all scorers with 25 points. She also had nine rebounds and eight steals.
"Our defense helped create those runs," said Agostini.
His team opened the fourth with more of those runs while building up a 62-35 edge.
Snaer finished with 13 points, nine boards and three steals.
Ala Tu’uga chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds, Kyshanti King added six points and 10 boards, and Lauren Pablo added eight points and five rebounds.
The Timberwolves, meanwhile, closed out the game with a 13-1.
Ness Villanueva had six of her team-high 15 points during that span. She also had seven rebounds.
Natalie Dias also scored in the fourth quarter spurt. She ended up with nine points and 14 boards.
Mikayla Guarascio and Kakala contributed with nine and eight points, respectively.
"We're a really, really, really young team," said Sierra coach Rashonne Founts, who pointed out that her team currently has eight freshmen on its roster including three — Chapparo, Kakala and Nina Montes — as starters.
"We have two of our starters who are out with injuries," she added.