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GIRLS HOOPS: Manteca reaches Pitman Tourney final despite shooting woes
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TURLOCK — There is nothing that says a win has to be pretty, and Manteca’s 48-35 win over Turlock in the semifinals of the Pitman Holiday Tournament was anything but.
After Jayda Jackson hit the Buffaloes’ first 3-point attempt, Manteca missed the next 21 from behind the arc and shot an abysmal 38 percent from two-point land but managed to avoid the loss.
After an 18-18 tie at halftime, the Buffaloes (10-3) outscored the Bulldogs (4-8) 19-8 in the third quarter when Kyaira Jacobs scored 10 of her game-high 20 points. Jackson added 11 points and Nataly Jimenez led Turlock with 16 points.
“I did tell the girls during a timeout in the third quarter that when the game is ugly and the shots aren’t falling that it’s the dirty work that is going to win the ball game,” Manteca coach Ryan Bono said. “I am proud of the girls the way they fought through their poor shooting with rebounding and fighting for loose balls.
“But I did tell them whatever they did tonight not to do again in the championship.”
The Buffaloes face tournament host Pitman for first place at 5:30 p.m. today.

Tracy Tournament
East Union 53, Merced 29

TRACY — Already leading by double digits, the Lancers (11-2) outscored the Bears (10-3) 21-2 in the third period to coast to the quarterfinal win at Tracy High’s Swenson Gym.
“We had great free-throw shooting, we had great team defense,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said. “That is the second time we got them — we beat them two weeks ago by two points.
“We showed a little more patience tonight running our sets than we did two weeks ago. It was just a good team win.”
It was the freshmen who led the attack for the Lancers. Ninth graders Lani Tu’uga and Taylor Snaer both broke into double figures with Tu’uga leading all scorers with 16 points and Snaer 15. Older sister Ala Tu’uga  added eight points.
Sierra Smith led Merced with eight points.
East Union faces Orestimba of Newman in the semifinals tonight at 6:30.

Weston Ranch 61, Beyer 36
The Cougars (6-5) went on a 15-2 run to close out the first half and never looked back in the consolation quarterfinal.
Dearri Ross led Weston Ranch with 16 points and six rebounds. Jennalyn Laminero flirted with a double-double with nine points, nine assists, five rebounds and three steals; Daria Perkins added eight points and seven rebounds and Ashanti Boatman (eight points) and Darnaysha Huff (six points) had 11 rebounds each.
“It was a good team effort overall,” Cougars coach Mike Williams said. “It was good to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss the night before.
“We shared the ball well and everyone contributed with 11 different players scoring.”
Weston Ranch faces Ripon this afternoon at 2 in the consolation semifinals.

Ripon 40, Downey 33
The Indians (8-4) used ball control to avenge an earlier-season loss to the Knights (7-10) of Modesto.
“I thought we did a better job than we did on Friday,” Ripon coach Rick Inderbitzen said. “We controlled the basketball.
“We got to redeem ourselves as we lost to Downey earlier in the season in overtime. That was nice, but we have a tough one next with an athletic Weston Ranch.”
Mikayla Vaught led the Indians with 13 points and Mackenzie Hutchinson added 11 points. Abby Van Diepen paced Downey with 12 points.
The Indians square off with Weston Ranch in the consolation semifinals today at 2 p.m.

Lathrop 46, West 35
The Spartans (2-8) jumped out on the Wolf Pack (2-11) 12-4 in the first quarter and used tough defense and ball control to build their lead to 16-12 at halftime in the consolation quarterfinal.
“We had tough defense,” Lathrop coach Dwayne Davis said. “We did not allow one transition layup.
“And we didn’t have a multitude of turnovers.”
Kiersten Constantino led the Spartans with 16 points including going 4 for 4 from the free throw line down the stretch. Sanah Singh added eight points and seven rebounds with Hailey Hunter (five rebounds) and Isa Paniagua adding seven points each.
Lathrop faces Enochs of Modesto in a consolation semifinal at 12:30 this afternoon.

Ripon Christian Tournament
Argonaut 73, Ripon Christian 40

The Mustangs of Jackson (10-2) outscored the Knights (4-4) 25-5 and were never challenged.
“We played them two weeks ago so we knew it was coming,” Ripon Christian coach Mike Vander Molen said. “We did a much better job this time around. I was really happy with the girls.
“The score was about the same, but last time we had trouble getting across half court. We still had too many turnovers, but at least tonight we were getting some looks.”
Morgan Van Elderen paced the Knights with 17 points and Argonaut’s Gabbie Gascon led all scorers with 26 points.
Ripon Christian wraps up the round-robin tournament this afternoon at 3 against Mariposa.