Typically outsized at every position, Manteca has had to rely on speed to rack up wins this season.
That wasn’t the case in its Sac-Joaquin Section Division III opener Tuesday at Winter Gym, where the fourth-seeded Buffaloes hosted standout senior Amaya Ervin and No. 13 El Capitan.
In this matchup between guard-heavy squads, it was the play of junior center Paige Peterson that was the difference in what ended up as a 66-39 rout favoring Manteca.
El Capitan (19-10) surprised the Buffaloes with its overall speed and full-court press at the outset. Manteca (20-8) managed to lead 19-18 at halftime and had the scrappy Peterson to thank. She accounted for 11 of her team’s points over the first two periods and finished with a season-high 22 points to go with 17 rebounds.
“We haven’t seen a team that quick in a longtime, so we had to made adjustments at halftime with our press break,” Manteca coach Ryan Bono said. “If it wasn’t for Paige in the first half we’d be in trouble. She was huge tonight, man. She was huge on the boards and she was able to finish. This is one of the few games where we had an advantage in size.”
Ervin led all players with 30 points, doing much of her damage in transition. The Gauchos could not keep pace with Manteca in the second half. Sophomore guard Kyaira Jacobs poured in 13 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter as the Buffaloes dusted El Capitan 27-6 in the final period.
Marissa Serrano contributed with 13 points, Jayda Jackson had 11 points and seven rebounds and Jaslyn Woods grabbed 10 boards.
Manteca plays host to No. 5 Nevada Union (19-10) on Thursday.