Manteca is no longer relying on its young backcourt to do much of the scoring these days.
On Tuesday, senior center Sarah Inderbitzin fired a career-high 24 points go with 11 rebounds to help the Buffaloes hold off visiting Oakdale 54-44 for their third straight win and fifth in six games.
“Sarah did a great job inside for us,” Manteca coach Ryan Bono said. “It was her show tonight. She played really well.”
Sophomore guard Jayda Jackson contributed 13 points, and Selena Lopez had 10 points and five rebounds. Manteca (9-3 Valley Oak League, 16-8 overall) led 31-21 at halftime. Oakdale (3-9, 11-14) got 14 points from Grace Higle and 12 from Sarah Borher.
The Buffaloes have a tough stretch to end the regular season as they vie for one of three automatic playoff berths. They’ll host East Union on Thursday before taking on first-place Lathrop next Tuesday, Feb. 13.

East Union 59,
Central Catholic 43
The Lancers (8-4, 15-10) took care of business at Dalben Center to remain a game back of Manteca. They used a 22-6 third-quarter spurt to break it open.
“We just had a really good rhythm to our offense tonight,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said. “Whether Central was playing in man (defense) or their zone, we moved the ball well and scored from all angles. When we spread the ball around multiple people can score.”
Hailey Gosney led East Union’s balanced attack with 15 points and three 3s. Kayla Montoya scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, while Destiny Torio and Donja Payne chipped in 10 apiece.
Tessa Gallo and Jasmine Kelly scored 16 and 14 points, respectively, for the Raiders (2-10, 10-14).

Kimball 78,
 Weston Ranch 43
STOCKTON — Kimball (11-1, 20-5) erupted for 25 points in the opening quarter and staked a 43-17 halftime lead.
The Jaguars had scoring contributions up and down their roster with Kathy Obiajulu’s 13 points leading the way. Dariana Willis pitched in 12 points, and Pearl Bautista had 11.
Justice Stitt finished with 12 points to pace the Cougars (1-11, 4-21), who were done in by 27 turnovers.
“We played better in the second half, but being down 43-17 at halftime is just too tough to come back from,” Weston Ranch coach Darrell Johnson said.

Hilmar 48,
Ripon Christian 45
RIPON — Hilmar (4-6, 15-10) completed a season sweep of the Knights (5-5, 13-11), who remain in third place in the Trans-Valley League.
Morgan Van Elderen led Ripon Christian with 15 points, Kelly Engel had 13 and Ariel Vander Woude contributed seven points and nine rebounds.

Freshman
Weston Ranch 52,
Kimball 33
STOCKTON — The Cougars finished with a 17-8 fourth quarter and were led by a 23-point outburst from Jasmine Basco. Sierrah Cleary added 11 points.