East Union freshman Loretta Kakala finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds during Saturday’s 59-33 consolation bracket victory over West during the Tracy Breakfast Lions/Tom Hawkins Tournament.
East Union (7-3) outscored its opponent 17-6 in the first quarter and had a 31-13 cushion going into the locker rooms. The Lancers were outscored by nine in the third quarter but then closed the final eight minutes on a 20-3 run.
“They didn’t hit a bucket from the field in the fourth quarter,” East Union head coach Jim Agostini said. “They only had three free throws – just an overall good game. As a coach, you don’t know how your team is going to respond because we got popped pretty good by McNair on (Friday). We’re still trying to find our identity, and we responded well and came out to play, and that was good to see.”
East Union sophomore Olivia Vezaldenos had 17 points, eight steals and seven assists. Out of the Lancers’ 11 players, 10 of them reached the scoring column.
The Lancers play against Gregori of Modesto today at 4:30 p.m. at Tracy High. On Friday, East Union will conclude its preseason at home against Modesto before Valley Oak League play kicks off on Jan. 8 at home against Kimball of Tracy.
Mills 43, Lathrop 34
Lauren Collins led the Spartans (3-8) with 11 points as the Vikings of Millbrae shut down Loreal Taylor with a trapping half-court defense.
“We were unable to handle their half-court defense,” Lathrop head coach Ed Fang said. “They double and triple-teamed (Taylor). We had outside shots but were not able to convert them.”
Lathrop led 11-6 after the first quarter, but Mills went on a second-quarter run and took a 19-13 lead at the halftime break. Mills outscored Lathrop by five in the third quarter to take a double-digit lead going into the final frame.
Taylor was limited to eight points on 4 of 9 shooting and Desiree Mendola added six. Danya Phillips tallied four and Akilah Lesley and Asianya Jones rounded out the total with one each.
Lathrop will conclude the Tracy Tournament today at 3 p.m. against Modesto and will open VOL competition on Jan. 8 at home against Manteca.
Manteca 58, Johansen 40
The Buffaloes (3-8) were led by Jessica Hasal’s 20 points and Abigail Behler tallied a double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds). Manteca led 22-7 after the first quarter and led by 20-plus for the majority of the matchup. Johansen cut its deficit to nine in the fourth quarter before Hasal hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the game away.
“I was pretty proud of the team,” Manteca head coach Cody Norman said. “Hasal and Behler stepped up to lead a balanced attack and an overall team improvement in every aspect of the game.”
Manteca will play Riverbank in the final tournament game Monday, followed by a home game at Winter Gym Thursday at 1 p.m. against Lincoln Stockton. The Buffaloes will start VOL play Jan. 8, on the road against Lathrop.
