Two games mattered to East Union’s girls basketball team Saturday night.

The Lancers took care of business on their end with a 69-43 victory over visiting Lathrop to maintain their lead over the rest of the Valley Oak League.

That lead doubled to two games with second-place Weston Ranch losing to Oakdale. Sonora, meanwhile, defeated Manteca at home to move into a second-place tie with Weston Ranch in what has been a wild season through the first half of conference play.

East Union, which won its 30th straight home game, improved to 7-1 in league and 15-4 overall.

“We have a big week coming up with Ceres (4-3) and Sonora (5-3) next,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said. “We love the position we’re in after the first half, but there’s a long ways to go. We’re still trying to be a better basketball team.”

The Lancers, who came off a big 59-49 win over Manteca, imposed their will at the outset against the first-year varsity Spartans (0-8, 2-16), taking a 21-10 lead into the second quarter. East Union was up 40-19 by halftime before letting the bench leave its mark.

“They came out and played like you would expect a championship team to do,” Lathrop coach Ed Fang said. “We fought them hard all the way until the end, though, so I’m played with that.”

Lexy Posz churned out 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists for East Union. Krystal Young added 13 points, and Shalane Jackson contributed 11 points and six boards.

Freshman point guard Jazlyn Simon led Lathrop with 11 points, and Krystal Ruiz had 10.

“It was a tough night to play — it’s Saturday, you have both the boys and girls teams playing and we had an empty gymnasium,” Agostini said. “As a coach you worry about a letdown coming off a great win over a rival school, but the girls did just fine.”

OAKDALE — Timnesha Wilson scored 14 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Cougars (5-3, 12-7) to keep pace with league-leading East Union.

“We had issues with heart and attitude, and we didn’t show much effort tonight,” Weston Ranch coach Chris Bauer said. “Oakdale came out and couldn’t miss in the first half while we struggled offensively.”

Host Sierra (4-4, 9-9) trailed 20-12 at halftime but ramped it up on the offensive end in the third quarter when it amassed half of its total points.

Center Jaslynn Liotard fired in 14 points to lead the comeback charge, while Michelle Arroyo and Alysia Atkins scored 13 apiece.

Point guard Jasmine Currimao finished with just five points, but coach Steve Unterholzner said she was the difference-maker in the second half.

SONORA — Manteca found itself behind the 8-ball before tipoff with freshman guard Mikayla Hasal unavailable because of injury and standout Sharon Washington battling an illness.

Washington still managed to get 15 points, but the Buffaloes (4-4, 11-8) were outscored 15-3 in the second quarter and trailed 29-13 at halftime. Manteca was also 2 for 12 from the free-throw line.

Tori Selesia scored 19 points for Sonora (5-3, 10-9).