Zyondupree Beasley scored the first six points of the game and finished with 17, helping coach Jim Agostini and the East Union Lancers secure a sixth straight Valley Oak League crown on Thursday with a 52-34 victory over a very game and young Manteca squad at Dalben Center.
“We knew coming in we had a job to do, and it wasn’t going to be easy,” Beasley said. “We were able to come out and attack the rim and boards early, which helped us get a lead, and from there, it was just about competing to keep it.”
East Union (11-1 VOL, 24-5 overall) knew coming into the game that a win would clinch at least a share of the title with Central Catholic, which was able to squeak out an overtime win at Sierra to clinch their first ever VOL crown.
“You never get used to this,” coach Agostini said. “I’m not sure these girls themselves believed that they could win another VOL title this season, but they put in the work, played some really tough, hard-fought games, and they deserve to be cutting down these nets tonight.”
Beasley’s 6-0 solo run to start helped propel the Lancers to a 17-8 lead at the first intermission. East Union gave Manteca (3-9, 11-18) trouble sitting in a 2-3 zone that forced Oscar Callix’s young team to take contested shots from the outside. The Buffaloes shot 1-for-8 on 3-pointers in the first quarter, and that was just the start of a 3-for-324 night from behind the arc.
“I was pleased with the effort on the defensive end tonight,” Agostini said. “We really showed how deep our bench can be still making things difficult on the other team even with our starters sitting.”
A tight whistle forced Agostini to go to his bench early, as senior standouts Shebra Rezaye (eight points) and Ava Barrera (six points, eight rebounds) were forced to the bench after picking up two early fouls each.
Junior guards Julianna Gaspar (four points) and Alessandra De Los Santos (seven points) were key in keeping the Lancers out in front during the second quarter, helping East Union stretch its lead to 31-19 at the end of the first half.
Callix knew his Buffaloes would not go away easily.
Leading scorer Saniyah Anthony’s (nine points) put-back midway through the third quarter would cut the East Union lead to single digits at 35-26.
Agostini’s Lancers would go back to their bread and butter, however, getting the ball inside to Beasley and Jerney Luckett (four points). Both seniors would make a pair of free throws to end the quarter that saw East Union score six of its eight points at the line to take a 39-26 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We played much better defensively in the second half,” Callix said. “Creating problems on the defensive end will give you confidence on offense; we just needed a few more shots to fall tonight.”
Manteca’s offense successfully got the ball inside to Na'ima Calderon (eight points) and Sari Lawson (four points) to start the fourth quarter, but each time the Buffaloes made a mini run, East Union would counter with layups of its own to keep the Buffaloes at bay.
“It was nice to see us run some sets and execute the against a really good defense late,” Callix said. “You saw flashes of what we can be moving forward next year and beyond when we move the ball and take the right shots.”
The Lancers will await the selection committee’s seeding of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs.
For Agostini, priority No. 1 is rest heading into the playoffs.
“At this point in the year, you just want to stay healthy,” he said. “We’re work on couple of things from tonight we can fix but the focus will be on rest and recovery and heading into the tournament feeling our best.”
