The East Union Lancers dispelled any concerns of a letdown after a massive overtime win over Central Catholic last Thursday, jumping out to a 16-0 lead over rival Manteca before pulling away for a 68-42 victory to remain undefeated in Valley Oak League play.
“As a coach you never quite know how your team is going to respond after what was a huge win for our program last week,” East Union head coach Jim Agostini said. “But the effort and intensity was there from the opening tip tonight.”
East Union (6-0, 18-4) came out shooting hot from both the outside and in the paint. Shebra Rezaye (11 points) and Ava Barrera (14 points) combined to go three of four from 3 in the opening quarter, while leading scorer Zyondupree Beasley (22 points) continued to finish around the rim after her huge 21-point effort last time out against the Raiders.
Manteca (1-4, 9-12) made its first basket of the first quarter with just over two minutes left before the intermission. The Lancers would take a 20-5 lead into the second quarter.
“Obviously, we defended well, but I was especially pleased with our rebounding tonight,” Agostini said. “Some of the box-outs we saw tonight from our bigs we haven’t seen all season. We knew coming into the game they had some good rebounders and we would need to outwork them if we were going to win.”
Barrera led the Lancers with 11 rebounds, and was not the only East Union player to end the night with a double-double. Senior forward Jerney Luckett collected 10 rebounds to go with her 15 points. She scored four points and hauled in four rebounds in a second quarter that saw the Lancers grow their lead to 43-15 going into halftime.
“I’ve had some really good conversations with our coaches recently and feel like I am in a really good place on the court,” Luckett said. “I was proud of the way we came out as a team and worked hard to limit their second chances on the boards.”
Oscar Calix’s young Buffaloes squad came out in the second half with the look of a team that would not be run out of its own gym. Freshman guard Savannah Ramirez (13 points) got an early 3-pointer to go, and forward Saniyah Anthony (nine points, 10 rebounds) scored six of her nine points as Manteca outscored the Lancers 15-10 in the third frame, cutting the lead to 53-30.
“I am really happy with how our girls responded tonight,” Calix said. “You can’t beat teams like East Union with the first quarter going how it went for us. There are a ton of positives to take from the last 24 minutes that we’ll bring with us the rest of the league schedule.”
All four double-digit scorers, Rezaye, Beasley, Barrera, and Luckett scored points in the fourth quarter, helping the six-time defending VOL champions pull away for a 68-42 victory. Unselfish play was a theme on the night, as the Lancers scored on 13 assisted baskets in the game.
“The attack was very balanced tonight,” Agostini said. “We were able to get to the rim with good success and then started seeing some shots fall. Anytime you have four players score in double figures you know the ball was moving around well.”
Up next for East Union is a road trip to winless Mountain House, who gave East Union all they could handle in the first matchup at the Dalben Center.
“They are a good squad,” Agostini said. “They had us down 14 at multiple points in the game the first time we played them. We’re going to need to come out with the same effort and intensity from the jump on Thursday.”
Things don’t get any easier for Manteca as they head to Modesto to take on Central Catholic on Thursday.
“We know they are going to bring the pressure defensively,” Calix said. “We’ll need to be the team we were in the second half tonight from the opening whistle to give ourselves the best chance to win.”
Junior varsity
East Union 53, Manteca 11
The visiting Lancers led 20-0 after the first quarter.
They were paced by Elle Baluyut’s 17 points. Lilyan Frye added 10 points, and Camille Christensen had nine.
Sadie DeCosta Aldape led Manteca with four points.
