MODESTO —Lathrop’s girls basketball team rebounded from a disappointing loss with a big comeback win Friday, as the Spartans overcame a 10-point halftime deficit to topple Central Catholic, 43-39.
It was a reversal from Wednesday’s Valley Oak League opener against visiting Manteca, which trailed by as much as 10 late in the first half but rolled to a 54-45 victory.
Lathrop (1-1 VOL, 8-6 overall) struggled on both ends of the court early in Friday’s contest after foul trouble forced Myani Thornton and Danya Phillips to sit for most of the first half. At full strength to start the third quarter, the Spartans outscored Central (1-1, 10-4) 18-8 and never relinquished control in the fourth.
“Myani and Danya each had two fouls to start the game and that hurt a lot of our matchups because they were the ones who were supposed to defend Central Catholic’s best players,” Lathrop coach Dwayne Davis said. “In the second half we went to a 3-2 matchup zone and kept them off the boards, and that’s when they started struggling on offense.”
Gurveen Bal collected 16 points to lead the Spartans. Mary Cotton tallied 12 points, 22 rebounds, three blocks and three steals. Phillips finished with 10 points, six rebounds and five steals.
“Huge win for us,” Davis said. “We didn’t want to fall to 0-2 (in league). I feel like the top five or so teams in league are evenly matched so it’s going to be a battle like this. We just have to keep up with the Joneses.”

BOYS HOOPS
Ripon 75,
 Escalon 38
RIPON — The Indians (1-0, 12-4) tipped off Trans-Valley League action with a lopsided win over their traditional rivals and ended a streak of three straight home losses to Escalon (0-2, 3-12).
Noah Hernandez topped all scorers with 21 points, 15 coming in the second half. Kyle Sisk chimed in with 14 points, and all but two Indians contributed in the scoring column.

GIRLS SOCCER
Sierra 11, Lathrop 0
LATHROP — Jadyn Shinn racked up four goals and an assist, while Kyndra Kiser had a goal and four assists to spearhead the Timberwolves (3-0 VOL, 12-1 overalll).
Kaleigh Doyle also had a hat trick. Dominique Guevara, Emily Cunial and Yasmin Ballew each contributed a goal.

Soph girls hoops
Lathrop 46,
Central Catholic 14
Kashara Gray and Mikki Estavillo led Lathrop with 10 and eight points, respectively.

Frosh boys hoops
Ripon 52, Escalon 33
RIPON — The Indians (13-1) were powered by Troy Brogan’s 16 points in the landslide victory.
Nico Ilardi helped with nine points, eight rebounds and four assists. Danny Hernandez also had nine points and four assists.