TURLOCK — Turlock was able to get Manteca High’s undefeated boys basketball team to play with a little hesitation by varying its defensive looks, but the tactic only worked for a half.
A scare quickly turned into a rout for the visiting Buffaloes, as they stampeded their way to a 57-32 victory and an 8-0 start to the season. They led just 25-21 at halftime, but improved ball movement and defensive effort was the key to thwart the Bulldogs’ upset bid.
“They were switching their defenses up a lot and it kind of staggered us a little bit,” Manteca coach Brett Lewis said. “We were able to adjust to it in the second half and we stepped up our defense which led to points for us. It didn’t matter what defense they threw at us after halftime because we moved the ball better for better shots.”
Kenny Wooten anchored Manteca with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Dwight Young (12 points) and Frankie Lopez (nine points) took advantage of Turlock’s zone defenses and drilled three 3-pointers each. Anand Hundal helped with 10 points and six boards, while Tydus Verhoeven had eight rebounds to go with his six points.
Will Hilgen finished with 12 points to lead Turlock (1-10).
Manteca begins its most challenging stretch before the start of the Valley Oak League season on Saturday. The Buffaloes, No. 13 on the NorCalPreps Northern California rankings, tip off the 16th annual Modesto Christian Holiday Hoop Classic against No. 7 Freedom of Oakley at 10 a.m.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” Lewis said. “We want to try and show people we are worthy of what people are saying about us, and the competition in the tournament should help us grow.”

Sierra 72, Modesto 55
STOCKTON — It hasn’t taken Daniel Wyatt long to get reacquainted on the basketball court.
Playing just his second game after helping Sierra’s football team capture a CIF state championship, the 5-foot-10 guard amassed 32 points and buried eight 3-pointers in a winners-bracket semifinal in the 3rd annual Adidas Trojan Christmas Classic at Lincoln High.
“They ran a lot of zone against us and it gave us good looks from outside,” Sierra coach Scott Thomason said. “Daniel got in a zone and started feeling it. It’s good having him back on the court.”
The Timberwolves (8-2) hit 11 3-pointers in all, with two others coming from Jess Spivey. Spivey finished with 21 points and was 7 of 8 on free throws. Ogun Delaney buried the other 3 and had nine points, and Victor Elijah scored eight points off the bench.
Sophomore guard Ryan Silva spearheaded Modesto (3-6) with 16 points.
The win sets up a rematch with Edison in the final round. Two weeks ago, McDonald’s Classic host Edison (5-6) beat the Timberwolves, 52-48, but that was with Wyatt still competing on the football team.
“We’re excited to have the rematch against Edison,” Thomason said. “They’re a very good team with good athletes who play hard.”

Ripon 68, Atwater 52
RIPON — Cody Haines scored nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 17 rebounds as the Indians (9-3) rolled to victory.
Aaron Paschini paced Ripon with 18 points and accounted for eight of the team’s first 10 in the second half. Atwater (6-8) held a 15-13 advantage at the end of the first quarter, but the Indians took over late in the second with improved defense. Juan Walle had 19 points for Atwater but was in foul trouble for much of the second half. Reggie Ricks buried four 3-pointers in the first half but was held to one field goal in the second en route to finishing with 18 points.

Lathrop 52, Downey 35
MODESTO — Down two starters, Lathrop (7-6) still managed to put forth a dominant first half to end its pre-league schedule with a winning record. The Spartans were ahead 19-7 after the first quarter and 36-19 at halftime.
Junior Ballard helped pick up the slack, scoring 25 points to go with seven rebounds. Fabian Hernandez scored seven to lead Downey (2-7).
Lathrop opens Valley Oak League play Jan. 5 against visiting Manteca.

GIRLS
East Union 47, Sonora 43
SONORA — The pace of the game slowed to a crawl in the second half, but not enough to keep the Lancers from improving their record to 8-0.
Olivia Vezaldenos topped all scorers with 26 points, with 22 of them coming in the first half. Sonora’s Makenna Poole scored 16 of her 13 in the first half. East Union led 33-28 at the midway point, and both teams were held to single-digit scoring in the third and fourth quarters.
“A lot of whistles blowing in the second half,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said. “There really was not much flow at all. In the first half both teams were running the floor well but then it got real slow.”
Agostini credited Ruby Daube (eight points) for her defense on Poole in the second half. The Wildcats fell to 5-2.

Freshman boys
Ripon 57, Atwater 19
The Indians (9-1) rallied to a 20-2 first-quarter lead and coasted from there.
Adam Wood scored 17 points to lead a balanced effort. Spencer Schroen added 11 points and eight rebounds. Dallas Waters pulled down nine rebounds to go with 10 points. Roland Davis contributed eight points. Vincent Olmo had seven points along with 12 boards.

Manteca 51, Turlock 43
A balanced scoring effort buoyed the Buffaloes in Turlock.
Riley Artery and Saleem Safi finished with nine points apiece, while Anthony Martinez, Omar Sanchez and Tarnjot Singh each had eight.

Freshman girls
East Union 38, Sonora 35
Jaidyn Valencia (seven points) made the second of two free throw attempts to push the Lancers ahead for good with less than a minute to go, and later Nina Murphy (18 points) scored off a turnover for the final points of the game. Sarah Gloeckler pitched in with nine points.