After a relatively close game for three quarters Wednesday night, Manteca held visiting Kimball to just four fourth-period points as the Buffaloes pulled away for a 55-39 Valley Oak league boys basketball victory.
“Defensively, we did a really good job,” Manteca coach Jason Hitt said. “They like to pound the ball inside, and (Benito) Ruiz is an MVP candidate for our league. He was first-team, all-VOL last year, and if you can stop him, that’s something. They missed a lot of perimeter shots, and we were able to rebound pretty well in the second half. I thought we pitter-pattered with the ball a little too much, which gave us some unforced turnovers.
“We have to get better at executing the offense all the way through the shot clock. Getting the shot in the final five seconds is our Achilles’ heel right now. When we get under that 10-second mark we go into that panic mode and we seem to turn it over.”
Despite a size disadvantage, the Buffaloes (3-0 VOL, 16-4 overall) dominated the boards nearly two to one, grabbing 37 rebounds to 19 for the Jaguars (2-1, 13-7).
Santiago Sanders grabbed 14 of those Manteca rebounds and finished with 12 points for a double-double.
“It was a pretty good game,” Sanders said. “They had a lot of bigger players so we had to box out a little bit more and hustle for the rebounds but we were able to do that.”
Unable to find his long-range groove, the Buffaloes’ Noah Lyons put his head down and penetrated the perimeter, leading all scorers with 15 points, including 5 of his last 6 from the free-throw line.
“I was trying to get my shots up on the 3-point line,” Lyons said. “But they weren’t falling tonight so I just chose to rack more and get to the line.”
Manteca’s Elijah Nelson added 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Ruiz led Kimball with 11 points and nine rebounds.
The Buffaloes travel to Oakdale on Friday night at 7:30.
Junior varsity
Manteca 52, Kimball 44
The Buffaloes trailed 31-18 at halftime.
Manteca’s Joe Parengelli posted a double-double with 28 points and 15 rebounds. Jayden Scarver added 14 points for the Buffaloes.
Freshman
Kimball 37, Manteca 26
The Buffaloes were held to single digits in three periods.
Manteca’s Devon Richardson just missed a double-double at 12 points and nine rebounds. Jesus Gomez added six points and nine rebounds and Evan White pulled down 13 rebounds.
