Manteca withstood a ferocious third-quarter run by visiting Sierra on Tuesday night and pulled away in the fourth period to come away with a 57-41 Valley Oak League girls basketball victory.
Trailing 30-16 at halftime, the Timberwolves (0-2 VOL, 7-8 overall) went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter behind seven Emma Gilmore. Her 3-pointer brought Sierra within 34-31 with 1 minute, 24 seconds left in the period. The Buffaloes (2-0, 12-3) righted the ship at that point, ending the quarter on a 5-0 run and they never looked back.
Gilmore led all scorers with 18 points along with eight rebounds and three steals.
“In the third quarter, we were breaking their press, but our shots just weren’t falling,” Manteca coach Oscar Calix said. “We had problems making layups. I think we had 10 missed shots that quarter, and we were allowing them to get to the hoop.
“Emma Gilmore did a good job of getting to the hoop for them and getting her shots up in the third quarter and the fourth. I think she was the main problem for us in the second half.”
The main problems for Sierra was its inability to control the ball and make free throws. The Timberwolves turned the ball over 36 times and missed 18 free throws.
“We made a run there in that third quarter,” Sierra coach Rudy Valencia said. “But we didn’t play that well in the first half. These crosstown rivalries are fun for the girls and they get excited, but unfortunately they can get a little too excited and the game can get in their heads. We didn’t look poised tonight. At times, we were too excited and needed to settle down.
“In our last two losses, the story of the game has been us turning the ball over a lot and missing a lot of free throws. That is definitely something we will be working on.”
One thing the Timberwolves did well was rebound with 54 boards. Abigail Chapman pulled down 15 rebounds, and Marissa Gonzalez had 10.
Marcelina Chaparro led a balanced attack for the Buffaloes with 10 points. Michailla Springs (five steals) and Jade Ikharo (four steals) added nine points apiece and Brianna Parker tallied five steals and six points.
“At times we went too fast and we needed to slow down,” Chaparro said. “When we didn’t rush we kept the tempo going and we did well.”
Kerena Malone (seven points) led Manteca on the boards with nine rebounds.
“They have a little bit of height on us,” Malone said. “So today it was a little harder to get rebounds. I definitely could have done better on the boards.
“I am happy with the outcome.”
On Thursday night at 7:30, Sierra hosts Kimball, while Manteca travels across town to East Union.
Junior varsity
Sierra 56, Manteca 30
The Timberwolves’ Alison Cosby led all scorers with 17 points and teammate Emmeline Werner added 13.
Jayda Anderson led the Buffaloes with seven points.
