Editorial note: Vincent Cardoza was misidentified as Austin Barnes in the original write-up. The correction has been made. The Bulletin regrets the error.
MODESTO – Amazing what turnover-free basketball can do to a team’s bottom line.
Manteca trailed Beyer by 20 points at halftime Thursday in Central Catholic’s Mark Gallo Invitational, with the Buffaloes turning the ball over six times in the first two periods.
In the second half, Manteca did not turn the ball over until the final 30 seconds of the last period, closing the gap to four points three times but could not get closer, as the Patriots held on for a 51-43 win.
“We have been averaging like 17 or 18 turnovers a game,” Buffaloes coach Geoff Israel said. “And we work on cleaning that up, but you’re not going to win a game like this one with the first half we played.
“We practiced against their press yesterday, and we didn’t execute in the first half. We settled for 3-point attempts instead of layups, and in the second half we were attacking and getting layups and that got us back in the game. We had a great third quarter.”
John Peringelil (five rebounds, four steals) sparked the comeback for Manteca (4-4), scoring seven of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter. The Buffaloes outscored the Patriots (6-0) of Modesto 20-9 in the third period, dropping the Beyer lead to 40-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the middle of the fourth period, Jayden Scarver (10 points, five rebounds, steal) narrowed the gap to four points twice on fast breaks, the second via a full-court pass from Vincent Cardoza. With 1:03 remaining, Landon Butler sank two free throws for the third four-point gap of the quarter with the last points Manteca would make.
The Buffaloes’ Harp Mehrok led all rebounders with nine.
The Patriots played a suffocating man-to-man defense that was very effective in the first half but dropped off in intensity the second half.
“We are a super young team,” Beyer coach Kyle McKim said. “We played a really intense pace in that first half, and I think our energy and our intensity waned a little bit in that second half and we didn’t have quite the juice to keep going at the pace we were going at. It’s tough to press for four quarters.
“They did a fantastic job of coming back, finishing and executing.”
Curtis Harmon paced the Patriots with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Manteca faces Ripon Christian today at 5 p.m.
Gregori 67, Ripon Christian 46
The Jaguars (7-3) raced away with it in the second half to win their pool.
Amos Cady led Ripon Christian (5-2) with 16 points and five rebounds. Mason Tameling and Chase Bunnell scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
