Evani Gaeta hit two big 3-pointers Friday night, as visiting Manteca pulled away in the final period for a 51-43 Valley Oak League boys basketball victory over East Union at Dalben Center.
The junior guard made one late in the third quarter for a one-point lead, and the other early in the fourth to give the Buffaloes (3-0, 16-4 overall) the lead for good as well as sole possession of first place in the VOL.
“I had a slow start in the first half,” Gaeta said. “And then the coaches told me I needed to shoot more, because I was open many times but I was hesitant.
“I needed more confidence, and in the second half I was able to make my shots and we were able to pull off the win.”
In addition to the pair of 3-pointers, Gaeta was 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter for 10 total points.
“Evani has been great for us,” Buffaloes coach Jason Hitt said. “He has developed from the JVs all the way into the spring and fall. He is starting to take more shots now. I told him that even if he misses it gives us a chance to clean up the boards.
“We had a couple of put-backs when he did miss and he also buried a couple and he is one of our top free-throw shooters. When I can get both him and Ramesh (Kabiri) in together we are a lot more potent. I think it was a big game for him tonight in a big, big situation.”
One of those cleaning up the offensive boards for Manteca was Santiago Sanders who grabbed half of his 14 rebounds off the offensive glass and posted a double-double with 15 points.
“Before the game, we talked about moving the ball around and getting it inside,” Sanders said. “We did a good job of doing that and then kicking it out for 3s.”
The Buffaloes led most of the first half until Anthony Sy (12 points, four steals) hit a free throw for the Lancers (2-1, 13-7) to knot the halftime score at 21-21. East Union switched defenses at halftime and that gave Manteca fits until Gaeta helped the Buffaloes right the ship.
“We have to get better at busting up a matchup zone,” Hitt said. “We should have done a much better job in the first half against a 2-3 zone. We have been effective against a 2-3. They came out in a matchup in the second half – he obviously didn’t want to show that in the first half – and we struggled a little bit.
“Santiago (Sanders) and Evani (Gaeta) played big tonight. I think they really stepped up.”
There were six lead changes and three ties in the third quarter alone.
“To me, it was a classic league basketball game,” Lancers coach Dutch Ell said. “Tied at halftime, back and forth, up one, down one, and a one-point game after the third. Credit to them, they are a really aggressive, half-court defensive team. They made every bucket we got difficult, and they rebounded the ball really well offensively.
“Credit to them for making this game difficult. I feel we got some good looks tonight, but the shots just didn’t go in and some things didn’t go our way. It was just a tough second half.”
Noah Lyons added 10 points for the Buffaloes with Kabiri (eight rebounds) and Elijah Nelson (10 rebounds) adding four points apiece.
East Union’s Dylan Lee (four rebounds, four steals, two blocks, assist) led all scorers with 16 points. Anthony Sy added 12 points and four steals with Ian Metcalf chipping in eight points, five rebounds and three steals.
Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Manteca hosts Kimball and the Lancers host Oakdale.
Junior varsity
Manteca 36, East Union 33
Jayden Scarver scored a layup with 7 seconds remaining to give the Buffaloes a 3-point cushion.
Scarver finished with 15 points and Christian Cardoza added 11.
Blake Mount paced the Lancers with 11 points.
Freshman
East Union 38, Manteca 23
Kirk Simoni and Jackson Fay led the Buffaloes (2-1, 13-4) with 16 points each. Manteca’s Anthony Oteri (two points) played well at both ends of the court on the boards.
Jesus Gomes paced the Buffaloes (1-2, 9-7) with 10 points.
