Manteca followed up one of its worst losses of the season with its sweetest victory on Tuesday.
Led by senior guards Kalaja Reese and Michailla Springs, the Buffaloes stunned cross-town foe Sierra 53-44. They eclipsed the 50-point barrier for the first time this season, while avenging one of their previous Valley Oak League losses in the process.
Manteca (3-6 VOL, 8-15 overall) was coming off a 38-24 loss at last-place Oakdale, but several key players were out with illnesses. Springs missed the last two contests.
“Sitting out those games just really sucked,” Springs said. “You realize how much you miss it when you’re not playing. I feel like after the last couple games, that made us work harder as a team. We really wanted to prove ourselves after those losses.”
Springs was on her game, scoring a game-high 22 points with three 3-pointers. Reese added 17 points but also amassed 13 rebounds, six steals and three assists. She did not play in the Buffaloes’ 57-49 home defeat to Sierra (3-7, 8-13) on Jan. 9.
The tandem combined to score 13 of the Buffaloes’ 15 points in the second quarter. Reese scored the final points of the half, stealing a pass under the Sierra goal and going up for the easy two points. Manteca led 27-21 at halftime.
“Kalaja brings energy, and it’s kind of hard to stop when she’s just going, going, going,” Manteca coach Oscar Calix said. “That’s what she does. We tell her we’re going to let you off the leash and let you do what you do. She forces turnovers and lets us play fast in transition.
“Not having her last time really hurt, especially it being a close game. She can make that kind of impact for us.”
Freshman forward Emalina Latu paced the Timberwolves with 10 points and 14 rebounds off the bench. Taylor Zalunardo also scored 10 points; Alison Cozby chipped in nine points, eight rebounds and three assists; and Mya Everett netted seven bounds, six boards and five blocks.
A big free-throw shooting disparity helped Sierra stay in the game, though the T’wolves made just 16 of their 30 attempts. Manteca was 7-of-11.
“Manteca High definitely ran on us today, and we didn’t get back in transition. They got a lot of easy buckets that way,” Sierra coach Rudy Valencia said. “It was definitely a frustrating loss tonight. This one was the most frustrating this season, not just because it’s Manteca High, it’s just because of the way we played.”
Manteca had a chance to blow it open in the third quarter after leading by as much as 13 points, but the Timberwolves rallied for six unanswered points at the end of the period to close in, 42-36.
Sierra was held without a field goal for the first four-plus minutes of the fourth quarter. Saniyah Anthony drilled a tough fall-away jump shot from the right elbow to make it 50-41 while getting Manteca to the half-century mark for the first time this season. Springs then followed that up with a short jumper in the middle of the key to extend the lead back to double figures with 2:44 remaining.
“We’ve been in a little slump, so to get a cross-town win, it feels good,” Calix said. “I think it builds some momentum to finish off the season strong for the girls. We’re finally happy that we’re over the hump.”
While Sierra is still very much in the mix for an at-large playoff berth in Division III, the Buffaloes might be too far outside the bubble to qualify in the tougher Division II bracket. They’ll host Patterson on Thursday, and Sierra welcomes Oakdale.