Sharon Washington wanted this one badly and played like it.
Manteca High’s fourth-year varsity star Sharon Washington scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Buffaloes beat Sonora, 57-33, for the first time in four years Thursday at Winter Gym.
Freshman Tia Tuuga added 10 points, nine rebounds and five steals for Manteca (4-0 Valley Oak League, 13-2 overall), which last defeated the Wildcats (2-2, 7-8) on Jan. 30, 2007, 54-52.
“Sharon’s the one who reminded me about that before the game,” Manteca coach Andrea Hiatt said of the team’s six-game losing streak to Sonora.
“We talked about this game all week,” Washington said.
The Chico State-bound guard was in attack mode to start, pouring in nine points while involving teammates, evidenced by her four assists, in the first quarter. Manteca led 20-11 after the opening quarter and 32-25 at halftime despite Washington resting for most of the second period.
She later scored the first nine points in the fourth quarter to stretch the margin, 54-30.
The key for Manteca in the second half was defense, but it wasn’t its usual full-court pressure and half-court trap that did the trick.
Sonora’s four-year standout, Kelli Keefe, was held to two points in the second half and finished with just nine. Hiatt attributes that to the man-to-man defense of Mikayla Hasal and sparkplug reserves Mia Ramirez (6 points, 5 steals) and Karleasha Thompson.
And for a 12-minute, 18-second stretch in the second half, Sonora was held without a field goal. Samantha Knowles ended the drought for the Wildcats with 1:06 remaining, taking a feed from Marie Marinovich for a layup.
“We don’t run a lot of man (to-man defense), we just wanted to get the ball out of Keefe’s hands and make them run an offense that didn’t involve her,” Hiatt said “Karleasha, Mikayla and Mia did a great job of shutting her down.”
Manteca High’s fourth-year varsity star Sharon Washington scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Buffaloes beat Sonora, 57-33, for the first time in four years Thursday at Winter Gym.
Freshman Tia Tuuga added 10 points, nine rebounds and five steals for Manteca (4-0 Valley Oak League, 13-2 overall), which last defeated the Wildcats (2-2, 7-8) on Jan. 30, 2007, 54-52.
“Sharon’s the one who reminded me about that before the game,” Manteca coach Andrea Hiatt said of the team’s six-game losing streak to Sonora.
“We talked about this game all week,” Washington said.
The Chico State-bound guard was in attack mode to start, pouring in nine points while involving teammates, evidenced by her four assists, in the first quarter. Manteca led 20-11 after the opening quarter and 32-25 at halftime despite Washington resting for most of the second period.
She later scored the first nine points in the fourth quarter to stretch the margin, 54-30.
The key for Manteca in the second half was defense, but it wasn’t its usual full-court pressure and half-court trap that did the trick.
Sonora’s four-year standout, Kelli Keefe, was held to two points in the second half and finished with just nine. Hiatt attributes that to the man-to-man defense of Mikayla Hasal and sparkplug reserves Mia Ramirez (6 points, 5 steals) and Karleasha Thompson.
And for a 12-minute, 18-second stretch in the second half, Sonora was held without a field goal. Samantha Knowles ended the drought for the Wildcats with 1:06 remaining, taking a feed from Marie Marinovich for a layup.
“We don’t run a lot of man (to-man defense), we just wanted to get the ball out of Keefe’s hands and make them run an offense that didn’t involve her,” Hiatt said “Karleasha, Mikayla and Mia did a great job of shutting her down.”
