LATHROP — Dafford McKenzie’s and-one dunk thrilled the home crowd and gave Lathrop a five-point lead in the third quarter, but Miguel Sequeira and Sierra were able to weather the storm and race to a 62-53 victory.

Sequeira answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to shift the lead back into the Timberwolves’ hands for good, and he finished with a team-high 15 points. They led by as much as 11 in the fourth, but missed free throws — they made 17 of 29 attempts for the night and were off the mark on six straight at one point — allowed Lathrop (2-3 Valley Oak League, 5-12 overall) to hang around.

“In the middle of the third quarter and the start of the fourth we played really good basketball,” Sierra coach Scott Thomason said. “We could have really extended the lead but did a poor job on the free-throw line. We were able to grind it out and made big plays when we needed them. It was a good win for us, we just have to figure out how to play Sierra basketball for 32 minutes.”

Jaime Ochoa contributed 12 points for Sierra (3-2, 8-10), which relied on balanced scoring. Eduardo Jasso added six points, including a key bucket down the stretch, in his first game of the season.

The high-flying McKenzie led the Spartans with 22 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks. Isaiah Victor finished with 18 points.

Weston Ranch 72,

Kimball 68

STOCKTON — The Cougars (5-0, 13-4) avoided the upset, pulling away in crunch time thanks to key plays from Makhi Turner, who finished with 30 points and six rebounds.

Midway through the fourth, Turner drained a big 3 and scored on a fastbreak off a steal on the next possession. Charles Jemison added a coast-to-coast bucket of his own to give Weston Ranch some needed breathing room for the win.

Antwann Taylor added 15 points and 10 boards. Devin Small chipped in 10 points. 

Manteca 64, Oakdale 51

Drew Legan fired a game-high 31 points for Oakdale (1-4, 7-11), but it wasn’t enough to overcome host Manteca’s hot start.

The Buffaloes (3-2, 7-11) shot out to a 21-10 lead, and Michael Ballard led a balanced attack with 16 points and eight rebounds. Jorge Cedano registered 13 points, five assists and four steals. Kyle Bolding and Gino Campiotti added 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Central Catholic 67,

East Union 36

The visiting Raiders (5-0, 16-2) held East Union (0-5, 4-14) to single-digit scoring in each of the first three quarters and ended with a 23-point barrage in the fourth.

Joshua Hamilton tallied 13 points through three quarters and ended with 24 to pace Central Catholic. JoJo Espinosa and Drew Sena scored 10 apiece for the Lancers, who are on a seven-game losing streak.

Sophomore

Manteca 58, Oakdale 49

A 23-7 second-quarter spurt gave Manteca (2-3 VOL) all the separation it needed.

Rashawn Ballard led the way with 14 points, and freshman call-up Nick Bell contributed with 12. Jacob DeJesus scored all 10 of his points in the first half.

Freshman

Oakdale 47, Manteca 44

Manteca (4-1) never led in the first-place battle.

Mike Arriola topped all scorers with 18 points, and Dustin Dellatorre pitched in nine.