Manteca rebounded well from its season-opening loss to Lincoln, and rebound the Buffaloes did.
Despite a considerable size difference, they held their own in the post Thursday against Gregori of Modesto and won 62-50.
The Jaguars (1-2) boast three players — Aaron Smith, Gabe Sanchez and Blake Evans — who stand 6-foot-5 and taller, but they have the girth to go with the height.
Tydus Verhoeven is no slouch himself at 6-7, 215-pounds, but the wing forward has to play more in the post with 6-4, 270-pound Justin Kakala and four other Buffaloes vying for a berth in a CIF State Bowl Game with the football team.
Verhoeven flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocks. Dwight Young added 17 points, Kyle Bolding had nine and Antwann Taylor pulled down 10 boards to go with his four points.
“Having Tydus is a huge help, but other than him they had a huge size advantage on us,” Manteca coach Brett Lewis said. “Our guys battled tonight. We were tested a little bit in the first half because of foul trouble but we rebounded very well even though we were outsized.”
Manteca (1-1) held a 14-7 lead going into the second quarter, but Gregori kept pace and was down 33-25 at halftime. It wasn’t until a 16-7 fourth-quarter spurt that Manteca was able to pull away.
Brandyn Waterford led Gregori with 17 points.
Ripon Christian 67, Amador 40
JACKSON — The Knights (5-0) continued their early-season roll in the first round of Argonaut’s QB Club Tournament, taking advantage of a depleted Amador team missing players as the football team competes in a CIF State Northern California Regional Bowl Game.
Ripon Christian jumped out to a 20-3 lead and never looked back. Ty Beidleman and Zack Cortright led a balanced scoring effort with 14 and 10 points, respectively. All 11 Knights on the roster scored.
Marcus Mercado poured in 30 points to pace the Buffaloes (0-5).
RC takes on Bear Creek (2-3) today in the semifinals starting at 5.
West 83, Ripon 51
TURLOCK — The Wolf Pack (6-0) of Tracy cruised in this rematch in the 40th annual Frank Godinez Memorial Tournament.
Ripon (2-3) upset West in the first round last year, but on Thursday West raced away from a 30-30 tie in the third quarter and cruised behind Michael Hayes’ 28-pound outburst.
Aaron Paschini (five assists, seven steals), Cole Stevens (seven rebounds) and Vicnent Olmo each had 10 points for Ripon, which was done in by 26 turnovers, 35 percent shooting from the field and 47 percent from the foul line. The Indians are without senior guard Noah Hernandez, who is out with a toe injury.
Ripon plays the loser of the Grace Davis-Pitman game today at 4.
Chavez 42, Sierra 30
STOCKTON — Victor Elijah accounted for half of the scoring for Sierra (2-2) with 15 points, but it was otherwise a struggle for the Timberwolves in the McDonald’s Classic consolation game. They play at 5 today at Weston Ranch.
