Eighty years ago, on December 29, 1933, making a great comeback in the second half, the Manteca High cagers won their first game of the season by defeating the strong Livermore High quintet in a thrilling game by a 28-27 score. The game was played at Livermore. Gust Lourentzos was high point man for Manteca with nine points. Captain Tom Forsell and Milo Candini played good games at the guard positions.

In other sports stories from the Bulletin files:

50 years ago: January 4, 1964 – Before a crowd of nearly 100 spectators, Tracy High’s wrestlers swamped Manteca High 43-18 in Tracy. Joe Widmer (165) and Ron Brown (175) registered the only pins for the Buffaloes.

40 years ago: January 2, 1974 – Manteca High was eliminated from the 24th annual Tracy Lions Club Invitational Basketball Tournament last week by dropping a 59-30 decision to Modesto High. Kevin Allsup had nine points to lead the Buffs in the game.

Putting together some decent free-throw shooting, the East Union High cagers held off a frantic last-quarter Central Catholic High surge to down the Raiders 59-55 in the opening round game of the Linden Holiday Tournament Thursday. The Lancers dumped in 15 of 20 charity tosses. EU’s Doug Stone, even though suffering through a scoreless second quarter, was the game’s top scorer with 16 points. He was joined by teammates Chris Elliott with 12, and Bob Acoba, who netted 10 points.

30 years ago: January 1, 1984 – Manteca High’s Zahir Alami booted a pair of goals and a stubborn defense held East Union High scoreless in the second half Friday, handing the Buffaloes a 5-1 win in the Valley Oak League soccer opener for both teams. Ray Niford scored the lone EU goal. Mike Kelley, Melvin Armstrong and David Pauley had the other goals for the winning Buffaloes.

The Manteca High cagers used a tenacious pressing defense to out-score Sonora High by 22 points in the third quarter en route to an easy 68-44 victory over the Wildcat s in the Buffs’ VOL opener Friday night in Sonora. Paul Brogan led a balanced Manteca offense with 16 points, while Pete Nelson had 11 and Anthony Salgado finished the night with 10.

Modesto High, setting a tempo to their liking, ran away from East Union High 64-51 to grab their 18th win in 19 games this season in a game played at Dalben Center Friday night. Four Lancers broke into double scoring figures. Derek Hall led EU with 11 points, and a trio of juniors, Marty Ott, Jeff Hammond and Steve Austin, each had 10 counters.

The East Union High girls broke open a close game by outscoring Modesto High 18-6 in the third quarter on their way to whipping the Lady Panthers 47-29 in Modesto. Nancy Nunes led EU in scoring with 22 points and Patty Ott added 14 more.

East Union High’s league wrestling opener at Dalben Center Wednesday night saw visiting Oakdale High wallop the Lancers 54-6. Senior Robert Gonzalos was the only bright spot for the EU grapplers, who have not won a dual meet this season. Gonzalos, wrestling in the 134-pound division, earned his first victory of the year by pinning his Mustang opponent.

Sonora High took advantage of Manteca High forfeits Wednesday night in Winter Gym as the VOL wrestling schedule got under way. The visiting Wildcat s downed the Buffaloes 41-12. The Buffs’ only pin of the night occurred in the 134-pound match when John Vasquez plastered his opponent to the mat.

The Manteca High girls’ basketball team started the VOL cage season off on the right foot Thursday night and gained a bit of overdue revenge in the process as the Lady Buffs trounced Sonora High 67-33 at Winter Gym. Sonora had prevented the Lady Buffs from winning their first-ever league championship last season. Senior center Alexia Poulos again had an outstanding night, scoring a game-high 25 points—15 of those coming in the first half. Melody Root chipped in 14 points.

20 years ago: January 4, 1994 – Manteca High went to Ripon on Monday night and did what no other basketball team has been able to do this season. The Buffaloes dominated Ripon Christian High early and then held on for a 76-75 win to run its own record to 10-5. Scott Nussbaumer hit a five-foot jumper with six seconds left for the MHS win. Jon DeRoos and Don Morgan led the Buff scoring with 17 points each and Mike Prokop added 14 to the winning total.

Meghan Harris scored three goals and Kim Pate led the defense as the East Union High soccer team scored a 3-1 win over Bear Creek High in their VOL opener Tuesday. Bear Creek had just five shots on goal.

The Manteca High soccer team rolled to an overwhelming 7-1 win over host Livingston High Tuesday for an impressive start to the VOL season. Maria Trevino scored three goals to lead the onslaught for the Lady Buffs. Meredith Davis added two goals for MHS, while Donell Carter and Lisa Teixeira both scored one.

Manteca High center Rebecca Kemptner keyed a hard-fought 55-49 victory over Los Banos High in the VOL opener at Winter Gym on Monday night. MHS’s Anna Jackson scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the second half, while Kemptner added 16 points. Lady Buff guard Melanie Oberster had a quiet 10 points to go with six assists and three steals.

The Manteca High wrestling team overcame a 15-point deficit to edge Bear Creek High 34-31 Wednesday to improve to 2-0 in VOL action. Buffalo pins came from Eric Rowe (145), Pete Espinoza (152) and Jason Goodwin (171).

East Union High treated its basketball fans to a second-half resurgence as the Lancers took a 51-36 win over visiting Los Banos High Wednesday night. EU center Bob Orr scored 15 points in the second half to finish with a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds. Gene Ballardo added 10 points to the winning total.

East Union High’s wrestling team had a long night Wednesday at Los Banos High, losing to the Tigers, 63-6. The only Lancer win of the night was supplied by Neil Westmoreland (140) with a pin.

The East Union High girls opened the flood gates early and made a statement Thursday night with a 71-38 blitzing of visiting Livingston High. EU used a 27-9 first quarter to put away the Lady Wolves. Danelle Liles, still playing on a bad knee, hit three 3-pointers, scored 27 points and grabbed six rebounds. Alexis Lyon finished with 15 points and Nicole Carter added 14 more for the Lady Lancers.



10 years ago: January 7, 2004 – Superior depth took over for the East Union High girls’ basketball team in a 59-38 drubbing of visiting Oakdale High Tuesday at Dalben Center. Lancer guard Jamie Kinlaw finished with 15 points, including four 3-pointers. Jazz Herrera collected 10 points and had 16 rebounds in the win and was joined in double-digit scoring by Kia Shaw with another 10 counters.

Sonora High edged Manteca High 30-28 in a defensive basketball battle last night. Crystal Castro sank four 3’s for 12 points to lead the Lady Buff scoring.

Four girls were into double figures in scoring as Sierra High pounded visiting Los Banos High for a 79-35 victory on Tuesday. Ana Lyons had 13, Nikita Gordon scored 12, while Andrea Rodriguez and Davina Ruiz each netted 10 points for Coach Dan Cunial’s Timberwolves.

Two local wrestlers went undefeated at the Bulldog Classic at Turlock High on Saturday. Sierra High’s Andrew Panigada won the 215-pound title with a score of 19-1 against a wrestler from Clovis East High. Benny Garcia of Manteca High showed the most impressive performance of the tournament. During the 140-pound title match, Garcia wrestled Octavio Lutacero of Hollister-San Benito High to a 2-1 double-overtime win.