LAKESIDE — Lathrop’s girls basketball team is a win away from contending for the NCAA Black Division championship in the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic.
The Spartans weathered Vista’s 3-point shooting barrage at the start and held on for a 51-50 win over the San Diego Section Division II finalist Thursday at El Capitan High. They complete pool play against Dana Hills at Bishop’s High in La Jolla. A victory would put Lathrop (10-3) against the top team out of Pool ‘A’ of the division, which is currently fellow NorCal team California of San Ramon.
Vista (5-5) certainly gave Lathrop all it could handle thanks to its long-range accuracy. The Panthers made eight of their 10 3-pointers in the first half and led 33-23 at the midway point.
“They were shooting 3-pointers line there was no tomorrow,” Lathrop coach Dwayne Davis said. “We had to change our strategy and extend out (defensively) to the 3-point line, and they only hit two in the second half.
“We decided we had to trade something. We gave up a couple back door cuts, but we did not want to allow them to keep their momentum with the 3s.”
Vista made its own adjustments and implemented a full-court press in the second half. That only played to Lathrop’s strengths. Ayon Carter attacked the basket at will for easy buckets and finished with a game-high 18 points. She also had six rebounds, five steals and two blocks.
Vista also had no answer for 6-foot-2 Mary Cotton in the post, where she collected 17 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.
Daeyanna Hale led Vista with 16 points, Maile Johnson hit four 3-points for most of her 14 points and Katerina Sciacca and Ciana Sciacca added 11 apiece.

Manteca 54, Notre Dame 31
VALLEJO — The Buffaloes (8-5) opened the West Coast Jamboree Turquoise Division with an impressive win over Notre Dame (7-2) of Salinas at St. Patrick-St. Vincent High.
They’ll take on Berkeley (10-1) in the semifinals today at 12:30 p.m.
Manteca got balanced scoring from its starters, as Jayda Jackson led the way with 16 points. Jaslyn Woods added 14, Kyaira Jacobs had 11 and Paige Peterson nine points.

VARSITY BOYS
Ripon Christian 74, Delhi 30
OAKDALE — Austin Ries canned four 3s for all of his 12 points, as the Knights (8-5) followed a tough opening-round loss with a landslide victory in the Oakdale Rotary Tournament. They’ll tangle with the winner of the Hughson-Grace Davis game in the consolation championship tonight at 5.
Caleb Terpsma spearheaded Ripon Christian with 13 points, Jacob Van Groningen pitched in 12 and Will Gilbert had 11. Delhi (0-14) was down 35-13 at halftime and was limited to single-digit scoring in every quarter.