Manteca High has a chance to grab a share of the top spot in the Valley Oak League.

But in order to set up next week’s showdown with first-place Central Catholic, the Buffaloes needed to take care of crosstown rival East Union at a festive Synergy Gym on Friday.

They did so with a 53-40 victory on Senior Night.

"We honored our eight seniors, which is most since I've been here," Manteca coach Jason Hitt said 

His Buffaloes (8-1 VOL, 19-8) battled the much-improved Lancers (0-9, 5-21) during the first two quarters.

"We've been making progress," said East Union coach Dalton Ell of his young team. "I was proud of our effort.

"Manteca is high-energy on defense and very aggressive when it comes to rebounding — we were only down by four at the half."

During the first go-around between the two teams, the Buffaloes dominated in a lopsided win.

East Union kept pace with Manteca thanks to 3s by Kirk Simoni and Leland Crabb, who also provided a boost on the boards. He finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, and a block.

The Buffaloes were paced by Peyton Nieman, Blake Glaskow, Evani Gaeta, and Santiago Sanders early on.

They took a 22-18 lead into the intermission.

Nieman opened the third by nailing a corner trey, and Gaeta scored on a drive. Elijah Nelson then got hot from inside the paint, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the quarter.

The 11-2 run put the Buffaloes up, 33-20.

Gaeta scored eight of his game-high 13 points in the third.

The Lancers kept the game within reach, following Simoni's 3 and Crabb's basket.

Simoni was East Union's top scorer with 11 points.

Ahead 41-30 at the top of the final quarter, Manteca built up a 15-point cushion and sailed on for the win.

The Buffaloes outrebounded East Union, 24-12. Micah Crawford led the way with six boards to go with a block and a steal. Sanders and Nieman, who also chipped in with eight points, collected four rebounds each.

The victory sets the stage for Manteca's big game Wednesday at Central Catholic.

"We'll have to play loose, and just play our game," Hitt said.

Junior varsity

Manteca 52, East Union 45

Fourth-quarter baskets by Jeremiah Orona and Antonio Fraley helped secure the win for the Buffaloes.

The Lancers kept pace behind the scoring of Austin Barnes, who scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the second half.

Orona and Fraley finished with 17 and 15 points, respectively, for Manteca. Evan White chipped in with 10.