Thanks to picking themselves up off the floor without courtesy of whistles early on, the East Union Lancers eventually battled through and turned it on, outscoring visiting Central Valley 38-12 in the second and third periods on the way to a 59-46 non-league boys basketball win at Dalben Center.

“In the beginning I think we were trying to get the foul calls,” East Union coach Dutch Ell said. “But once we started to play through the contact like we preach here, really good things happened.

Lorenzo Jones’ ferocity on the offensive boards, and boards in general, is something to really look at.

“In the second half we came out as a team, took care of the basketball against their pretty chaotic press. They have been scoring in the 60’s quite a bit and we held them to 46. That’s pretty good.”

In the second and third periods, the Hawks (4-6) scored 12 total points.

“That’s good for winning basketball games,” Ell said. “When you can hold a team to 12 points through two quarters.

We have a lot of work to do but I am incredibly proud of the team.”

Jones fought through the physical nature of the game at both ends of the court, putting up 20 points and pulling down 21 rebounds with both being game-high totals. Jones’ 21 rebounds – 14 off the offensive glass – were more than Central Valley as a team at 17.

“It was definitely physical tonight,” Jones said. “It happens every game. Their No. 25 (Emmanuel Carranza) is definitely one of the most physical players I have played against.

“He boxed out well, but not better than me.”

Robby Espinoza added eight points for the Lancers (6-5) behind a field goal and a 3-pointer in the fourth period with both just beating the 35-second clock.

“I was just trying to get open,” Espinoza said. “My teammates found me, I threw it up and hoped for the best.”

East Union’s Jackson Pellizzari (three rebounds, three assists) and Kirk Simoni added seven points apiece with Jackson Fay (six steals, two assists) chipping in six points.

James McLennon scored 10 points for the Hawks in the first period and his team-high 13 in the first half.

The Lancers head to Oakland on Friday, Dec. 27, to play in the Head-Royce Tournament.

Junior varsity

East Union 71, Central Valley 52

The Lancers’ Jace Bettencourt led all scorers with 22 points.

Chase Khalin added 11 points for East Union and Jesse Martinez eight.

Freshmen

East Union 49, Central Valley 31

Khyl Mallory led the Lancers with 13 points followed by Colton Madden with 10 points and Gunner Fay with nine.