The East Union Lancers capitalized on great defense and rebounding en route to a 52-39 victory over the Patterson Tigers on Thursday night at the Dalben Center.

“This was a good Valley Oak League game,” East Union Coach Jim Agostini said. “Each night, you’ve got to be ready to play, because each team in our league can beat you if you don’t play solid basketball. I thought we played solid basketball tonight.”

The defensive effort and intensity for the Lancers (3-1 VOL, 13-6 overall) could be credited to the fact that they were playing their first game at home after playing nine straight contests away from Bill Stricker Court.

Perhaps the play of the game on defense came from senior guard Jayda Anderson. After East Union started the game on a 9-0 run, outside shooting from Patterson got it back in the game at 21-18 late in the second quarter. With less than two minutes left in the half, Anderson took a charge on a driving layup by Patterson’s Nevaeh Goins, killing all momentum the Tigers (2-2, 16-4) had. The huge defensive play sparked a 14-0 run by East Union.

“It’s not just coach speak — a we’re looking for charges,” Agostini said. “Charges are a momentum changer. We reward plays like that, because they can flip the game.”

East Union was led by its frontcourt duo of Zyondupree Beasley and Ava Barrera, who helped the Lancers control the glass with a 37-18 advantage in rebounds. Beasley finished with a team-high 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Barrera finished with 12 points and eight rebounds of her own.

The duo got into foul trouble midway through the third quarter and were forced to the bench. Patterson, led by lead by Goins, who scored a team-high 13 points, capitalized by going on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to five to end the third quarter.

“We hit some big shots,” Patterson coach Breann Atchison said. “It helped our girls start to believe in themselves. When you have a young group like we do, they can get discouraged easily, so it was great to see them answer like that.”

Up 39-34 going into the fourth quarter, and back at full strength, the Lancers ratcheted up the defensive intensity. Pressure on the ball from freshman Haven Stone forced turnovers from Patterson and led to some easy buckets on the other end for East Union. The Tigers were held to just five points in the fourth quarter.

“Defense is the key, especially against a good shooting team. We did a great job in the fourth quarter staying in front of them and forcing turnovers,” Agostini said.

The schedule does not get any more kind to the Lancers, who head back out on the road next week with trips across town to Manteca on Monday, and Sierra on Wednesday.

Junior Varsity

East Union 39, Patterson 17

Kymoni Beasley led the Lancers with 16 points. Savannah Lopez scored seven points for EU, and Arianna Paul tallied five points.

Freshman

East Union 44, Patterson 11

East Union was paced by Camille Christensen, who scored 10 points. Jisselle Tuggles scored eight points, and Valeria Escamilla scored seven points.