Alessandra Montes has had work her way back from two ACL surgeries in the past three years, so waiting her turn to play in crunch time of East Union’s biggest Valley Oak League game was a cinch against visiting Mountain House in Tuesday.

The senior center did not play for much of the second half, but she took over in the second of two extra periods and scored six of her team’s nine points for a wild 65-60 win that has the five-time reigning Valley Oak League champion Lancers even with Mountain House for first place with one game remaining.

“I was ready to go,” Montes said. “I was just waiting for my name to be called. We knew what was on the line and we just had to execute. It was win-no-matter-what for us.”

She re-entered the game with 1.8 seconds left in the first overtime after Zyondupree Beasley fouled out. It was Montes’ show from there, as she opened scoring in the second overtime with a put-back bucket for a 58-56 lead that the Lancers (10-1, 20-6 overall) kept for the rest of the game. She scored again from the post to make it 62-58, then sealed the win with two free throws with 46 seconds to go.

Montes paced East Union with 18 points off the bench.

Jariah Indalecio netted 19 points, nine rebounds, six steals, four blocks and three assists for the Mustangs (10-1, 22-5), who also had big contributions from Niaja Harris (17 points, four steals), Surianti Bakri (seven points, nine assists, six rebounds) and Erica Foster (11 points, 13 rebounds, seven steals).

East Union has won nine straight since losing at Mountain House 45-41 on on Jan. 4.

“They’re a very good basketball team,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said. “They ran through the (Western Athletic Conference) last year to go undefeated, and they were going through the VOL. We had to wait patiently (for the rematch), and to get to this game without a slip-up is hard, so we’re just so proud of them.”

With Beasley (15 points, five rebounds) handcuffed by foul trouble and freshman point guard Haven Stone (two points, seven assists, three steals) struggling with her shot, the Lancers relied on their depth. They had nine different players score, with Ava Barrera chipping in eight points and 15 rebounds. Shebra Rezaye (nine points, eight rebounds) and Jerney Luckett (four points, three rebounds).

“That has been our season,” Agostini said. “Our second wave of players have been phenomenal.”

Agostini stuck with three reserves to keep his team in the game in the fourth quarter after Mountain House had surged to an eight-point lead at one point in the third quarter. The Mustangs, with their pesky press, scored nine unanswered points inside of one minute to lead, 36-28. The Lancers answered with a mini run of their own to close in 37-34 at the end of the quarter.

“We just don’t give up,” said Rezaye, who hit multiple big shots down the stretch. “Even if we’re down, 20, we feel like we still have a fighting chance.”

That fighting spirit kept is what forced overtime.

Trailing 50-48, the Lancers turned the ball over with 16.3 seconds remaining. Agostini called timeout and implemented an aggressive full-court press that paid immediate dividends, as Alexa Zuniga — another key reserve — stole the inbounds pass.

East Union called for another timeout with 12.7 seconds left and went to a tried-and-true inbounds play that resulted in the tying layup from Dupree, who is no stranger to scoring clutch baskets. Harris attempted to win it at the buzzer for the Mustangs, but her runner was off the mark.

“We ran our most basic play,” Agostini said. “We didn’t try to do anything fancy. We’ve run that play for 20 years, and we practice our inbound plays every day. We also practice our free throws every day. It’s the little things.”

The first six free throws attempted in overtime were missed, but Barrera hit two big ones with 13.8 seconds to go to push East Union ahead, 56-55. Vanessa Hill had a chance to end it with 1.8 seconds left after Beasley had fouled out, but she made one of two to send the game to its second extra period.

Montes took it from there.

“After what I’ve been through, this means so much,” Montes said. “This was a goal of mine, to win another league championship, and we’re close to accomplishing it again.”

East Union hosts Manteca on Thursday for its regular-season finale, while the Mustangs welcome last-place Oakdale.

Junior varsity

East Union 28, Mountain House 24

Lucija Dayeh handled the bulk of the scoring for East Union, which held on for the victory. She led the way with 11 points.

Kymoni Beasley, Jeddah Haywood and Jayleen Tuggles contributed four points apiece.

Freshman

Mountain House 39 East Union 30

A 14-7 third quarter was the difference for Mountain House.

Camille Christensen spearheaded the Lancers with 14 points. Jiselle Tuggles and Elle Baluyut each scored eight points.