TRACY – Ripon turned the ball over seven times in the second period Saturday to let Manteca back into the game, but came out in the second half and turned the ball over twice in the third period to pull away in a 46-33 second-round pool play win over the Buffaloes in the Tom Hawkins/Tracy Breakfast Lions Tournament at Tracy High’s Swenson Gym.
“In the third quarter, we got the ball toward the middle more instead of trying to come up the sideline where they were trapping us,” Indians coach John Scheid said. “Getting the ball to the middle helped us out a lot more.
“I felt like we played really good defense and rebounded well, and I think we took control of our turnovers. Fourteen times turning the ball over is pretty decent for us.”
Ripon’s Scarlett Ponce (11 points) tallied two of her three steals in the third period that saw Manteca (5-7) commit nine of its 19 turnovers. The Indians (4-8) led just 19-18 at halftime and outscored the Buffaloes 14-6 in the third period and almost matched that gap in the fourth with a 13-6 advantage in the final period.
“Defense is everything,” Ponce said. “You can be offense all day, but if you don’t shut them down on defense there is no game.
“You have to scare them a little bit. Every now and then, they think they can just dribble the ball and nothing happens, but if you scare them, they are more than likely to pick up their dribble and we are more than likely to get the ball.”
Leila Sanchez added 10 points for Ripon.
“Playing with confidence and under control really helps my game,” Sanchez said. “Playing together as a team and moving the ball around really helps our team score.
“Being able to assist my teammates and help them score is also a huge thing to me.”
Shayla McKeon (four points) helped pace the Indians defense with seven rebounds and three steals.
Michailla Springs was the lone Manteca player in double figures with 14 points behind three 3-pointers. Lana Bondoc added six points with Jaesha Dunn (four points, two steals) continuing her domination of the boards with 10 rebounds.
“We are just inconsistent on offense,” Buffaloes coach Oscar Calix said. “We are our best defender.
“We hurt ourselves. We check out of games. Mentally, we are just not there. We are not trusting it; we do not trust each other. That’s our biggest problem now.”
East Union 57, Kimball 38
The Lancers (9-4) limited the Jaguars (7-2) to single digits in the second and third periods to run away with the round-robin second-round victory.
“It was just a real good solid win in this second-round game,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said.
Ava Barrera led the way with 22 points and nine rebounds playing against Kimball’s taller front-line players. Alessandra Montes contributed 10 points. Zyondupree Beasley added eight points, with six coming in the third period.
“Jayda Anderson did a great with her defensive assignment against (Emma) Coronado, a great player, who had 12 points but no 3-pointers. We continue with good progress for Alessandra Montes, who had her second game back after an ACL injury last year.”
