Johan Peringelil and Manteca made things interesting for a moment, but the Buffaloes ultimately could not overcome their early shooting woes in a 52-41 loss to visiting Central Catholic on Wednesday.
They were flummoxed by the defending Valley Oak League champion’s zone defense and had trouble clamping down on junior guard Jordan Magana, who anchored Central Catholic offensively with 24 points. He put the win away for the Raiders (6-0 VOL, 12-10 overall) with four straight free throws in the final 30 seconds.
Peringelil scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for Manteca (4-2, 10-12), adding 12 rebounds.
“We practiced against that zone during the week,” Manteca coach Geoff Israel said. “We had a good game plan, we just didn’t execute it and weren’t hitting shots. I don’t know how many 2s we missed, and we had some wide-open 3s that weren’t falling until late in the second half.”
Manteca trailed by double digits for much of the second half and by as much as 16 points early in the fourth quarter after an and-1 conversion from Brendan Carter, who contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.
Peringelil kept the Buffs in it with two 3-pointers down the stretch, closing them in 43-36 with 2:01 remaining. Magana stalled the momentum with two field goals in 28 seconds, first making an elbow jumper before forcing a live-ball turnover in the backcourt. He capped the back-breaking sequence with a drive to the basket for a layup.
Peringelil knocked down his second 3 with 1:04 remaining, and Austin Barnes trimmed the deficit to 47-41 12 seconds later. Manteca was unable to score again.
“That’s the story of our season,” Israel said. “You have that one bad quarter or quarter and a half, and you’re down 20. They fought to come back, just didn’t have enough gas to finish it.”
Barnes pitched in with 11 points, while Jayden Scarver had nine points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Central Catholic gained separation with 11 unanswered points in the first half for a 20-9 lead. Included in the run was Zach Ismail’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the opening quarter.
Meanwhile, Manteca struggled to get untracked offensively, especially after Peringelil picked up his second foul midway through the first quarter. The Buffs went on a 4 ½-minute scoring dry spell and had nine turnovers in the first half.
“That hurts a lot,” Israel said of Peringelil’s early foul trouble. “That’s one last scorer that they don’t have to worry about. They sagged back a little bit, and we were getting nothing inside. They had no fear after he went out.”
It’s Manteca’s fifth straight loss to Central Catholic, and it doesn’t get any easier on Friday when second-place Mountain House visits. The Mustangs galloped past Manteca 64-37 in their first league meeting.
“It’s another big one. We told the guys this week was going to decide who wins the VOL,” Israel said. “If we beat CC, we’re right there, but we didn’t get the job done tonight.”
