Verhoeven sits early, sparks Manteca’s win at Central Catholic

Tydus Verhoeven was late to the team bus, and for the first time in more than a year, the Manteca senior forward found himself on the bench at tipoff.

Central Catholic was in no position to capitalize, though.

Like Manteca, the Raiders were forced to get creative with their starting lineup, using a different combination for the third consecutive game. Jared Rice sat briefly after missing a practice while on a college visit and leading scorer Josh Hamilton missed his third straight game for an undisclosed reason.

That put the Raiders at a disadvantage against the defending CIF State Division III champions. The Buffaloes led by as many as 17 points in the second half and withstood a last-ditch charge by the Raiders for a 69-60 victory.

“They’re a very good basketball team, very well-coached and have a lot of players that are good, so they’ll have that never-die-attitude,” Manteca coach Brett Lewis said. “We have to do a better job of preserving the lead, taking care of the ball a little more and not make stupid mistakes, but … I’ll take it.”

Central Catholic cut its deficit to 62-60 with 2:45 left in the game, but Dwight Young and Gino Campiotti sealed Manteca’s ninth straight victory with back-to-back three-point plays.

Young connected on a deep 3-pointer to make it 65-60. Cold for most of the night, Young squared up from about 5 feet behind the line, plunging the dagger into the shorthanded Raiders.

On the next trip down, Campiotti found space along the baseline, absorbed contact and watched his shot roll in.

“We had issues keeping guys away from the basket on the baseline,” Central Catholic coach Mike Wilson said. “It was mental mistakes – losing our man – and it always seemed to be around the basket.”

Campiotti led all scorers with 19 points, while Young finished with 10.

Sophomore Jorge Cedano shouldered the scoring early while Verhoeven was waiting out his penalty. Cedano scored all 17 of his points in the first half, including 11 in the first quarter as Manteca grabbed a 19-16 lead. The lead ballooned to 28-16 early in the second quarter as Cedano buried his fourth 3-pointer and then spun a layup off the glass as he was fouled.

“He’s knocked down a lot of shots for us,” Lewis said of Cedano. “The starts that he’s given us lately have been huge. He’s been a key player for us.”

Hamilton was replaced in the Central Catholic starting lineup by freshman Dayton Magana (two points), who was called up from the junior varsity team ahead of Saturday’s 77-70 loss to East Union.

The school has yet to comment on the status of Hamilton, a key piece in the school’s run to a Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV title last winter, and reserve Dash Von Stade. Both players have been absent from the lineup since Saturday and both weren’t on the bench Tuesday.

“That hurts them a little bit,” Lewis said of Hamilton’s absence, “but as you can see, they’ve got guys who can step up.”

Magana was on the floor when the Raiders clawed back into the game in the second quarter. Central Catholic pulled within 34-32 thanks to a 12-2 run.

Rice was the spark. The senior guard scored six straight points and then fed DaRon Bland for a layup to start the comeback. Conor Fenton tallied the next four points, including a reverse layup past Verhoeven to make it a one-possession game.

Rice had 17 points, while Fenton finished with 13, most of them coming against Verhoeven, a Division I recruit with 10 offers and a 7-foot wingspan.

Amrit Dhaliwal paced the Raiders with 18 points with three 3-pointers.

Verhoeven atoned for his tardiness earlier in the evening with a takeover performance in the third quarter. He had eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots in less than eight minutes.

He did it all, triggering a 14-4 spurt. There was the coast-to-coast, one-handed dunk. He later faked a behind-the-back pass in the lane and finished with a swooping, left-handed scoop layup.

“He played motivated,” Lewis said. “That second half is what we saw in Lathrop. Hopefully, he can continue to put that together. He’s so tough to guard when he’s playing like that.”

With its star in rare form, Manteca’s lead grew to 56-39 with 2:08 left in the third.

Verhoeven finished with 13 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots. He scored 10 of those points in the second and third quarters.

“It was kind of an adjustment, I’m not going to lie,” he said of coming off the bench in the first half. “You usually start the momentum, but coming in, you have to find your flow. It messed with me early on.”

Central Catholic had one last run in it, ripping off a 21-6 charge over the third and fourth quarters. Five different players scored during the flurry and the defense created eight turnovers.

Dhaliwal’s 3-pointer from the top of the arc made it 62-60. With Young chasing him around a screen, Dhaliwal set his feet quickly and launched.

Wilson turned the tempo up with each foot stomp and red-faced tirade, one of which drew a technical. He said he was doing whatever he could to motivate a unit still searching for a rhythm without Hamilton.

“I know I’m a loud individual, but I’m trying to build them up,” Wilson said. “It’s extremely hard, especially when you have to do it three or four times a game.”

It almost worked.

“That’s who they are,” Verhoeven said of the Raiders. “They battle back. They want to win.”

Manteca (16-5, 8-0 Valley Oak League) now has a three-game cushion over Central Catholic (14-6, 5-3) and East Union (13-8, 5-3).

Central Catholic’s title hopes aren’t dashed, but Wilson said the focus has to be on strengthening their position for another deep postseason run.

“If it gets to a point and people help us and we’re in running for a league title, heck yeah, but we need help,” Wilson said. “We just have to work on ourselves, come together and be consistent.”

The burden and pressure falls on the seniors, Wilson said, namely Rice, Dhaliwal, Fenton and Cooper Wilson.

“They should be able to respond as a group, not just as one guy,” coach Wilson said. “I don’t want to keep riding on one guy’s coattails.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 11:25 PM with the headline "Verhoeven sits early, sparks Manteca’s win at Central Catholic."