Manteca lets 20-point lead slip away in loss to Capital Christian

The Manteca High School boys basketball team was speeding along toward an upset of one of the best teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section, regardless of division.

Then it happened.

Tydus Verhoeven, the Buffaloes’ 6-foot-7 wunderkind, picked up a third foul and was sent to the bench for the final five minutes of the first half of a Division III semifinal against No. 2 Capital Christian on Wednesday night at Galt High School.

At that point, the game changed – for the third-seeded Buffaloes and their star.

Capital Christian cut into a 20-point deficit and closed to within five at the intermission with a 13-0 run. The blitz tilted momentum to the Cougars, who completed their comeback in the final minutes and advanced to Saturday’s final with a 64-57 victory.

Manteca went on an early 18-7 run and led 28-8 with about six minutes left in the first half.

“Foul trouble leveled the playing field and let them back into the game,” Manteca coach Brett Lewis said. “But we were right there.”

Austin Alexander paced a balanced attack with 19 points. Zachary Chappell had 18, while Kendall Munson chipped in 13 for the Cougars, a prime Open Division candidate for the CIF Northern California tournament.

Capital Christian – which owns runaway victories over Division IV finalist West Campus, Oakland heavyweight Bishop O’Dowd and Modesto Christian – flexed its muscle down the stretch. The Cougars outscored Manteca 24-12 over the final eight minutes.

“They went to a zone, and it stymied us,” Lewis said. “We didn’t move the ball. Everything we had on them, they didn’t run a zone. It gave us a different look, and it took some time to adjust. With that pressure … we’ve got a lot of young kids on this team, and it showed a little bit. It hasn’t showed like that all year.”

Gino Campiotti led Manteca with 20 points, but the established stars – Verhoeven and Dwight Young, returning starters from last year’s state championship team – struggled in the second half.

Verhoeven finished with 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, but Lewis said he wasn’t the same after his third foul. It forced him to play cautiously around the rim, which played into the Cougars’ strength.

“It changed the whole night. He wasn’t the rim protector we needed him to be,” Lewis said. “In the second half, they got easy buckets because he wasn’t able to play as aggressively as he typically does. It changed the game big time for us.

“He’s a big piece for what we do. We were throwing in a bunch of juniors without a ton of experience, trying to stop one of the better teams in the section.”

Young had 15 points but missed the front end of a one-and-one with 30 seconds left and the outcome still in doubt. That miss, Lewis said, summed up the evening for the Buffaloes. In two varsity seasons, Young has rarely missed a free throw, much less one under pressure.

“He’s hit those free throws for us for two years now in bigger spots than that,” Lewis added. “We were right where we wanted to be. I wish we could have maintained that 20-point lead, but they’re a good team and most likely going into the Open Division. Hopefully, we can make another run in NorCals.”

The Valley Oak League champion Buffaloes have been in this spot before. Last season, they lost to league rival Weston Ranch in the Division III final at Sleep Train Arena, regrouped and made a historic run through the state tournament.

The season culminated with Manteca atop the winner’s podium at the D-III state final.

Wednesday’s loss to a supremely talented team only bolsters Lewis’ confidence in his group. If Verhoeven hadn’t picked up a third foul so early, Manteca may have knocked off one of the region’s best.

“For us, we were up 20 against an Open-caliber team. We proved we can play with one of the better ones,” Lewis said. “Our guys understand it’s not over. We proved that last year, and we know we can win some games in the D-III bracket. We need to rest up and stay as sharp as possible.”

Capital Christian will face No. 4 Vista del Lago, which upset No. 1 Vanden 69-66 in overtime in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

This story was originally published March 1, 2017 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Manteca lets 20-point lead slip away in loss to Capital Christian."