Manteca boys clinch berth in CIF NorCal Regional Division III final

The Manteca High School boys basketball team clinched a berth in the Final Four of the CIF State Division III playoffs, and the historic victory over Archbishop Riordan of San Francisco was marked by …

A couple of handshakes and high-fives, nothing more.

Dwight Young made all six of his free throws in the final 40 seconds as the Buffaloes held off the Central Coast Section’s winningest program Tuesday evening 60-54.

Young scored a game-high 23 points for Manteca, which will play reigning Open Division state champion Bishop O’Dowd of Oakland on Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Northern California championship game at American Canyon High School. The winner will advance to the state final March 24 at Sleep Train Arena, where they’ll meet either Ayala of Chino Hills or Bonita of La Verne.

Manteca (27-6) is the first Manteca Unified School District program to appear in a NorCal final, continuing a historic run by the city’s oldest school.

“First time in city history,” coach Brett Lewis said. “It’s great, man; it’s great.”

Cause for celebration? Hardly.

These Buffaloes aren’t content with a regional semifinal victory and an appearance in the Final Four. They’re hunting regional and state championships, which explains the subdued end-game scene.

As the final seconds slipped off the clock and chants of “This one’s over!” poured out of the bleachers, the business-first Buffaloes calmly set up for the handshake line. A few lingered on the floor to hug family and friends, while the rest collected in the team room.

“This is not the goal. We’re trying to win NorCal and get to state; that’s been the goal,” Young said. “We’re trying to win one game at a time and keep it going, honestly.”

The lack of revelry surprised even their fiery coach, who was prepared to dance at midcourt with players and fans.

“I’m kind of a rah-rah guy. I get fired up and yell and scream, but our group of kids, they’re so even keel; they don’t show much emotion,” Lewis said. “They want it, and they work hard, but you don’t hear much from them.

“That’s their mentality. I expected them to storm the court,” he added. “I took a couple of steps out there, too, but that’s just them. That’s the way we are, and I truly believe that’s why we’re in the position we’re in.”

Three players scored in double figures for the Buffaloes, who outpunched Riordan 17-12 over the final eight minutes to turn a one-point game in their favor.

Young tallied 13 of his 23 points in the first half as he engaged in a tit-for-tat with Crusaders sophomore James Chun.

Tydus Verhoeven scored 11 points while playing lock-down defense on Crusaders playmaker Eddie Stansberry, and 6-foot-9 center Anand Hundal had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Hundal, who went without a field goal for more than 15 minutes, left his stamp on the semifinal with five points in the fourth quarter. His jumper from the elbow gave Manteca a 54-49 lead with 2:12 remaining.

“I wasn’t going to force anything in the second or third quarters,” Hundal said. “I just found my rhythm (in the fourth), and when we need big buckets, I try to deliver. Whatever the team needs, I try to do.”

The Crusaders cut the deficit to 56-54 on a three-pointer by Eric Galindo with 33 seconds left, but the Buffaloes put the ball in Young’s hands. One of the state’s top free throw shooters, Young iced the victory with six in a row. He was 8 of 9 for the game.

“We want the ball in Dwight’s hands in the end. We want him on the line to seal a game,” Lewis said. “It was huge. We followed the game plan.”

Chun led the Crusaders (12-17) with 19 points but was limited to two in the second half. Stansberry was held to just 10 points by Verhoeven.

Galindo also had 10 points for Riordan, whose season came to a screeching halt in the Family City for the second consecutive year. Last season, Sierra topped the Crusaders en route to a NorCal semifinal appearance.

“Only good people left playing right now,” Hundal said.

Riordan – the seventh-place team in the West Catholic League with a sub-.500 record – took the fight to the second-seeded Buffaloes, who owned a considerable height advantage.

Chun scored 10 of the Crusaders’ 13 points in the second quarter, including a floater over 6-9 Kenny Wooten, Nevada’s prized recruit. Moments later, the Buffaloes lost track of Chun, who buried a corner three-pointer to push the Crusaders’ lead to 24-18.

Manteca responded with a diminutive shooter of its own – Young, the hero in a quarterfinal victory over Albany. Young buried a top-of-the-arc three-pointer to trigger a 12-3 run. His free throws with 1:27 left gave Manteca a 32-30 lead, the last of six lead changes in the first half.

Young’s production, especially under pressure, offset a turnover-plagued third quarter and relatively quiet nights from Hundal and Wooten (nine points, 11 rebounds).

“They’re a good basketball team. The record does not show what type of team they are,” Lewis said, complementing a program that has won a Central Coast Section-record 14 titles. “They’ve got some players on their team, and we stepped up. It was a huge win.”

This story was originally published March 15, 2016 at 10:20 PM with the headline "Manteca boys clinch berth in CIF NorCal Regional Division III final."