RIPON — Ripon Christian High appears to be peaking at the right time.
The Knights have won five of their last six games, including Tuesday’s 69-45 drubbing of visiting Hughson in the Trans Valley League finale.
“We’re playing well right now,” said RC coach Mark Hofman.
The victory also propelled the Knights (8-4 TVL, 16-9 overall) into a second-place tie with Hughson (8-4 TVL, 15-11) and Riverbank. They’ll find out their playoff seedings Thursday.
RC was dominant from the get-go on this senior night, moving the ball and finding the open man, taking a quick 14-5 lead.
Jadon Vander Molen, Fletcher Jackson and Cade Alger had 3s in that opening run that eventually grew to a 21-10 advantage.
In the second, Alger scored on a backdoor cut, a layup and drilled another trey, giving the Knights a 28-12 lead.
They made it 36-22 at the intermission.
The Huskies had their best run in the third, going on an 8-2 at one point to close the deficit to single digit, 43-34.
RC regained its earlier momentum to close out the game. Alger, who is coming back from earlier knee injury, drilled another 3 while finishing with a game-high 20 points.
Jackson, who was 4-for-4 at the foul line in the fourth, chipped in with 18. He also had five assists and two steals that led to layups at the other end.
Andrew Vander Weide had a strong all-around game with 10 points, eight boards, two blocks, two assists and a steal.
Jacob Vander Hoek added six points, five rebounds, and a block.
Leading Hughson was Will Fiveash, who had 18 points, seven rebounds and a steal. Justin Watkins finished with 10.

Ripon 65, Hilmar 45
RIPON — The Indians (12-0, 21-6) end the regular season on a 16-game winning streak, but standout center Vincent Olmo went down with a knee injury in the second quarter of their TVL finale Tuesday. He finished with five points.
Ripon made up for his absence with the 3-pointer, hitting 10 for the game while its five seniors got to have ample playing time. Kyle Sisk let the way with 23 points, Troy Brogan had 10 and Adam Wood made three 3s for his nine points.
Jonas Tate paced Hilmar (2-10, 9-18) with 18 points, and Carter Azevedo chipped in 11.

Varsity girls
Ripon 54, Hilmar 45
RIPON — Trailing 22-18 at halftime, the TVL champion Indians (11-1, 21-4) gained control with a 17-6 third-quarter onslaught.
Reina Sausedo registered a game-high 23 points, while Savannah Clark amassed 14 points and 13 rebounds. Hailey Chavez fired 21 points for Hilmar (5-7, 16-11).

Ripon Christian 52,
 Hughson 35
HUGHSON — The Knights (6-6, 14-12) drilled five of their nine 3-pointers in the opening quarter for a 17-5 lead, and they locked up the third and final automatic playoff berth out of the TVL.
Morgan Van Elderen flirted with a triple-double with 11 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. Kelly Engle hit three 3s in the first quarter and wound up with a team-high 14 points. Taylor Anema added 10 points.