Ripon Christian started the championship game of Riverbank’s Ron Peterson Tipoff Tournament on a 13-0 run Saturday against Calaveras-San Andreas, but that was not enough to keep the Knights from ending up where they have the last two years in this tournament – second place.

The Redskins went on a 3-point barrage to close out the opening period with four from behind the arc and withstood two late 3-pointers from Ripon Christian to win the championship in a 62-59 thriller.

“This is our third year in a row in second place and we are disappointed we couldn’t win,” Knights coach Ron Vander Molen said. “We played strong against Oakdale and Summerville to start the tournament, and we played well against Calaveras, but we have a few things to work on and are looking forward to improving in those areas.:

Down by four points with 30 seconds remaining, Kyle Colin hit a 3-pointer to draw Ripon Christian (2-1) within 60-59. The Redskins (4-1) added a pair of free throws and two remaining 3-point tries rimmed out for the Knights.

Sean Broker (15 points) and Travis Vander Molen (12 points) were named to the All-Tournament team for Ripon Christian. Colin and Austin Alger each added 10 points.

Third place

Manteca 75,
Summerville-Tuolomne 58

Marcus Montano helped the Buffaloes bench lead a 27-point third-quarter surge.

Montano converted three consecutive steals into six points and scored all of his 10 points in the period as Manteca (3-1) more than doubled up the Bears (1-2) 27-12 in the quarter.

“Summerville is a scrappy team that lulled us to sleep to start the game,” Buffaloes coach Brett Lewis said. “They had a one-point lead after the first quarter but our bench guys helped us to a big run in the second quarter that led us to 27-point third.”

Titus Verhoeven (seven rebounds) scored 11 points to lead a balanced Buffalos attack that saw 11 players score. Frankie Lopez, Ray Gallardo and Ryan Shippley were part of the bench attack that turned the game around for Manteca.

“Being able to play everyone and getting almost everyone to score was huge,” Lewis said.

Buffalos big man Anand Hundal used his 6-foot-8 frame to block four shots and make four rebounds, earning a spot on the All-Tournament team with 22 blocks in the tournament.

11th Annual Big Valley Christian Holiday Classic

Third place

Victory Christian-Carmichael 80, Ripon 74

The Vikings (3-1) used the long ball and big plays to bring home the third-place trophy.

“It was up-tempo and they had two players that had more then 29 while most of our shots were inside,” Indians coach Rod Wright said. “It just wasn’t our night for the shots to fall.”

Ripon was 32 of 88 from the field.

Mario Roach and Aaron Paschini each led the Indians with 21 points. Cole Stevens added 17 points and David Onochie 10.

Modesto City Classic

East Union 63, Downey-Modesto 39

The Lancers jumped out to a 23-11 lead and held the Knights (0-4) to single digits in the third and fourth quarters.

“I kind of challenged them at halftime to hold Downey to single digits at half and they did so,” East Union coach Ryan Tarr said. “We forced turnovers and some guys took charges.

The Lancers improve to 1-3.

“It was good to get that first win,” Tarr said. “We had a couple of tough losses over the weekend.

Austin Miller led East Union with 15 points. Arvind Singh and Chris Molina added 12 points apiece and All-Tournament selection Gyse Hulsebosch had 11 points.

Castlemont 52, Lathrop 48

Just as in the previous three tournament games, the Spartans led in the fourth quarter but could not hold the lead.

“We made too many mistakes in clutch situations,” Lathrop coach Nathan McGrath said. “But this tournament was a good experience for all the kids. We were competitive in every game but we haven’t learned how to finish yet and this will help up as we get closer to the season.

Avraj Val led Lathrop (0-4) with 20 points and Yancy Ram had 12 points.