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BASKETBALL: Ripon Christian boys & girls win postseason openers
Manteca, Ripon girls fall
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Fourth-seeded Ripon Christian went on a 17-2 second-half run Thursday night to pull away from visiting No. 5 Faith Christian of Yuba City on the way to a 56-40 win for the Knights in quarterfinal action of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI girls basketball playoffs. 
“The first four minutes of the first quarter and first four minutes of the third quarter are extremely critical,” Ripon Christian coach Mike Vander Molen said. “When you are the home team you have to make a statement to start each half and I think we did that.
“They took Lexi (Hilvers) away in the middle – they did not want to let Lexi and Morgan (Van Elderen) beat them. They did a tough job on those two. It was a great team effort as the other girls stepped up.”
With Hilvers and Van Elderen bottled up scoring eight points apiece, Lydia Bakker helped the Knights (16-10) pull away, scoring nine of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter when she nailed two of her three 3-pointers. Mikaela Vander Molen added 11 points and Natasha Smith nine.
“We just kept moving the ball,” Van Elderen said of her team’s second-half run. “Our defense was working really well – we got a couple of turnovers — I believe that really helped push us so we could do our plays and do our jobs.”
Only three players scored for the Lions (13-9) with Avery Johns and Audrey Harris scoring 19 points apiece.
Ripon Christian travels to Roseville on Monday to take on top-seeded Valley Christian at 7 p.m.

Division III
Christian Brothers 55, Manteca 42

SACRAMENTO — The Buffaloes (20-8) jumped out to an 18-15 but struggled to maintain their offensive production as second-seeded Christian Brothers (22-8) made it a half-court game.
Manteca, to its credit, was able to stay in contention until the Falcons put away from the free-throw line in the final minutes, making 10 of 12 from the foul line in the fourth period.
“They came out wanting to press and have an uptempo game, and we were all for that,” Manteca coach Ryan Bono said. “Then they went to a zone (defense). That allowed them to use their length, close down the driving lanes and contest every shot — they really stymied us. We had to earn every point we got tonight.”
Kyaira Jacobs led Manteca with 14 points, five rebounds and four steals. Marissa Serrano added nine points. Sarah Jackson poured in a game-high 20 points for CB, which relied on three players to get the bulk of its points. Karli Cooper contributed 17 points, and 6-foot-1 guard Bria Shine had 14.
The Falcons face No. 3 Vanden (26-4) in the semifinals next Monday.

Division IV
Calaveras 57, Ripon 49

SAN ANDREAS — Plagued by 27 turnovers, the No. 6 Indians (20-9) stumbled to a third straight second-round exit.
No. 3 Calaveras (20-8) took advantage at the start, claiming a 13-7 lead before Ripon got untracked to take a 22-20 halftime advantage. Ripon was ahead by three late in the fourth quarter before Calaveras closed on a 14-3 run.
Reina Sausedo wrapped up her excellent four-year career, tallying 11 points, 13 rebounds and four steals. Tianna Sidtikun finished with nine points and three steals, and Kiley Holland scored eight points. Madison Clark paced three Calaveras players in double figures with 18 points.
Calaveras travels to No. 2 El Dorado (22-7) for the semifinals.
“We had a chance until the last minute when we had to foul,” Ripon coach Rick Inderbitzin said. “We had a great year. We won 20 games and a (Trans-Valley League) championship, so there is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Division VI boys
Ripon Christian 67, Lodi Academy 41

The top-seeded Knights (21-7) weathered a barrage of 3-pointers and coasted to the lopsided first-round win behind Braden Van Groningen’s 20 points.
Lodi Academy (14-8) drained 11 3-pointers and had a 14-12 edge going into the second quarter. That was when Ripon Christian answered with staggering a 23-5 run.
“Lodi’s outside shooting kept them in the game, but Braden was able to take control inside and we had some balanced scoring,” RC coach Mark Hofman said.
Jacob Van Groningen pitched in 10 points for the Knights, Caleb Terpsma had nine and Reed Vander Hoek and Will Gilbert scored eight apiece. They’ll play the Sacramento Waldorf-Alpha Charger winner next Tuesday.
Caleb Pandjaitan and Adam Gates spearheaded the Titans with 13 and 12 points, respectively.