RIPON — Fourth-seeded Ripon withstood a hot start from visiting Amador on Wednesday, stepping up defensively late for an 85-64 win in the first round of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs.
“These guys came out and missed one shot in the first quarter,” Ripon coach Justin Graham said. “For whatever reason we were able to hang with them, and when we went into halftime I couldn’t believe we were up by two. I think we wore them down and finally started playing defense.”
Vincent Olmo continued his stellar play of late, churning out 29 points and 15 rebounds for the host Indians (18-11). The 6-foot-8 senior center made 11 of his 13 attempts from the field, with his only misses coming from behind the 3-point arc.
“It was almost a quiet 29,” Graham said. “He got a lot of put-backs and cleaned up a lot of our mistakes. He’s a pretty nice guy to have on the team.”
Troy Brogan contributed with 18 points, Nico Ilardi had 15 to go with four assists and Adam Wood scored 12 points while making three 3s.
Amador (12-14) came out firing, draining six of its 10 3-pointers in the first quarter while staking a 25-23 lead. Ripon jumped ahead 42-40 by halftime and outscored the No. 13 Buffaloes 23-17 in the third.
Cameron Thetford led Amador with 19 points and made three of his four 3s during the Buffaloes’ opening-quarter blitz. Elijah Nixon and Drew Andrews added 13 and 12 points, respectively.
“They gave us their best shot in the first half,” Graham said. “We didn’t come out with the right energy or focus. We knew these guys could shoot, it was on the scouting report, and we let them have a couple easy ones early and that got them into a rhythm.
“They’re 12-13 (going into the game) but they play better than that (record). They play in a league (Mother Lode League) that is pretty tough. Hats off to them, they came ready to play tonight.”
The three-time defending Trans-Valley League champion Indians will take their nine-game winning streak to the quarterfinal round Friday night when they welcome No. 5 Mountain House (21-16). The Mustangs, formerly of the TVL, went undefeated in its first season in the Western Athletic Conference.

Division III
Manteca 66, Cordova 51
The Buffaloes (20-9) broke away in the second quarter, outscoring the Greater Sacramento League champion 21-9 for a 32-20 lead.
Third-year guard Jorge Cedano led a balanced scoring effort for fourth-seeded Manteca with 18 points. Domonick Victor racked up 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Jordan Burciaga contributed 13 points and seven boards. Junior varsity call-up Nick Bell (seven rebounds) and Isaiah Victor contributed eight points apiece.
Isaiah Bolden paced Cordova (17-12) with 23 points.
Manteca plays host to No. 5 Vanden (20-8) on Friday. The Vikings warded off Kimball 80-75 in their opener.