TRACY — The first-place Weston Ranch Cougars managed a 73-63 Valley Oak League victory at Kimball on Friday.
“With a big week ahead of us this was sort of a ‘trap’ game for us,” said Cougars coach Chris Teevan.
Looking ahead, Weston Ranch (6-0 VOL, 15-4) will have Central Catholic on Monday, traveling for a big rematch at Manteca High on Wednesday and capping it off with Sierra next Friday.
Against Kimball (2-4 VOL, 8-12), the Cougars came out strong to open the second half. At that point, they held a 42-37 edge at the half.
Weston Ranch then went on a 20-8 run in the third quarter to build up sizable lead. “We locked down on Kimball, defensively,” Teevan said.
Offensively, Jaelen Ragsdale once again led the Cougars by pouring in 27 points. Fred Lavender and D’Angelo Finley chipped in with 11 and 10, respectively.
Anthony Booker, a 6-foot-10 senior center, continued his steady inside play, scoring eight points and collecting seven rebounds to go with four blocks.
East Union 72,
Oakdale 41
Gyse Hulsebosch netted 26 points and Malik Thomas chipped in with 17 to help lead the visiting Lancers past Oakdale.
“We played well overall,” said East Union coach Ryan Tarr, who was especially proud of his defense.
The Lancers (2-4 VOL, 10-8) took a 14-9 first-quarter lead, building up a 39-22 half-time cushion.
The Mustangs (0-6 VOL, 1-18) never regrouped, trailing 57-32 through three quarters.
Trans-Valley League
Ripon 71, Riverbank 59
The Indians used good ball movement and made use of their size advantage at Riverbank.
In particular, Cody Haines proved to be a tall order for the smaller Bruins. Ripon’s 6-foot-4 senior forward came away with 18 points in this Trans-Valley League affair.
“Cody was the difference for us,” said Indians coach Rod Wright.
Ripon (4-1 TVL, 16-4) was helped out by balanced attack on offense. “Most of the nine guys who played scored,” Wright said.
Cole Stevens and Aaron Paschini added a respective 16 and 12 points for the Indians.
Riverbank’s Wolfgang Lopez led all scorers with 30 points. Juan Hernandez chipped with 11 and Nik Keydeniers finished with 10.
Freshman
Ripon 73, Riverbank 53
Vincent Olmo had 31 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Indians past Riverbank in a first-place showdown.
Both teams entered play at 5-0 in the TVL.
In addition, Spencer Schroen had 18 for the Indians and Adam Wood chipped with eight points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
First-place Cougars survive trap game

