MOUNTAIN HOUSE — Lathrop girls basketball coach Dwayne Davis urges his star player to be a little more selfish.
Mary Cotton responded on Thursday, and the Spartans trampled Mountain House 58-35 in yet another lopsided win in the Western Athletic Conference. The shorter Mustangs (2-4, 7-13 overall) had no answer for Lathrop’s skilled 6-foot-1 senior. She finished with 24 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, four steals and three blocks.
“We had that talk,” Davis said. “I said, ‘Sometimes you gotta be that dominant player on the floor,’ but she’s so unselfish. We need her to score when we throw it inside with a mismatch.”
Ayon Carter added 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals for Lathrop (6-0, 13-5), which has won all of its WAC contests by 20 or more points. Khiya Thornton pitched in eight points, six boards and five assists.
The Spartans created separation in the third quarter with a 17-5 run after leading 25-20 at halftime. The key moment was drawing the fourth foul on point guard Andrea Garcia, Mountain House’s leading scorer with 15 points.
“Garcia is a very good guard for them, and when she had to sit we just turned up the pressure,” Davis said.
Lathrop caps the first-half of league play against reigning WAC champion Los Banos next Tuesday. It’s the first season in the WAC for Lathrop, which claimed a share of the Valley Oak League crown last year.

Ripon Christian 45, Hilmar 38 (OT)
RIPON — The Knights (3-1 Trans-Valley League, 11-6 overall) overcame a poor shooting night and 22 turnovers.
Morgan Van Elderen poured in 20 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Rilee Clark tallied 10 points, while Lexi Hilvers had eight points and nine rebounds. Olivia Machado collected 18 points to lead Hilmar (1-3, 5-15).

Ripon 39, Hughson 33
RIPON — The shots were not falling for Ripon (4-1 TVL, 12-6 overall), but the Indians made up for it with stifling defense.
They held off Hughson (2-3, 12-7) in the second half after blanking the Huskies in the opening quarter and leading 22-6 at the midway point. Reina Sausedo paced Ripon with 15 points, and Mackenzie Hutchinson has nine.
Madi Coehlo led Hughson with 12 points, all scored in the second half.

JV girls
Hilmar 30, Ripon Christian 27
RIPON — Kristen Van Elderen accumulated 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists for Ripon Christian (1-3 TVL).
Abigail Laswell added seven points and eight rebounds. Samantha Anema grabbed 12 rebounds to go with six points.