Ripon Christian will take the wins any way it can get them, at this point.

Early-season injuries have forced coach Mark Hofman and his staff to constantly tinker rotations while navigating through a challenging pre-league schedule.

The Knights had a three-game skid going into another tough assignment Friday at upstart Sierra, and they managed to pull out a 49-45 win on a night in which both teams struggled to make baskets at all levels.

“We’re grinding out wins right now, and we’re trying to get into some kind of rhythm,” Hofman said.

Third-year starting guards Amos Cady and Mason Tameling made their season debuts in the last week but are nowhere near midseason form coming off of football injuries. Cady was the Knights’ leading scorer with 13 points to go wtih six rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Of course, another key player went down with an injury on Friday.

Chase Bunnell, a rugged 6-foot-4 senior who provides Ripon Christian (5-5) with some length and toughness in the post, limped off the floor with an apparent ankle injury with 3:26 remaining. He finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

“The silver lining is we’ve got a lot of guys getting heavy minutes,” Hofman said. “They would be playing, but they would not be getting 25 minutes like they’re getting now. So, maybe that will be a contribution down the line.”

Jake Vander Veen has had to shoulder much of the scoring load with his backcourt buddies Cady and Tameling out, but Sierra limited him to a quiet 12 points, five rebounds and three assists.

“Everybody knows who Jake is now,” Hofman said. “He gets doubled, or 1 ½ guys on him all the time. He’s no secret, so they’re all over him. (If) we hit a couple shots, it fixes it, but we didn’t. So, we have to find another way to win.”

Karanbir Bhandal paced Sierra (11-3) with 11 points, Isaiah Revives added 10 and Colby Veuve amassed seven points and 13 rebounds. Jordan Garcia added seven points and 12 boards off the bench.

The Timberwolves had a five-game winning streak snapped, but first-year coach Jalen Bourbon said they’re not playing at the same level as they did to start the season.

“We just haven’t played well as a team,” he said. “They knew that they had to rise to the occasion, because Ripon Christian’s pretty solid. They’re always disciplined and play good defense.”

The game was a microcosm of the up-and-down nature of the Timberwolves’ season, thus far.

They blitzed Ripon Christian at the start and took a 14-5 lead after a 3-pointer from Bhandal. That was their largest advantage of the game, as the Knights came alive offensively and rolled to a 26-23 halftime lead.

Sierra recaptured control in the third quarter and went up 40-36 early in the fourth quarter following Romero Callender’s deep 3 from the right wing.

Ripon Christian rallied for a 9-2 run that was capped by five straight points scored by a Cady — a 3-pointer, followed by a transition bucket he got from off of a steal. Cady made another layup with 2:34 left, giving the Knights the lead for good at 45-44.

Sierra, down three, later had a chance to tie it but was fouled. That sent Romeo Callender to the free-throw line with 4.3 seconds to go. He made the first and intentionally missed the second, but Josiah Van Vliet came down with the tough rebound for Ripon Christian. The junior was immediately fouled and he iced it with two made free throws on the other end with 2.9 seconds remaining.

“We had a great first quarter,” Bourbon said. “I thought we came out aggressive and made some good shots. Our guys battled to the very end, so that was great.”

Sierra is off from game action during the winter break and has three road games on the other wide of it starting with Venture Academy on Jan. 5. Ripon Christian will remain busy with four games in five days at the Modesto Christian Holiday Hoop Classic. The Knights will face the tournament host in the opener next Friday, Dec. 26.

Junior varsity

Ripon Christian 43, Sierra 42

Ben Medhurt led Ripon Christian with 13 points, while Tyler Van Elderen chipped in with 10.

Sierra’s Jeremiah Ybona paced all scorers with 17 points. Jayden Everett ended with eight points, as seven different Timberwolves scored.

Freshman

Ripon Christian 34, Sierra 31

Abhi Banipal scored 10 points, and Harvir Singh had nine in the loss for Sierra.