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Knights charge past Stevenson; Buffs drop NorCal opener to Menlo
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Ripon Christian’s boys basketball team surged past No. 6 Stevenson of Pebble Beach in the second half on Tuesday for a 64-53 upset win in the first round of the California Interscholastic Federation Division V NorCal Regionals.

Trailing 38-28 in the third quarter, the 11th-seeded Knights (21-8) went on a 36-15 closing run to secure their spot in the quarterfinals. They’ll next travel to San Francisco on Thursday to play No. 3 Stuart Hall (18-12), which shellacked No. 14 Mt. Shasta, 69-45.

Griffin De Abreu helped lead the charge for RC, scoring 14 of his 23 points in the second half while grabbing 11 rebounds.

“We got down 10 in the third quarter and called timeout and said this is it, we have to perform offensively,” Ripon Christian coach Mark Hofman said. “They responded.”

Eli Terpsma contributed 19 points, making eight of 10 free throws. The Knights shot 18-for-24 from the line.

Ripon Christian struggled on the attack for the first two-plus quarters but led 10-5 after the first. It was 21-21 at halftime and 38-38 going into the fourth, but the momentum belonged to the Knights down the stretch.

“In the first half, we played hard, just didn’t look very composed offensively,” Hofman said. “We were staying in the game with our defense.”

Darnell Adler scored 12 points to pace Stevenson (20-8), the Central Coast Section Division V runner-up. Adler was shut out in the fourth period. Trent Toole added 10 points for the Grizzlies.

 

Division III

Menlo School 51, Manteca 45

The No. 9 Buffaloes (20-12) went down swinging this season.

After dropping a competitive semifinal to eventual champion Vanden in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoffs last week, Manteca came up short against the No. 8 Knights in Atherton. Menlo School (21-7) pulled away late by making five of its final six free throws.

“Proud of our boys overall,” Manteca coach Jason Hitt said. “I will miss the grit and grind of our seniors and look forward to guiding the talented young Buffs coming up. We will all take a couple weeks to regroup, and then get back to work.”

Noah Lyons shared game-high honors with 16 points. Justice Chase and Ryan Inderbitzin followed with 13 and seven, respectively, in their final game for Manteca. The Buffs struggled with turnovers (16) and boxing out on the defensive glass, giving up 14 offensive rebounds for 10 second-chance points. They also shot 3-for-11 from the foul line.

Will Eggemeier scored 16 for the Central Coast Section Division V champion Knights. Danny Solomon chipped in 14, and Lucas Vogel had 10. Menlo School heads to top-seeded Pleasant Valley (28-3) of Chico on Thursday.