Ripon Christian head coach Mark Hofman must give one heck of a halftime speech.
After a lackluster first half, his Knights came out of the break and rolled to a 71-29 victory Friday at Ripon High.
They led 28-15 at halftime.
“That first half was boring, low energy basketball,” Hofman said. “We talked about it at halftime that out style needed to change. We’re a different type of team this year, and we need to play quicker and more aggressive like you saw in the second half.”
Ripon (1-2, 6-13), playing without leading scorer Gino Calderara who is out with an ankle injury, jumped out to a 9-7 lead early on due to a hot shooting start from guards Andrew Shaw (eight points) and Sam Stewart (five points). Ripon Christian (3-0, 9-9) shot just 1-for-7 from 3-point range in the first quarter but battled back with a few easy buckets to take a 13-9 lead into the first intermission.
“We settled for a lot of easy shots early,” Hofman said. “We don’t have that inside presence we have had in the past, and the easiest shot isn’t always the best shot and we’re learning that.”
The Knights ratcheted up the defensive pressure in the second quarter, forcing nine turnovers that led the easy baskets on the other end. Consistent man-to-man pressure in the half court led to contested shots that did not fall for Ripon throughout much of the evening. Leading scorer Jake Vander Veen poured in 10 of his game-high 21 points in the first half.
“At half, coach just reminded us that we should be happy to be playing basketball,” senior guard Amos Cady said. “He challenged us to pressure consistently, work hard on both ends of the floor.”
Cady scored eight of his 14 points in the game in the third quarter, and Ripon Christian made f5-of-10 from behind the arc to balloon the lead to 55-25 at the end of the third. The Knights scored 27 in just eight minutes in the third quarter after being held to just 28 in the first half.
“Basketball is a funny game,” Hofman said. “You play good defense force turnovers, get out and make some easy baskets, and then all of a sudden the shots that weren’t falling start to fall.”
Mason Tameling scored seven points in less than two minutes in the fourth quarter to grow the lead for the Knights. The senior guard finished the game as the third Ripon Christian player in double figures with 12 points.
“When those three guys are going good we’re at our best,” Hofman said. “We played some tough teams early in our schedule that prepared them for moments like tonight when it matters in league play.”
For the Indians, it’s back to the fundamentals.
“We need to run the offense better,” head coach Dean Balcao said. “They shot better than us, defended better than us, rebounded better than us. But we can be better and we’ll need to get back to work to make that happen.”
Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday in Trans Valley League play, as Ripon heads to Sonora and Ripon Christian heads down Highway 120 to take on Escalon.
