The Ripon Christian Knights got scoring contributions from seven of the eight players that logged minutes Tuesday night in a highly-competitive 36-31 victory over the visiting River Islands Riptide.
“Really proud of how we played tonight in this last non-league game for us,” Knights first-year head coach Connor Kennedy said. “We got out to a good lead, making some good plays — let them back into the game a little bit in the second half, but was happy with how we persevered as a team.”
Ripon Christian (6-8) came out playing swarming defense, forcing 13 River Islands turnovers in a first half that saw the Riptide (4-13) score just nine total points. Both defenses started the game in zone looks, forcing each other to take contested shots from the outside, with both teams combining to go 1-for-14 from 3-point range in the first half.
Ripon Christian was first to figure out the zone, making the extra pass to get looks inside from leading scorers Bella Arganbright and Haley Kootstra, both of whom ended the game with 11 points each. The duo helped the Knights take a 19-9 lead into the halftime break.
“We challenge our girls to make the extra pass,” Kennedy said. “It took us a little bit of time to get it figured out, but once we started getting into the zone and see some shots fall, it helps build some confidence for the entire team.”
The Riptide were also playing their last non-league contest Tuesday night and showed in the second half.
Led by point guard and 2024 All-Central California Athletic Alliance selection Brianna Lee (11 points) and forward Veronica Erilim (11 points), River Islands chipped away at the Ripon Christian lead, going into the final break down just three, 24-21.
“These girls fought hard tonight,” River Islands coach Jessica Sutton said. “We got down early and they could have given up but they fought back, played hard, and I could not have asked for more of them especially in the second half.”
Back-to-back layups from Erilim brought the Riptide to within a point early in the fourth quarter. With momentum on the side of the visitors, Kennedy opted to not take a timeout and let his squad work through the adversity.
“In that moment, we knew we had the lineup in that we wanted,” Kennedy said. “We’ve told them all season long that we don’t get better in blowouts, we get better in close games. I wanted to see how they responded to the challenge in front of them.”
The Knights responded to the confidence of their head coach by going on 10-2 run, highlighted by two massive three-pointers from Kootstra and baskets from Arganbright that stretched the lead to 36-27 with just over a minute left to play.
“I can’t say enough about the way Bella and Haley played tonight,” Kennedy said. “They are the heart and soul of this team, and when we needed big baskets, they came up with them. Credit to the rest of the squad for making the extra pass to get them good looks and help us seal what was a tough game.”
For coach Sutton, there were a ton of positives in Tuesday’s contest to build upon for the rest of the season.
“The message to the girls going into league is simple: if they play the way they did tonight, we are going to set ourselves up to compete and win games,” she said. “If we play with the same fight we did and get a few more shots to fall, we’re going to give teams all they can handle.”
River Islands opens CCAA play Wednesday night at home against Aspire Langston Hughes Academy of Stockton. Ripon Christian resumes Trans Valley League Action Thursday at home against rival Ripon.
