CERES — This was more like it for the East Union girls basketball team.
After a sluggish start in its season-opening win over Atwater just two days prior, the Lancers came out with better energy in their second contest Thursday at Central Valley. They jumped out to a 20-point halftime lead and coasted to a 65-47 win in this rematch of a 2015 Sac-Joaquin Section Division III playoff opener won by East Union.
“Good, hard-nosed, full-court pressure defense,” East Union coach Jim Agostini said of his team’s brisk start to the game. It was an overall good game by the team. Early in the year like this it was nice to get everybody involved.”
Fourth-year senior guard Ruby Daube led the charge, scoring 24 points with four 3-pointers to go with four assists. The Lancers (2-0) totaled 12 assists.
“She was in a good mode tonight,” Agostini said. “Whether it was on the drive or dropping down the long ball, she played a good, all-around game.”
The coach also lauded the efforts of DeJohna Pryor, who contributed 13 points and eight rebounds. Hailey Gosney also finished with 13 points, while sophomore center Donja Payne had eight points in limited action.
The defense sparked the offense as the Lancers rolled out to a 14-5 first-quarter lead and stretched it to 34-14 by the break.
Adria Robinson had 17 points to pace the Hawks (1-1), while Blanca Espinoza had 10.
Ripon 47, Downey 30
RIPON — The Indians (2-0) mounted a 13-2 run in the third quarter to put pesky Downey (0-3) away for good.
Ripon started out on fire behind the hot shooting of Reina Sausedo and Mariah Strickland, who shared team-high honors with 11 points apiece. Strickland scored 10 of her points in the opening quarter and hit two 3-pointsers. Sausedo added a 3 of her own and had five points, as the Indians scored 11 unanswered to start.
The Knights, led by Deja Acosta’s game-high 15 points, came roaring back and were down 17-13 going into the second.
Turlock 49, Manteca 32
TURLOCK — Still down their two best players, the Buffaloes (0-2) struggled to get shots to fall and made just 25 percent of their looks from the field.
Manteca was held to single digits in every quarter, and Turlock (2-1) broke it open with a 16-5 third-quarter spurt. Selena Lopez led the Buffs with eight points, and J.J. Santos pulled down eight rebounds. Hope Salsig and Shea Glasgow Williams each scored 13 to spearhead the Bulldogs.
Central Catholic 66, Ripon Christian 41
ESCALON — Danielle Friedrich poured in 31 points for Central Catholic (2-0) in the semifinal round of the Pete Arellano Memorial Tournament at Escalon.
Ripon Christian (1-1) trailed by just six with three minutes to go in the second quarter before the Raiders capitalized on turnovers to widen the margin to 37-18 by halftime. It only got worse for the Knights in the first minute of the second half when sophomore Renae Heida fouled out. That left them down to six available players for the remainder of the contest.
Kelly Engel led RC with nine points, and Elizabeth Weststeyn had eight. The Knights face Waterford in the third-place game tonight at 6:30.
Sophomore
Ripon Christian 49,
Central Catholic 13
ESCALON — Ripon Christian (2-0) advances to the Pete Arellano Memorial Tournament finals after a dominant and balanced effort.
Ariel Vander Woude fired 12 points, and Rilee Clark turned in 10. Gianna Smith added seven points and eight rebounds. Morgan Van Elderen collected seven points, six assists, seven rebounds and four steals.
Weston Ranch 24,
Bret Harte 23
STOCKTON — Jennalyn Laminero posted 10 points and six steals as the Cougars Classic host held off Bret Harte for the win.
Weston Ranch shut out the visitors in the third but was outscored 9-3 in the final period. Darnaysha Huff contributed four points, six rebounds and six blocks to the win.
Freshman
Ripon 39, Downey 25
RIPON — The Indians blew it open with a 19-point outburst in the second quarter, leading to a 28-8 halftime advantage.
Mackenzie Hutchinson scored 11 points, Lilliana Mejia had nine and Mikaylah Vaught pitched in eight.
