RIPON — After trailing by 11 at the end of the first quarter, Ripon battled back to within a point late in the third period but then watched Livermore go on a 15-2 run to pull away in a 50-32 win for the visiting Cowboys in non-league girls basketball action on Tuesday.

“Right after halftime we were down by eight,” Indians coach George Contente said. “And then we battled back to within a point.”

Part of the reason Livermore (1-0) was able to pull away was 3-point shooting – the Cowboys hit one late in the third quarter and four in the final period.

“They had taken some 3-pointers earlier,” Contente said. “And at the end we were getting tired and did not get out and get a hand up in their face.

“They are a pretty good team. They are big – a lot bigger then we are – but for the most part we did OK. We are young, but we will learn from this and go on.”

Zaire Davis helped lead the comeback for Ripon (0-1) with six of her game-high 17 points in the second quarter. She had eight rebounds and teammate Courtney Slamon had seven.

“We lost our intensity a bit in the fourth quarter due to fatigue,” Davis said. “We worked hard and we got it together earlier but next game we will be ready.”



Sophomores

Livermore 44, Ripon 43

The Indians cut an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit down to one point on a 3-pointer by Kate Kaiser with 10 seconds left in the game but the Cowboys held on for the win.

Felicia Ceja had 11 of her team-high 13 points for Ripon in the fourth quarter.



Freshman

Sonora 28, Ripon 27

The Indians trailed by six going into the final period and rallied but came up short.

Chloe Winter, Sierra Silver and Janessa Inderbitzin had six points apiece for Ripon with Inderbitzin going 4 for 4 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.