RIPON — Chris Musseman was anxious to see how his Ripon High boys golf team would respond to suffering its first loss of the season.

The Indians were expected to roll visiting Riverbank and did so by a 175-245 margin Tuesday at Jack Tone Golf Course, but it was the type of performance they needed going into Thursday’s big match with defending Trans Valley League champion Escalon.

Ripon (3-1, 5-1 overall) fell to rival Ripon Christian last Thursday.

“It was nice to recover from last Thursday’s match when we had a total team meltdown,” Musseman said. “The kids came out and played better. We made adjustments to the lineup and got different kids out there, and I think it made a little bit of difference.”

The one constant was the play of freshman Andrew Bonner, who carded the low round of 30 on Jack Tone’s par-31 front nine. Bonner birdied the par-three holes on 4 and 6 and bogeyed 8.

Jordan Williamson continued his rock-solid play and trailed the round’s leader by four strokes.

“Jordan is doing a heck of a job,” Musseman said. “He’s come a long ways. He wasn’t going to be in the top six at the start of the year, but he’s one of the top four at this point.”

Also contributing were Josh Ricther with a 36, Matty Gay with a 37 and Zach Capel with a 38.

Ripon will get one more tune-up round before meeting Escalon at Spring Creek Golf and Country Club Thursday. The Indians will compete in the Al Croce Memorial Tournament at Lockeford Springs Golf Course today.