Ripon’s boys water polo team went 3-1 in the competitive platinum division of the DeLong Tournament last Friday and Saturday at Downey High of Modesto, placing ninth out of 18 teams.
"The boys have overcome a lot of adversity this season and continue to mature each week,” Indians coach Christian Britton said. “Being such a young group, I am proud of the way these young men continue to build the culture on this team.
“We are very excited with the way we finished out the weekend, and after Tuesday's game against Kimball can put our focus on the upcoming postseason."
Ripon opened tourney play with a 12-6 loss to Clovis East on Friday, but rebounded with an 11-9 win over Newberg of Oregon. The Indians vanquished McClatchy of Sacramento on Saturday, 15-10, and crushed Heritage of Brentwood, 19-7.
Benny Rogers was in goal for all four games, coming up with 27 blocks, eight steals and two assists.
Brody Biedermann led the field players with 11 goals, seven assists and 10 steals for the tournament. Fellow sophomore McKeane Beier also tallied 11 goals, adding three assists, and six steals. Ben Svoboda accumulated nine goals, 13 assists and 11 steals.
Owen Curtis contributed five goals, eight assists, three blocks and five steals, while Ryan Bell turned in six goals, five assists, one block and five steals. Teo West chipped in with five goals, five assists and eight steals.
Chetan Harvey (assist, two steals), Matthew Lee (goal, two assists) and Nathan Selna (two goals, assist).
DeLong tourney - Blue
Sierra won three of its four contests at Pitman High of Turlock, earning second place in the Blue Division.
The Timberwolves started hot, stringing together wins over Modesto (13-9), Freedom (16-9) and Enochs (9-3).
In the final, Sierra matched up with Freedom again but stumbled, 11-3.
Mitch Van Zwaluwenburg amassed 19 goals in the four games. Erfan Balle
w contributed with eight, Zach Walmer had five, Bayan Ballew scored three, Gabriel Monasterio had two and
Sammy Perez chipped in one.
Troy Morrow collected 40 saves over the four games.
GIRLS
Bear Creek Tournament
On Friday, the Timberwolves started with an 11-7 overtime victory over Bear Creek and blasted Bret Harte, 14-2. They dispatched Lodi’s junior varsity 12-5 and were dealt a 16-3 defeat by Monterey Trail.
Lauren Ellis and Gianna Ramos tallied 10 goals apiece, and they both scored twice in overtime against Bear Creek. Amy Fadeff was the overall scoring leader with 14 goals, six coming in the blowout of Bret Harte.
Bianca Fraser chimed in with two goals. Zoe Sandoval, Kiera Brink, Stefany Perez and Maya Murrillo scored one each. Marisa Rush and Brink split time in goal.
Julian Szmidt Memorial
Valley Oak League champion Ripon saw some stiff competition in Napa, starting with losses to Las Lomas (10-3), Lodi (19-9) and Rio Americano (7-5). The lone win came in the finale, as the Indians waxed Dixon 12-3 in what was a rematch of the 2021 Sac-Joaquin Section Division III final.
