STOCKTON — Third-seeded Ripon rode the hot hand of Matt Lee and scored the first 10 goals of the match Wednesday night and never looked back in a 15-7 win over No. 14 Woodcreek to begin the defense of its 2024 NorCal championship and open the Sac-Joaquin Section Division II boys water polo playoffs at St. Mary’s High’s Cortopassi Aquatics Center.

The Indians (18-12) advance to the quarterfinals Friday at 6 against No. 6 Ponderosa of Shingle Springs back at Cortopassi Aquatics Center.

Ripon led 7-0 at halftime with Lee scoring all seven goals. He finished with eight goals and two steals.

“We wanted to get a hot start going,” Lee said. “So, I did the best I could to set the tone, and I think I did a pretty good job of that.”

Trevor Bell posted four assists and a pair of steals before scoring four goals for the Indians.

“Their goalie couldn’t get on his legs,” Bell said. “So, I used my advantage of hitting into the top corner.

“Finding open teammates is always good, and with shot blocking you just have to mirror the hands.”

Ripon’s Andrew Hanker was a force in the net with five saves, six steals and an assist.

“When I saw them doing bad passes, I tried to take advantage of that,” Hanker said. “When the passes got a little higher, I just got out, got ready to explode to the ball and take it.”

Boen West scored a goal along with two assists and two steals for the Indians and Devin Patel added two steals and two goals. Ethan Hsieh chipped in a steal and William Butler an assist.

“We really just wanted to come out and play our best water polo and mistake-free water polo,” Ripon coach Jeremy West said. “And just have fun.

“For the most part, I think we did a really good job and put our stamp on the game in the first half and the boys responded well.”

Grant Fields scored six of the seven goals for the Timberwolves (5-24).