RIPON — Ripon Christian got a much-needed win Friday at home.
The Knights avenged their Trans-Valley League-opening loss to Mountain House and ended a three-game losing streak, dominating the paint with their bigs while getting key contributions from the perimeter in a 65-49 triumph.
They held a commanding 14-2 lead after the first quarter and added to it with a 24-point outburst in the second. Ripon Christian (2-5, 11-9 overall) was ahead 38-15 at halftime and put it on cruise control.
“We handled the pressure and we were more aggressive offensively,” Ripon Christian coach Mark Hofman said.
Andrew Vander Weide paced the Knights with 15 points. Jadon Vander Molen and Zach Cortight each added 14. Ty Beidleman scored nine points, but his main contribution was bottling up the smaller Mustangs (3-4, 13-9) in the post.
“Ty really controlled the middle defensively and with rebounding,” Hofman said.
Simrat Brar fired 15 points for Mountain House. Cameron Palmer chipped in 13.

Lathrop 72, Kimball 46
LATHROP — Coming off back-to-back disappointing losses, the Spartans (5-4, 13-9) bounced back with a lopsided win over Kimball (1-8, 5-17).
The Jaguars led 6-2 in the first quarter before Lathrop answered with a staggering 23-0 run. Junior Ballard exploded for 26 points, and Mike Mills, Isaias Hunter and Colin Weis each turned in 10. Dquan Anthony scored 11 for Kimball.