Maybe someday teams will realize they cannot drive on Ripon Christian’s Jace Beidleman.
With the Trans-Valley League boys basketball crown on the line Friday night, Beidleman absolutely dominated the paint against host Ripon, blocking nine shots while hauling down 13 rebounds and chipping in eight points, as the Knights claimed the TVL championship with a convincing 54-42 road win.
When Beidleman was not busy swatting the Indians’ shots away, he was forcing the Indians to divert from the basket with just a handful of shots finding the mark over his 6-foot-9 reach.
“I’m the biggest on court, and I have to do my best to control the paint,” Beidleman said.
“Playing good defense, altering shots and getting rebounds opens everything up for us to run the floor.”
Ripon Christian (11-1 TVL, 21-6 overall) led 22-12 after one quarter and despite losing starter Amos Cady (12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists) to a third foul early in the second period the Knights bumped their lead to 32-20 at halftime.
Cady came back in the third period and wasted little time getting back into the flow of the game, being involved in every Ripon Christian bucket of the quarter with two baskets and three assists.
“In the third quarter, I knew we had one half to win the TVL,” Cady said. “I had to push no matter what the calls were. The coaches were encouraging me, and the team was encouraging me.
“I couldn’t have been blessed with a better team or a better coaching staff.”
Ripon (10-2, 21-7) had not played in a week, but the rest did not appear to do the Indians any good according to the Knights’ Jake Vander Veen, who led all scorers with 19 points and just missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
“Ripon had a whole week to prepare for us, and we only had one day,” Vander Veen said. “We got it done, we executed, and we were in control the whole game.”
Ripon Christian dominated the boards, 39-25.
“We played defense,” Knights coach Mark Hofman said. “It was a physical game. There was some emotion, but it was one of those grinding games and we came out on top.
“We rebounded, Jace blocked shots and Jake Vander Veen provided the offense when needed. It was beautiful team basketball; they all played their role.”
The Indians never led and could not seem to find their stride all night.
“We didn’t play very well at all,” Ripon coach Dean Balcao said. “We didn’t follow our game plan, that’s for sure.
“We were just out of sync.”
Landon Gillespie led the Indians with 17 points while Marcus Madoski chipped in seven points with eight rebounds and two blocks.
The pairings for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs will be announced this afternoon and the playoffs begin next week.
Junior varsity
Ripon 41, Ripon Christian 38
Gino Calderra led the Indians with 12 points and Reuben Vasquez chipped in nine points for the Knights.
