Ripon went ice cold from the field in the second half of its Modesto Christian Holiday Hoop Classic battle with Turlock on Friday.

The Indians managed to hold on for a 64-54 victory despite being held without a field goal over the final 10 minutes, 12 seconds and just three overall for the second half. They did the damage from the free-throw line where they tallied half of their points, going 33 for 45.

Cole Herrin was the top scorer with 27 points, and he converted 18-of-22 free throws. Derek Hickman contributed 10 points in limited action because of foul trouble while pulling down 10 of the team’s 22 rebounds. Henk Gaalswyk also had 10.

Turlock (8-6), paced by 6-foot-6 center Austin Bush’s 14 points, was able to close a 32-16 halftime deficit to four at one point in the second half, when it buried six 3-pointers.

“We played a team that was a mirror image of us, we just happened to shoot better than they did today,” Ripon coach Rod Wright said. “Execution-wise it was a good first half. We were able to confuse them in the beginning; they had a little trouble with our zone defense. But our first-half execution and free-throw shooting in the second half was the difference.”

The Indians (3-8) who snapped a the-game losing streak, closes out the tournament in the 13th-place game this morning at 11 against Horizon.



El Camino Real 79, Weston Ranch 54

The Cougars (6-4) suffered their worst loss of the season, though it came against an 11-2 squad from the Los Angeles area that is ranked among the state’s best. 

El Camino of Woodland Hills shot out to a 22-11 first-quarter lead and didn’t look back, scoring 23 more points in each of the second and third periods before putting it on cruise control.

Additional game information was not available as of press time. Weston Ranch plays the loser of the Alemany-Modesto Christian semifinal in tonight’s third-place game starting at 6:30.