DIXON — Ripon caught fire in the third quarter Tuesday, outscoring Woodland 28-3 in the period on the way to a lopsided 76-44 Indians win in opening-round action of the Dixon Ram Jam Tournament at Dixon High.
Ripon (9-3), the tourney’s defending champion, led 42-32 at halftime before exploding to a 70-35 lead after three periods.
“The first half was a little close,” Indians coach Rod Wright said. “In the second half we went back to pressing them and they fell apart.”
The third quarter was about more than scoring for Ripon. The Indians forced 31 turnovers with the majority coming in the third period, leading to multiple layups for Noah Hernandez and Aaron Paschini (seven rebounds, seven assists, four steals). Hernandez had 12 of his team-high 20 points in the period and that is when Paschini had 10 of his 16. Cole Stevens (eight rebounds, five assists, two steals) chipped in 13 points. Anthony Sisk flirted with a double-double, recording eight points and 12 rebounds and Kyle Sisk had nine rebounds and six points.
The Wolves drop to 2-9.
Ripon faces Sonoma Valley in a semifinal match today at 3:30 p.m.

Manteca 55,
Clovis East 48
MODESTO – The Buffaloes (6-3) overcame a six-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Timberwolves (4-5) in opening-round action of the 17th Annual Modesto Christian Holiday Hoops Classic at Modesto Christian High School.
“We finished well,” Manteca coach Brett Lewis said. “After almost losing to Beyer last week, finishing strong was huge. We got some big stops which led to easy buckets with some free throws to close it out.
Dwight Young paced the Buffaloes with 16 points. Gino Campiotti had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Tydus Verhoeven flirted with a triple double with nine points, nine rebounds and eight blocks. Matthew Ender got in foul trouble early and added nine points and Jorge Cedano chipped in seven points and seven rebounds.
Richard Corona paced Clovis East with 13 points.
Manteca faces Immanuel of Reedley in a quarterfinal contest today at 4:30 p.m.

Freshman
Ripon 49, Kimball 35
Troy Brogan put up a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Indians to an opening-round victory in the Manteca Block-M Tournament.
Nico Ilardi added 10 points and seven assists as Ripon ran its perfect record to 9-0.