Lathrop’s girls basketball team secured at least a piece of its third overall league championship and second in the Western Athletic Conference on Tuesday when it took down shorthanded Beyer 57-18 on senior night.

The Spartans (11-0 WAC, 18-6 overall) have three games left in the regular season and none of them are cakewalks starting with Johansen on the road Thursday.

“We want to be outright champions this year and undefeated champions, but we’re taking it one game at a time,” Lathrop coach Dwayne Davis said. His previous titles — 2018 in the VOL and 2019 in the WAC — were shared.

Senior Sanah Sunner spearheaded the shellacking of Beyer (2-8, 4-18), which was without leading scorer Kylie Kulina. Sunner finished with 20 points and was 7-for-7 on free throws, while fellow senior Kalani Soriano added seven points.

Lathrop led comfortably at halftime 32-8.

“Since we played Marysville at Golden 1 (Center) and in San Diego (for the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic), we’ve been locked in defensively,” Davis said. “We haven’t played a bad game in a long time.”

All three of Lathrop’s remaining WAC contests are on the road and against opponents that are vying for two of the three automatic berths to the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs. After Johansen, which took Lathrop to overtime in their previous meeting, the Spartans travel to second-place Mountain House and Los Banos next week.

East Union 66, Central Catholic 34

The Lancers (8-0, 21-4 overall) can now shift their focus on Manteca and Kimball, the final two teams in the way of a third straight outright Valley Oak League championship.

The guard tandem of Taylor Snaer and Nylah Dyson anchored the attack Tuesday at Dalben Center, netting 22 and 21 points, respectively. Ava Barrera contributed seven. East Union surged to a 32-15 halftime lead. The Lancers head to Manteca on Thursday.

Peyton Garrett tallied 10 points for Central Catholic (0-8, 5-19).

Escalon 48, Ripon 41

Kelsey Webster knocked down six 3s and fired 24 points as visiting Escalon (6-3, 15-7 overall) put itself in a favorable position to garner the third of three automatic postseason bids in the Trans-Valley League.

Ripon (4-5, 10-13 overall) did well to stay within reach after falling behind 28-19 at halftime. Makenzie Loechler racked up 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Indians, who can still reach the playoffs with an at-large berth. Kailee Inderbitzin contributed nine points while battling foul trouble.  

BOYS BASKETBALL

Ripon 60, Escalon 58

The Indians (6-3, 9-15) avenged a heartbreaking loss to their longtime rival by returning the favor on the road. They were ahead 33-24 at halftime, but Escalon (5-4, 15-10) outscored them 26-6 in the third quarter to take a double-digit lead.

“Another wild game for us,” Ripon coach Justin Graham said. “We run so hot and cold, but when we needed to execute and make plays in the fourth quarter we did. I’m just really proud of our guys for the way they handled the butt kicking they got in the third quarter.”

Marcus Madoski amassed 25 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Landon Gillespie chipped in 19 points, and Jack Schoolland scored seven off the bench all in the second quarter.

Ripon Christian 65, Livingston 46

The Knights (8-0, 16-7) continued their march to the TVL title, taking care of Livingston (1-7, 11-13) on the road.

Eli Terpsma led them with 26 points, scoring 13 of their 18 in the opening quarter. Luke Crivello made three 3s and contributed 13 points. Justin Hofman had 12.

Rohan Aulakh led Livingston with 13 points.  

GIRLS SOCCER

Ripon 2, Hilmar 0

The Indians (6-0, 15-4-2) took another step in their dominant start to the TVL schedule, picking up a sixth straight shutout win.

They outshot second-place Hilmar (3-2-2, 11-5-3), 14-2. Ariana Daniels and Olivia Maragos recorded the goals, while Makenna Pokorny assisted both. Ellena Parenti-Gomez had two saves.

JV girls soccer

Ripon 8, Hilmar 1

Kyla Agbayani, Nina Benedetti and Starla Skiles scored two goals each, while Gia Grewal and Emily Paxton added one apiece.

Goalie Kylie Wiggins had four saves. Hilmar scored on an own goal.

Frosh girls soccer

Ripon 7, Livingston 0

Claire Genasci amassed five goals. Clara Schoolland and Nakayla Winfrey each had one.