The Ripon boys water polo team seized its third tournament title of the season this past weekend, conquering Platinum Division of the DeLong Tournament in Modesto.

The Indians knocked off some familiar foes along the way, edging past Del Oro 17-16 in overtime in the semifinals before holding off Ponderosa 10-8 for the championship. It’s their second win of the year against Del Oro and third over Ponderosa.

Ripon opened against Redwood of Visalia on Friday, rolling to a 13-2 victory. It then dispatched Merced, 16-12.

Brody Biedermann was the overall standout for the Indians with 11 goals, 11 assists, 11 steals and five blocks. Ben Svoboda also buried 11 goals while adding six assists and five steals. McKeane Beier poured in 10 goals, five assists, eight steals and two blocks — seven of those goals were scored in the barnburner with Del Oro.

Ryan Bell keyed the attack eight goals. Goalie Benny Rogers amassed 20 20 saves, three steals and two assists. Teo West (five goals, 10 assists), three steals), Matthew Lee (four goals, eight assists), Nate Selna (two goals, three assists, six steals) and Owen Curtiss (four goals, three blocks, six steals) were also productive over the two-day tourney.

Julian Szmidt Memorial

Gold Bracket

Ripon went 2-2 for fourth place in the top division of the Napa tournament.

Among the highlights was the 13-7 victory over Christian Brothers on Friday, a rematch of last year’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division III final. Goalie Tiffani Hunter racked up a whopping 22 saves.

The Indians started with an 11-6 win over Rio Americano. They lost their two Saturday games to eventual champ Clovis East 14-5 and Lodi, 12-5.

Hunter finished with 54 saves, three assists and two steals. Reyna Biedermann led them with 12 goals, 14 steals, four assists and three blocks. Sami Scheid contributed eight goals, five assists and three steals.

Maddie Curtiss (three goals, three steals), Faith Fasani (four goals, seven assists, two steals), Crystallyn Tran (goal, seven steals, six assists) and Maddie Stewart (five goals, three steals) were other key contributors.

Burgundy Bracket

Sierra dominated on its way to division championship in Napa.

The Timberwolves knocked off Dixon 12-1, Rodriguez 10-4, Vintage 16-0 and Newman, 19-5.

Keira Brink was the goalie for all four contests, notching her first shutout of the season.

Lauren Ellis spearheaded the attack with 18 goals, while Gianna Ramos pitched in with 13. Also scoring goals: Zoe Sandoval (three), Mele Sanchez (two), Amy Fadeff (10), Stephanie Thomson (one), Bianca Fraser (six), Molly Allen (one) and Maya Murillo (one).

CROSS COUNTRY

Flat SAC Invitational

Tristan Crowe finished in ninth place with a time of 16 minutes, 32.51 while helping Sierra place fourth out of 26 teams in the 5,000-meter, varsity boys small schools division Saturday at Gibson Ranch Regional Park.

Landen Nabb followed in 17th place (17:10.13), while Ernesto Pacheco was 38th in 17:41.05. Samuel Mortenson (47th, 17:53.44) and Brady Alves (54th, 18:07.98) rounded out Sierra’s score of 153 points.

Ripon (408) came in 15th place out of 26 teams behind Moses Gomez (73rd, 18:37.21).

In the varsity girls race, Sierra (144) took sixth as a team, and Ripon (254) was 10th out of 14.

Mikayla Bueno (20th, 20:19.90), Monse Saavedra (30th, 21:06.56), Haley Hill (38th, 21:27.62) and Kiana Kutch (47th, 21:44.61) paced the Timberwolves. Jenna Skavdahl (47th, 21:44.61) and Mallory Govia (51st, 21:56.74) led Ripon.