RIVERBANK — The stage is set for Ripon Christian’s boys basketball Saturday matinee against rival Ripon.
The Knights first had to sweat out an 80-75 victory over Riverbank. The always-dangerous Bruins (2-3, 12-8 overall) have lost to each of the Trans-Valley League’s three first-place teams by five or less points and gave Ripon Christian (4-1, 14-5) fits with its full-court defense.
It was Riverbank’s way of countering the post dominance of the Knights, who were led by 6-foot-4 forward Braden Van Groningen’s 24 points.
“It was a back-and-forth game, a lot of energy,” Ripon Christian coach Mark Hofman said. “In the end, we were able to sustain their full-court pressure.”
Ripon Christian outscored the Bruins 21-10 in the second quarter for a 42-32 halftime lead, but the scrappy host squad never let up. Anthony Leon led three Riverbank scorers in double figures with 14 points.
The balanced Knights got 15 points from freshman Eli Terpsma. Jacob Van Groningen added 13, Will Gilbert hit three 3-pointers for most of his 13 points and Lukas Van Groningen added 10.
They’ll host Ripon on Saturday with tipoff set for 3 p.m.

GIRLS HOOPS
East Union 69, Oakdale 36
The Lancers (6-1, 19-4 overall) thoroughly dominated the Valley Oak League game for their fourth straight victory. They led 17-5 after the first quarter and blew it wide open with a 27-point explosion in the third.
East Union drained 10 3-pointers in a balanced scoring effort, but it was on the defensive end where it set the tone.
“Oakdale runs a nice half-court set that I thought gave us problems the first go-around,” EU coach Jim Agostini said. “The girls were prepared for it this time and were engaged in how we wanted to defend their offense.”
Kyshanti King poured in a game-high 19 points and hit three 3s. Taylor Snaer drained four 3s and had 17 points. Sisters Ala and Lani Tu’uga contributed 12 and nine, respectively.
Afton Daley paced the Mustangs (2-5, 14-8) with 11.

Manteca 65, Central Catholic 26
MODESTO — The Buffaloes (5-2, 15-6) were able to put together a comfortable road win after losing two close VOL games last week and escaping Weston Ranch with a two-point triumph on Tuesday.
Jayda Jackson and Kyaira Jacobs finished with 12 and 11 points, respectively.

JV girls hoops
Lathrop 31, Ceres 16
Lyllianna Avila was Lathrop’s top scorer with 10 points, while Lune Gedde contributed with seven.