Lathrop coach Dwayne Davis did not express concern over his undefeated team’s 60-52 win over 11th-seeded Ceres in a Sac-Joaquin Section Division III quarterfinal on Thursday.

The No. 3 Spartans, now 30-0, had previously waxed their Western Athletic Conference rival by 27- and 33-point margins.

Sure, they could have cleaned up some parts of their game — the 20 turnovers stick out to Davis.

Instead of getting frustrated, Davis was impressed by adjustments Ceres (17-12) had made and thankful the Bulldogs gave Lathrop a test it has sorely needed. Ceres was coming off a 36-35 upset of sixth-seeded Sierra.

“They played a heck of a game, and I won’t take anything away from them,” Davis said. “It was a very physical game, but I told my girls we’re not using that as an excuse. Ceres played a very inspired game, and we managed it. I’m proud of that, because we haven’t had a tight game since San Diego (for the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic.

“It was a good introduction to playoff basketball, and hopefully it’s going to get us ready for the next contest. We needed the wake-up call to get back to getting more dialed in.”

Lathrop awaits the winner of the No. 2 East Union-No. 7 Nevada Union quarterfinal, which takes place tonight. The Spartans are in the semifinals for the first time since 2019.

Ceres got Lathrop’s attention at the outset, storming out to a 13-4 lead. The Spartans changed defenses to slow the game down and took a 32-22 lead into halftime. The Bulldogs, however, never went away.

Lily Staggs kept Ceres in the game, scoring a game-high 25 points. Persia Rochell nearly doubled her season scoring average with 13 points, 10 coming in the second half.

Shakara Porter led Lathrop with 22 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and five steals. Aisha Wiseman made four 3s and finished with 14 points. Freshman center Breanna Wiseman was benched for most of the first half because of foul trouble and ended with nine points, six rebounds and three steals.

Division V

Faith Christian 58, Ripon Christian 37

Seventh-seeded Ripon Christian (10-16) hung tough with the No. 2 Lions (26-1) for three quarters, trailing 36-26.

Long Beach State-bound Lauren Harris eventually took over and spearheaded Faith Christian into the semifinals, where it faces No. 3 John Adams Academy of El Dorado Hills. With Haley Kootstra drawing the tough assignment, Harris — who averages more than 30 points per game and is a prolific 3-point shooter — was limited to eight points in the first half. In fact, the Knights took a 17-16 lead in the middle of the second period.

Juniors Bella Arganbright and Annika Jung scored nine and eight points, respectively, for Ripon Christian.

BOYS SOCCER

Woodland Christian 3, Ripon Christian 1

The No. 4 Knights (10-9-2) were eliminated in the SJS Division VI semifinals for a second straight season.

Talen Tameling scored Ripon Christian’s lone goal in the second half off a feed from fellow sophomore Collin Lecain. Second-seeded Woodland Christian (17-2-1) did all of its damage in the first half, getting a brace from Oliver Holleman.

The Cardinals take on No. 2 Rio Vista or No. 3 Millennium starting 11 a.m. on Saturday at Sacramento City College. The remaining semifinal will be played today.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Calla 47, New Vision 43

The Lobos trailed 17-4 early but answered with a 15-0 run and rolled to a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter Thursday in Stockton.

Javier Esquivel led them, with 20 points. RJ Fontanilla had 18 and Joseph Aslami added 10.

Calla will vie for the South Bay Area League championship on March 3.

COED TENNIS

Ripon 7, Liberty Ranch 2

The visiting Hawks swept the two boys singles matches, but the rest belonged to Ripon.

Brookelyn Betschart dominated Caitlyn Camacho in the No. 1 girls singles match, 6-0, 6-1. No. 2 Lily Meyer held off Abby Lapp, 6-4, 6-3.

The top boys doubles team of Max Ferral and Emilio Machado Perez coasted to a 6-0, 6-1 win. The No. 2 tandem of David Rodriguez and John Yeung outlasted Quincy Van Steyn and Carlos Garcia, 7-5, 6-3.

Ripon two girls doubles teams dominated with Sophie Douglas and Alyssa Lan (6-1, 6-1) in the No. 1 match-up and Molly Berger and Salina Epperson (6-3, 6-1) at No. 2

Mixed doubles partners Matthew Tharakan and Emiley Wang pulled away from Thai Huynh and Yelitza Alfaro, 6-4, 6-0.