After a tremendous fourth-quarter comeback by Livingston on Tuesday night, Derek Van Elderen drained a 3-pointer with a minute left in the game to bump the host Knights back to a 10-point lead on the way to a 52-41 Trans-Valley League boys basketball win.
“I have never been a really confident 3-point shooter,” Van Elderen said. “That shot clock was going low, and I just did what I had to do.
“I shot it and hoped for the best.”
Van Elderen finished with 12 points.
The Wolves (3-4 TVL, 10-13 overall) took an early 3-0 lead only for Ripon Christian (8-0, 16-6) to score the next 12 points and never trail again.
Livingston made it close in the fourth period, coming within two points twice and three points once, due in no small part to Alex Casillas scoring all eight of his points in the final quarter.
But Thys Van Der Hoek would not have it. At one point in the closing minutes the 6-foot-8 Knights junior angrily swatted away three consecutive Wolves offerings, finishing with five blocks to go with his double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds. Eight of his points came off of offensive rebounds.
“I got kind of mad down there,” Van Der Hoek said. “I was upset with the way they had got back into the game on our own court.
“But like with a lot of teams, when they saw me in the paint they stayed to the outside.”
Coming into Tuesday night’s game, the Knights had won their last eight games, averaging 67 points per game with a winning margin averaging 21 points.
“It was a close game,” Ripon Christian coach Mark Hofman said. “It was a varsity game. Livingston was very physical and they put pressure on us, and we had trouble hitting shots from the outside at times.
“We can’t always be flashy and score 70 points. We had to win with defensive effort and grind it out in the trenches. You get those kind of wins sometimes.”
Livingston’s Rocklin Baptista led all scorers with 13 points.
The Knights host Hilmar on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Junior varsity
Ripon Christian 62, Livingston 40
Two Knights tallied double figures with Luke Crivello leading all scorers with 23 points and Jace Beidleman adding 13 points.
