Ripon High’s boys basketball team had third-seeded Colfax right where it wanted it down by just one at halftime of Monday’s Sac-Joaquin Section Division-IV quarterfinal playoff game.
But host Colfax, paced by an unlikely hero, erupted for 20 points in the third quarter and shut down No. 6 Ripon’s offense almost completely en route to a 58-36 victory.
Battling foul trouble, Colfax (20-9) turned to sophomore-team call-up Matt Larson to lead the charge, as he rattled off 18 points all in the second half. The Falcons face No. 2 Summerville — which squeaked past No. 7 Capital Christian 59-58 on Monday — at Tokay High Wednesday.
Monday’s game was originally scheduled for last Friday but was postponed due to the weather conditions up north.
“Their big post player, Ben Buell, picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, so they had a junior varsity call-up come in and he went off,” Wright said. “You watch film on a team, but you can’t prepare for something like that. We went cold in the second half and they just hit their shots.
“It was a second half for them to remember, and a second half for us to forget.”
Ripon’s inside post presence, Jake McCreath, led the team in scoring with nine points – despite never making a field goal. He finished 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. Cole Herrin finished with eight points.
“It was a defensive struggle in the first half, but they just broke it open,” Wright said. “We had an opportunity to go right with them. They did things correctly, and we just made some mistakes.”
The Indians finished the season 17-12.
But host Colfax, paced by an unlikely hero, erupted for 20 points in the third quarter and shut down No. 6 Ripon’s offense almost completely en route to a 58-36 victory.
Battling foul trouble, Colfax (20-9) turned to sophomore-team call-up Matt Larson to lead the charge, as he rattled off 18 points all in the second half. The Falcons face No. 2 Summerville — which squeaked past No. 7 Capital Christian 59-58 on Monday — at Tokay High Wednesday.
Monday’s game was originally scheduled for last Friday but was postponed due to the weather conditions up north.
“Their big post player, Ben Buell, picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter, so they had a junior varsity call-up come in and he went off,” Wright said. “You watch film on a team, but you can’t prepare for something like that. We went cold in the second half and they just hit their shots.
“It was a second half for them to remember, and a second half for us to forget.”
Ripon’s inside post presence, Jake McCreath, led the team in scoring with nine points – despite never making a field goal. He finished 9-of-12 from the free-throw line. Cole Herrin finished with eight points.
“It was a defensive struggle in the first half, but they just broke it open,” Wright said. “We had an opportunity to go right with them. They did things correctly, and we just made some mistakes.”
The Indians finished the season 17-12.
