Ripon Christian basketball goes back-to-back, beating Futures for D-V title
Playing as the top dog isn’t for the faint of heart. It takes levels of skill, determination and focus that many claim to have but few display.
This group of Ripon Christian basketball players didn’t always have it. It had to learn to embrace the fact that on a nightly basis, it would get the opponent’s best shot.
“In league, in playoff games, I think people play a little harder against us,” said Knights coach Mark Hofman. “That makes the games fun. … We’ve talked about that. That was a thing we had to learn, how hard you have to play in a varsity game to win it.”
It took some time, but the Knights learned. And when they did, they took off. They went 21-6 during the regular season and earned the No. 1 seed in Division V.
The Knights once again reached the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship Friday against No. 6 Futures High School. It was their second trip in as many seasons, and they asserted their dominance. Ripon Christian knocked down 10 threes at a 55% clip en route to a 67-47 win to claim back-to-back section titles.
The program is no stranger to postseason success. Ripon Christian boys hoops now has 13 blue banners, second to section power Modesto Christian, which won its 22nd championship Wednesday at Golden 1 Center against Lincoln of Stockton.
But with just three senior returners from last season’s banner team, Hofman found his team had to start at square one. Multiple times.
“There were times where we’d say something and they’d say, ‘Coach, I don’t know what you’re talking about,’” Hofman said. “So we had to really go back and reteach some things.”
Even still, the Knights tore through the Trans Valley league, finishing 11-1. That’s when Hofman said the team figured it out.
The Knights haven’t lost a game since suffering a one-point loss to Escalon. They have 12 straight wins.
“The second half of league, we really started to play well,” Hofman said.
Repeating as champions
The Knights played their best game of the season Friday night.
They went 10-of-18 from three, shot 51% from the field and assisted on 20 of their 28 made field goals.
Senior Jace Beidleman was at the head of the attack, putting together a near quadruple double with 18 points, 18 rebounds, seven assists and six blocks.
It’s a line he might not have put up just three years ago. Not because he didn’t have the skill or the will. He didn’t have the height.
He entered high school as a 6-foot-nothing guard. During his sophomore year, he grew from 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-6.
“I was never the tallest, then high school hit and all of a sudden, I was the tallest,” he said.
Now, he stands at 6-foot-9 and still carries the guard skills with him.
Four of the Knights’ five starters scored in double figures. Sophomore Mason Tameling scored 12 points on four made threes, sophomore Jake Vander Veen added 15 and senior Luke Crivello scored 15 points on 6-of-6 shooting.
“He’s so consistent,” Hofman said of Crivello. “Younger players will take bad shots and you’re not going to hit many of those. … When you need a basket, there’s Luke.”
A flurry of threes to end the second quarter put Ripon Christian ahead 38-20 at halftime. The second half was more of the same.
Since Hofman and his staff took over the Knights program in 2015-16, they are 177-74 with five league titles, four section titles, a Northern California regional title and a pair of NorCal runner-up finishes.
They will enjoy Friday’s win before turning the page to the NorCal regional tournament. With their section championship, they could be in Division V, where they competed the past two seasons, or they could be bumped up to Division IV. Either way, they’ll be ready.
