By MICHAEL JOHNSON

Bulletin Correspondent

East Union capitalized on a fast start sparked by tenacious defense to cruise by Ripon 54-27 Tuesday Night in the teams’ second girls basketball meeting in just six days.

“They played a heck of a game (last time out), had a great comeback,” said East Union coach Jim Agostini. “We were fortunate to win by three. So, it was really nice to come out and have a convincing win tonight.”

Ava Barrera, coming off a Tournament MVP selection in which she led the Lancers to their third straight title in the Golden Valley Tournament, picked right up where she left off, pouring in a career-high 21 points on the night.

“What a game she had,” Agostini said. “She’s been on varsity for three years now as a junior, and has just been growing each year. Tonight, was a big step forward for her.”

The Lancers did not look like a team playing its sixth game in nine days early on Tuesday, racing out to a 12-0 lead on the Indians. The run was fueled by steals from senior guard Alexa Zuniga that lead to fast break points. Led by freshman point guard Haven Stone running the offense, the Lancers took an 18-4 lead into the first intermission and never looked back.

“Our defense was solid tonight, which made the offense come easy and helped get me open looks,” Barrera said.

The Lancers matched their defensive intensity on the offensive end for most of the evening, running a high-motion offense through Stone that saw them get into the lane and create opportunities. When they did not finish, they were fouled, getting to the free-throw line 16 times.

“We are really happy with the way we are getting to the line,” said Agostini. “We try to make more free throws than the other team attempts. When you do, you are something like 90% to win the game.”

The stat held true for Agostini on Tuesday, as the Lancers converted on 14 of 16 free throw attempts, and held their opponent to just nine total free throw tries.

Stone and Zuniga both scored nine points a piece for the Lancers, and junior forward Shebra Rezaye contributed eight points to round out the top scorers for the 7-2 Lady Lancers.

The Indians showed fight in the second half, led both offensively and defensively by junior point guard Scarlett Ponce, who contributed a team high seven points alongside four steals. Sophomore center Lauren Peters scored six points, with seniors Leila Sanchez and Shayla McKeon scoring five points a piece while providing some key rebounding for the Indians, who fell to 2-5 on the season.

Before the game, Ripon honored former coach Rick Inderbitzin, who is back on East Union’s bench as an assistant. Inderbitzin, a Ripon resident and longtime teacher at East Union, coached the RHS girls basketball program the past eight seasons.

Up next, after some much needed time off for the Lancers, will be a home tilt against Atwater on Monday at 7:30 at the Dalben Center.

Ripon will get right back at it as they start another preseason tournament on Thursday against Bear River of Grass Valley.

Junior Varsity

East Union 48, Ripon 20

Sophomore Lucija Dayeh scored a team high 14 points to lead East Union.

Freshman

East Union 40, Ripon 28

Camille Christenseu tallied a game-high 14 points for the Lancers, while Kaydance Herbert pitched in 10.

Ripon was paced by Adhyaska Nuatami’s 10 points, which included three 3s.