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Lady Knights crush Big Valley to win own tournament
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Mantecas Brooke Mejorado gets her shot up over Foothill defender Ashley Rothmann during the Tom Hawkins/Tracy Breakfast Lions Tournaments consolation championship game Saturday at West High. Manteca lost, 50-33. - photo by STU JOSSEY

The Ripon Christian girls basketball team has some momentum going into the Southern League portion of its schedule.

One night after producing their most impressive win of the season, the Knights throttled Big Valley Christian of Modesto 49-27 on Saturday night to secure a second straight Ripon Christian Heritage Classic title.

In Friday’s semifinals, RC (6-4) upset shorthanded Excel Academy, 63-61. Excel ended up routing Oakdale 53-29 for third place and was led by East Union transfer Kayla Torio’s 12 points and eight rebounds.

Teagan Manus followed her 26-point outburst with a team-leading 15 points in the championship game for RC. She also had five rebounds, four steals and four assists. Kaylie Colyn finished with 11  points, while Jenny Wickham added nine. Rachel De Vries was RC’s top producer in the post with eight points and 11 boards.

Tracy Tournament

Lathrop 53, Modesto 33

The Spartans (5-7) put forth one of their best efforts in nonleague action in the seventh-place game of the Tom Hawkins/Tracy Breakfast Lions Tournament.

Lathrop led for most of the contest and used a 14-6 run in the third quarter to widen the distance. Center Loreal Taylor grinded out 13 points and 10 rebounds. Briana Fernandez and Akilah Lesley (6 steals) each had 10 points.

“The girls came out inspired today,” Lathrop coach Ed Fang said. “We were able to get out and run, we got the shots we wanted and we played good, solid defense.”

Foothill 50, Manteca 33

In the consolation championship at West High, the up-and-down Buffaloes (5-5) battled through a rough first-quarter start but struggled for the entire second half.
Foothill of Palo Cedro outscored them 13-3 in the third to take a 40-25 lead, and Manteca was limited to single-digits in three of the four periods. Mikayla Hasal scored 10 points to pace the Buffs.

“We missed a few key opportunities in the first quarter that could have swung the momentum of the game in our favor,” Manteca coach Cody Norman said. “In the third quarter we came out flat and really hit a hurdle that we couldn’t overcome. Foothill stayed consistent throughout the game and that led them to victory.”

East Union 43, Turlock 37

Victoria Vezaldenos poured in all of her 15 points in the second half as the Lancers (4-6) rolled to victory in the 11th-place game. Madison Hoffman chipped in 10 rebounds.