Ripon’s boys water polo team produced another historic moment in its dynastic run one week after a painful defeat.

Anchored by McKeane Beier, Brody Biedermann and the rest of their talented senior class Saturday at Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton, the top-seeded Indians downed No. 3 Los Altos 16-10 for the California Interscholastic Federation Division III Northern Regional title.

“It was probably their best game of the season,” Ripon coach Erik Zador said. “The guys definitely stepped up, and we kept control of the entire game, even when Los Altos went into a seven-man for a few possessions.”

Beier finished with a game-high seven goals to go with two blocks and a steal. Biedermann netted five goals on six attempts while adding five assists and six steals. Sophomore goalie Andrew Hanker amassed 13 saves.

William O’Shaughnessy paced Los Altos (24-9) with five goals on 10 shots.

“Knowing this was going to be my last game, I wanted to put it all out on the table, and I feel that as a whole we all showed out,” Beier said. “It was a pretty nice way to end the season.”

The Beier-Biedermann connection took over the opening quarter after the Central Coast Section Division I champion Eagles scored the first goal. O’Shaughnessy intercepted a pass from Hanker and put away the one-man breakaway.

Ripon (29-6) answered with a six-goal flurry for the rest of the period. The Indians tied it just 8 seconds after O’Shaughnessy’s tally and did so in style, as Beier, posting up at the 5-meter line, took a pass from Biedermann and converted with a backhand shot in one quick motion.

Beier hit the first three goals for the Indians, and Biedermann scored the last three of the quarter. Ripon attacked with sniper-like precision, making all six of its attempts in the opening period. Los Altos, on the other hand, made just one of 10 with Hanker coming through for five saves.

“My buddy McKeane and I both locked in in the first half, and we were able to put in those goals when we needed them, but it wasn’t just us — everybody on the team wanted that state championship,” Biedermann said. “Once we got the momentum, we just rode that the whole game. We played very good team defense, and that was probably our best defensive game of the season.”

Ryan Bell (block), Matt Lee (steal, two sprints won), Teo West (two assists) and Nathan Selna (assist, steal) contributed one goal apiece.

Bell’s goal with 4:37 left in the third quarter gave Ripon its largest lead at 14-7. With Los Altos goalie Weston Carballar playing the field, Beier scored his final goal a minute later on a long pass from Biedermann to push the Indians’ advantage back up to seven, 15-8.

Biedermann fired the final goal of Ripon’s banner season with 1:23 to go. It was a fitting end to the Pacific-bound winger’s decorated career, but Beier provided the needed jump start with his aggressive play on both ends of the pool.

“He definitely had the best game I’ve ever seen him play,” Zador said of Beier. “He kept his composure and got the ball rolling for us, which was huge.

“What’s great about this group is that sometimes a guy can be hot, and we can rely on him (to score). And when there’s a point that their hot streak goes away, another player steps up and takes the lead.”

Zador was also impressed by his youngest starter. Hanker made up for his early mistake with a masterful performance in front of the Ripon goal. Los Altos had a good opportunity to steal some momentum going into halftime but Hanker blocked Joshua Tang’s point-blank shot on a breakaway just before the buzzer. The Indians went into the intermission ahead, 8-5.

“He has come a long way,” Zador said. “He had to fill some big shoes and take the responsibility for being in the cage with all seniors out there on the field. It’s not an easy situation to walk into, but toward the end of the season, he really stepped up and started making some great plays. As a sophomore, he is growing into his own shoes.”

Zador will bid farewell to nine seniors, seven of whom were freshman playing big roles at the varsity level four seasons ago. This senior core claimed three straight Sac-Joaquin Section championships and came up short of a fourth when the Indians lost a triple-overtime heartbreaker to Rocklin in the Division II final on Nov. 16.

That loss, however, helped position Ripon for an even bigger prize, as it was dropped to Division III for the NorCal tournament and awarded the No. 1 seed. The Indians had never won a NorCal match until last week.

“It’s a school from a small town, and that’s something we won’t see very often,” Zador said. “They’ve been working very hard. They bought in at the beginning when they first picked up a ball and started playing water polo. It’s been the same group for many years, and their sights were set on getting to the top.

“That’s school history. They’ve done something that no other Ripon High School polo team has accomplished. This was a special thing they did to end their senior year.”

The challenge now is to continue competing at this level with almost an entirely new core group. With no junior varsity team, the underclassmen got ample varsity experience during Ripon’s busy regular-season schedule.

“We worked hard throughout the four years as a team, and it feels like we left a good legacy behind for the freshmen and sophomores to follow,” Beier said. “We have a good group coming up.”