Ripon capitalized on tough defense and strong finishing around the rim to beat host Ripon Christian 60-48 in Trans Valley League action on Friday night.

If there was any doubt as to the way the Indians (3-0 TVL, 11-8 overall) would come out to play against their in-town rivals who carried a 17-game home winning streak, all of it was erased just two minutes into the game.

Senior standout Marcus Madoski blocked the 3-point attempt from Mason Tameling, grabbed the ball and took it the length of the floor finishing with a thunderous dunk over a Ripon Christian defender.

The play sent the Ripon student section into a frenzy and set the tone for the rest of the game.

“There was a lot going through my head, but as I was running down the court, it all kind

Madoski finished with a team-high 20 points, while racking up seven hard-fought rebounds against a tall Ripon Christian frontcourt.

The first half played out as anticipated between two teams so familiar with one another and competing for the league title. A lot of fouls, jump balls, and loose balls went Ripon’s way early on and saw the visitors take a 26-22 lead into halftime.

“We played great defense tonight,” Ripon senior guard Logan Lefebvre said. “We felt we were going to be a little more conditioned to help us come up with those plays.”

Lefebvre was a part of a balanced scoring attack for Ripon, contributing 14 points to go along with six rebounds.

“Everyone we play knows that the offense runs through Marcus,” Indians coach Dean Balcao saod. “He’s seeing double and triple teams, and I thought the rest of our team really stepped up tonight.”

For Ripon Christian (2-1, 13-5), most of the offense ran through junior guard Jake Vander Veen, who scored more than half of his team’s points with 25.

“We were having offensive troubles tonight, and Jake was the only one that was really clicking for us for most of the game,” Ripon Christian coach Mark Hofman said.

The Ripon coach credited his team’s defense for the offensive troubles Ripon Christian endured.

“We played really good defense to only give up 48 points against a really good offensive team. RC is a team that normally hits a ton of threes, and we really held that in check tonight,” Balcao said.

Scoring troubles aside, Ripon Christian found itself down just three points at 42-39 late in the third quarter due in large part to Vander Veen, who scored 10 in the quarter alone.

The Indians, however, had one more answer in the form of an 11-2 run to stretch the lead to double digits to start the fourth quarter. Steals from Lefebvre and his backcourt mate Ethan Baur led to layups on the other end, pulling away in a game that was much closer than the final score showed.

For the Knights, the result represents an opportunity to improve.

“We talked in the locker room after the game,” Hofman said. “The mistakes we made tonight can be corrected, and we still have a chance to win league. I challenged our guys and said, ‘You’re a really good team, but if you want to be a great team, things will need to change,’”

These same two teams will meet on the other side of Maple Ave. in less than three weeks time.

Ripon will look to stay undefeated in the TVL Tuesday night against Sonora. The Knights will head back out on the road to play Escalon, also on Tuesday evening.

Junior Varsity

Ripon Christian 56, Ripon 36

Jeremy Malloy paced the Knights. With 18 points in a win over the Indians. Demario Ganboa led Ripon in scoring tallying 10 points in the loss.