Terpsma leads hot-shooting Ripon Christian back to Sac-Joaquin Section title
From the opening tip Wednesday night, Ripon Christian dominated Vacaville Christian and never looked back, cruising to a 77-23 win and advancing to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V championship Saturday in Sacramento.
The Knights scored on nearly every possession in the first quarter of the semifinal game. The game was essentially over after about six minutes.
Ripon Christian opened up a 20-2 advantage and by quarter’s end the score read 33-4.
The team will return to the section finals after winning the Division VI title in 2020, facing Fortune Early College. Game time is at noon at Golden 1 Center.
Ripon Christian knocked down 10 first-half threes en route to a 50-11 halftime lead.
The starters sat the majority of the second half while the second string and junior varsity call ups – affectionately called the “G-League” after the NBA’s minor league organization – didn’t skip a beat. All 15 players that suited up saw action and 14 scored.
“Our young guys can play, too,” said head coach Mark Hofman. “They all get along. Our program is one program, freshman through varsity.”
Eli Terpsma scored a game-high 17 points, connecting on five 3’s, and Luke Crivello added 11.
Terpsma’s final season is about perspective.
A four-year varsity player who was on the school’s last section title team in 2020, the 6-foot-3 senior remembers what it was like to be a wide-eyed freshman as the game moved at what seemed to be 100 mph.
“It’s gonna be a great experience,” Terpsma said of advancing to the section title. “As a freshman, you’re a little scared, but now I’m a senior, I’ve been here for a while and we get to play in this and I’m excited.
“That maturity brings a different perspective. This is all you get. You don’t have any more. it’s this or you’re done.”
Terpsma was determined to prevent a repeat of last season. The Knights lost in the 2022 section semifinals to Bradshaw Christian, 38-37. Though they advanced to the state playoffs, they did not get to play for a blue banner.
“It’s been one of my goals for this entire season ever since we lost last year,” Terpsma said. “I was like, ‘We gotta get back. We got to get back because we should have had it last year.’”
Said Hofman: “Eli’s really hungry. He remembers that game, losing by one to Bradshaw and I know in his head he’s like, ‘I’m gonna spend all year getting better.’ A loss like that can motivate you.”
Terpsma scored four points in the 2020 championship, which was also at Golden 1. The senior now has a lot larger role as a player and a leader. Playing in an NBA arena is something high school athletes never forget and the captain might have some additions for the Knights’ Saturday scouting report.
“Depth perception is off because of how much space is behind the backboards,” he said. “It’s pretty cold in there, it takes a minute to get warmed up. But knowing that, we can talk about it before, make sure we work extra hard to get a sweat going and get a lot of shots up so we can try to focus our minds on that depth perception and just play basketball. It’s just another basketball game and we just have to play hard and play well.”
