Ripon Christian junior Cortright named TVL basketball Most Valuable Player

The success of the Ripon Christian High School boys basketball team this season was rooted in sacrifice and a willingness to try new things.

Like a new coach.

Or a new position.

No one better exemplified those virtues than junior Zach Cortright, who was asked to switch from his natural position of shooting guard to the point by first-year coach Mark Hofman.

Cortright rose to the occasion, earning the Trans-Valley League MVP award after a brilliant junior campaign. He led the team in scoring with 14.7 points per game and shot nearly 40 percent from beyond the three-point line, but more importantly, he led the Knights back to the mountaintop.

Ripon Christian successfully defended its TVL title, defeating crosstown rival Ripon 57-46 on the regular season’s final night.

The Knights were 11-1 in TVL play and 18-8 overall. Ripon Christian advanced to the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V tournament with a No. 5 seed, where it lost a thriller to eventual champion Mariposa 78-75.

Cortright scored 27 points in the loss, a “pinnacle” performance in Hofman’s eyes.

“He got better and better as the year went. He’s not a natural point guard. He’s a shooting guard, so we have to convert him. That takes time,” said Hofman, a Ripon Christian alumnus who went to school with many of his players’ parents. “It’s a lot more responsibility. We talked to him and said, ‘Zach, we know you’re a shooting guard, but for this team, can you be a point guard?’ The whole year we were teaching concepts to the kids.”

Four players averaged more than nine points per game in an offense that sought balance. All-TVL first-team center Ty Beidleman netted 9.7 points per game, while honorable mentions Andrew Vander Weide and Daniel Hannink averaged 9.5 and 9.2 points.

Only a sophomore, the 6-foot-5 Vander Weide also led Ripon Christian in rebounding.

Senior Travis Vander Molen saw his scoring average drop from 11.9 to 6.0 in his return from a torn ACL but was still named to the all-TVL first team.

Cortright led the league in three-pointers with 74.

“From beginning to end, we had a lot of improvement. We had a lot of kids new to the varsity – three starters were on JV last year – so it took us time to get to the point we wanted to be at,” Hofman said. “That’s on the kids. They were willing to improve.”

Ripon junior Cole Stevens was named the Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the first team by teammates Aaron Paschini (16.6 points) and Cody Haines (9.6 points, 9.7 rebounds).

Stevens finished among the league leaders in scoring, rebounds and assists. The third-year varsity guard was second to Hughson’s Will Fiveash (19.4) in scoring at 17.3 points and ranked fourth in rebounding (6.0) and first in total assists (102).

Escalon landed three first-team selections: Sam Lattig (12.8 points), Tommy Pangan (13.8 points, 66 three-pointers) and Caleb Hansen (12.0 points, 3.5 assists).

Fiveash, Hilmar’s Alec Cano (16.4 points, 2.7 assists) and Riverbank’s Nik Keydeniers (14.7 points) and Wolfgang Lopez (15.5 points) rounded out the first team.

Hofman was named Coach of the Year after taking over for Ron Vander Molen, who was dismissed after a championship season in 2014-15. Hofman won a state title with the Knights as a player in 1988.

He thanked the players for welcoming him back to the program and being coachable.

“The Coach of the Year award is really a reflection of the kids and how well they did. The kids won league, and I rode on their coattails,” he said. “I have to say this, too: I have a fantastic staff. It was a group effort, and I don’t think people always see that.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2016 at 11:21 AM with the headline "Ripon Christian junior Cortright named TVL basketball Most Valuable Player."