Ripon Christian win over Riverbank continues hot TVL return

With one breath, the public school members of the Trans-Valley League exhaled a sigh of relief with the movement of Modesto Christian to the Modesto Metro Conference.

With the next, they had the chance to gasp at the arrival of another potential dominant force.

No, Ripon Christian’s basketball program is not nearly on the level of Modesto Christian, nor do the Knights aspire to be Crusaders-light. But Ripon Christian’s record in the Sac-Joaquin Section speaks for itself, with only Modesto Christian winning more blue banners in boys basketball.

The TVL is stronger than the Southern League, but the Knights are 2-0 since making the move, including Tuesday’s 55-45 victory over Riverbank.

“I don’t know how things are going to turn out in league, but having a challenge every game – I’m more for that than having 30- to 40-point blowouts and running clocks,” said Ripon Christian coach Ron Vander Molen. “This is just more fun.”

There could have been resentment from the remaining TVL members, especially Riverbank. The Bruins have put some of the best teams in school history on the floor the last three seasons but knew each year they were playing for second place.

Over that span, Riverbank posted a 29-1 TVL record against teams not named Modesto Christian. Meanwhile, Ripon Christian was enjoying a 54-2 four-year run through the Southern League.

“It’s nice to have them back,” said Bruins coach Jeff Jennings. “We’ve always had good, competitive games with Ripon Christian going back to my playing days. It’s always a great contrast in styles with their size against our speed.”

Riverbank (5-11 overall, 1-1 TVL) hung tough with the Knights (12-5) through most of the game. The last of Nik Keydeniers’ four three-pointers gave the Bruins a 29-25 lead with 3 minutes, 46 seconds left in the third quarter. Keydeniers led Riverbank with 14 points.

The Knights regained the lead by the end of the quarter but led only 39-38 with 5:05 left when Riverbank’s Chris Jennings went backdoor for a layup.

Sean Broker had baskets to bookend a 9-0 Ripon Christian run over nearly five minutes, and the Bruins were out of time, trailing 48-38 with 1:27 left.

“We had a tough preseason schedule, and we’ve been working every day in practice getting ready for Riverbank’s pressure,” said Broker, who had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead both teams. “We expected this kind of game, so it was a matter of playing through it.”

Vander Molen hopes that’s the case throughout the TVL season.

“It’s not going to be fun to lose, and I don’t know if that will happen or not,” he said. “But even if we do lose, I’d be able to tell the kids that being in the moment of the close games is what’s fun about basketball.”

This story was originally published January 20, 2015 at 10:21 PM with the headline "Ripon Christian win over Riverbank continues hot TVL return."