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Varsity Bruin Boys Celebrate Homecoming Hoops Win
Bruin Den
Sometimes it pays to have an enthusiastic student body audience at a home basketball game. In this case, the Bruin Den at the far end of the gym was effective in influencing the accuracy of opponent Ripon Christians free throws in the second half on Friday, Feb. 6 as the varsity Bruin boys earned a Homecoming victory. Ric McGinnis/The News

Riverbank varsity basketball teams had cause for celebration and it was more than just the Winter Homecoming activities over the past week.

The Bruin varsity boys beat visiting Ripon Christian on Friday, Feb. 6 by a 70-60 decision.

Running out to a 23-16 lead in the first quarter, the host Bruins were a few points better than RC in the second, 13-10, to take a 36-26 lead into the break. The teams matched each other, point for point, over the third and fourth quarters but the early Bruin lead held up for the Homecoming win.

Riverbank opened up second half Trans-Valley League play earlier in the week, hosting and defeating Escalon on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 65-54. The host Bruins took the lead for good with a 21-13 run in the second quarter, leading at the break 36-26. With the two wins to kick off the second half of league, the varsity boys improved to 4-3 in TVL.

Other action saw the JV boys lose by a 73-54 decision to Ripon Christian in the Homecoming game on Friday, while also falling at Mountain House by a 73-52 verdict on Wednesday. Tuesday, they hosted Escalon and took a 68-55 victory off the court. For the freshmen, they started the week with a Tuesday loss to Escalon, 46-33, lost against Mountain House 55-40 but then reportedly got a Homecoming win over RC, 48-39.

The Bruin boys teams were to travel to Ripon for league action on Tuesday, Feb. 10 after The News went to press. They will be at Hughson on Friday, Feb. 13, before ending their season at home hosting Hilmar on Tuesday, Feb. 17.

 

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Leading the league, Riverbank’s varsity Lady Bruins improved to 7-0 with a 34-31 win at Ripon Christian on Thursday, Feb. 5, using a strong second half to ease past the Lady Knights.

It was an even tougher assignment on Tuesday, Feb. 3, when they traveled to Escalon to face off with the Lady Cougars. Escalon had a 20-16 halftime lead but some clutch shooting from Sierra Nabors – who knocked down several three-point shots – helped get the game to overtime and Riverbank outscored Escalon 9-5 in the OT period to get the 52-48 win.

The junior varsity Lady Bruins started a busy week on Tuesday, losing a 53-14 decision on the road at Escalon. On Wednesday, they took a 62-36 loss against Mountain House and rounded out the slate with a loss at Ripon Christian, 41-32.

The freshman girls lost a 31-24 contest at Escalon, fighting hard until the final whistle.

The Lady Bruins will be at home for their final regular season game on Thursday, Feb. 12. They were scheduled to host Ripon on Tuesday, after The News went to press, and will travel to Hilmar for the TVL finale on Tuesday, Feb. 17.