Two dominant guards in Chancis Gamez and Maddie Yonker are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Riverbank Bruins will head out on the road to square off against the Ripon Christian Knights at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Hopefully Riverbank focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 20 on Thursday.
Even though Riverbank has not done well against Hughson recently (they were 2-7 in their previous nine matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way. Riverbank walked away with a 68-56 victory over Hughson. The win made it back-to-back wins for Riverbank.
Riverbank had a senior duo take command as Gamez dropped a double-double on 19 points and ten assists and Rayne Tago scored 17 points along with seven rebounds and seven steals. As a matter of fact, that's the most points Tago has scored all season. The team also got some help courtesy of Sione Mol, who scored 12 points.
Meanwhile, Ripon Christian earned a 51-39 victory over Hilmar on Tuesday.
Reagan Van der hoek and Yonker were among the main playmakers for Ripon Christian as the former dropped a double-double on 19 points and 16 rebounds and the latter dropped a triple-double on 15 points, 15 rebounds, and ten steals. Van der hoek has been hot recently, having posted eight or more rebounds the last ten times she's played. Kara Kessler was another key contributor, scoring eight points along with four steals.
Riverbank is on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 12-4 record this season. As for Ripon Christian, they pushed their record up to 10-7 with that victory, which was their third straight on the road.
Thursday's match is shaping up to be a scrappy match: Riverbank have been smashing the glass this season, having only averaged 28.8 rebounds per game. It's a different story for Ripon Christian, though, as they've been averaging only 36.6 rebounds per game. Given Riverbank's sizeable advantage in that area, Ripon Christian will need to find a way to close that gap.
Riverbank took their win against Ripon Christian in their previous meeting back in February of 2023 by a conclusive 57-32. The rematch might be a little tougher for Riverbank since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
