The Ripon High School varsity girls’ basketball team swept  one of their top competitors this season, Riverbank High School. Going into halftime, the Indians were trailing the Bruins at 35-37, but they ended the game with an impressive lead of 76-62.

Sophomore Reina Sausedo led the scoring board with 35 points, sophomore Tiana Sidtikun had 17 points, and junior Mia Van Lewen had 10 points. Going into the game on January 16, the team expected a close game and competition from Riverbank.

“I was expecting it to be a close game since Riverbank has been known to be one of the top teams on our league this year,” junior guard Rachel Sausedo stated.

What was a close game at first became an energized game in which the Lady Indians pulled the lead.

“I feel our team was slow in the first half, but by the second half, we pulled away and became more aggressive,” Mia Van Lewen said.  

Varsity Coach Rick Inderbitzin also claimed that the Lady Indians were not at their full potential at the start but picked up their pace towards the end.

“I thought our team played really well in the second and third quarters to get us back into the game and be able to take a nice lead into the fourth quarter. We had way too many turnovers early in the game, which helped Riverbank outscore us in the first quarter, but we did a much better job in the second half,” Inderbitzin stated.

The Indians felt accomplished after gaining the win against the Bruins, one of their top competitors, and keeping their undefeated record in league. Now the team has moved on to think about their goals for the rest of the season.

“I wanted us to improve our record and get better as a team, as individuals, and this season, hopefully contend for a TVL Championship,” Inderbitzin claimed.

Now that the team has beaten one more of their contenders, the players and the coaches are eager to show their best performance and maintain their record.

“My goal for our team is to be able to play our best game by the end of the season. Although we are a young team, we are all fast and athletic, which helps us refine our skills quickly and work well with each other,” Sausedo said.

Inderbitzin is proud of the team’s accomplishments so far and is prepared to guide the team to their full potential and recognition.

“There are a lot of good teams in our league this year. So far, the girls have done a great job, and we just need to play it one game at a time. Every game is going to be very tough, and we have to be ready,” Inderbitzin stated.