On Thursday, February 13th, old rivalries met once again. Ripon Christian was met on their home court by Ripon High School’s girls’ varsity basketball team. The final home game at Ripon Christian honored their five seniors and recognized them for their commitment to the sport. They were also shown support with flowers and meaningful words from younger teammates. When asked what it was like to play a team so close to home, junior Molly Burton replied,

  “I like playing teams in the area because there is that rivalry there, especially RC because we both are from ripon” said Molly Burton.

The first quarter began with a three pointer from senior Reina Sausedo, followed by two free throws. The quarter ended with Ripon leading 18 points to Ripon Christian’s 13. 

The two teams were all tied up shortly after the start of the second quarter, each having a score of 20. With just three minutes left in the quarter, Ripon Christian passed Ripon with a score of 27 to 25. Soon Ripon gained the lead back heading into the third quarter with a score of 29 to 27.

However, Ripon Christian slowly began to overtake Ripon halfway through the third quarter. When asked how they approach a difficult team, junior Hailey Leochler responded,

“When we are playing a tough opponent we all know it’s important to work as a team and to stay positive no matter what happens. With these two things in mind it helps all of us to overcome difficult challenges and to have fun as well,” said Hailey Leochler.

In the fourth and final quarter tensions came to a head as Ripon brought their score back up to a 45-45 tie with Ripon Christian. Both sides of the bleachers came alive as they cheered for their own teams victory. In the last few seconds of the game Ripon Christian pulled to the lead, leaving Ripon behind. The final score of the game was 55-49. Even though it was a tense game, at the end of the day we are all from the same town, living and socializing in the same community, and cheering for the same sport that brings us all together.