Ripon Christian’s frontline leads the Knights past Stockton Christian in D-VI

SACRAMENTO — Knocking off topseeded Ripon Christian turned out to be too big a challenge for the small but determined Stockton Christian Eagles.

The Knights took advantage of their significant size advantage and wore down the Eagles on their way to a 73-56 win on Thursday in the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division VI finals at Golden 1 Center. It was the seventh section title overall for Ripon Christian (23-7), and its second in three season, and both teams have qualified for the upcoming Northern California Regionals.

“We’re very proud of this moment,” Ripon Christian forward Reed Van Der Hoak said as his happy teammates posed with the section championship banner.

Statistics do not always tell the tale of a game, but the numbers do a pretty good job of explaining this one. Ripon Christian outrebounded Stockton Christian by 30, 53-23, with three of their players have double digit rebounding days. Two had doubledoubles — Braden Van Groningen had 28 points and 12 rebounds, and Jacob Van Groningen had 15 points and 13 rebounds. Van Der Hoak, at 6-foot-8 the biggest of the Knights, had 14 rebounds. The Van Groningens are each 6-4.

Knights coach Mark Hoffman said the size difference was a factor, but wasn’t the only reason his top-seeded squad earned the title.

“People say it’s your height, and it’s partly that,” Hofman said. “But sometimes it’s just desire for the ball. The ball is up there, we want it and we go and get it. We have a lot of tenacity.”

They needed it against the No. 2 Eagles (28-2), who had just one starter as tall as 62. But they also have Jay Araya, an excellent shooter who scored 30 points despite the Knights’ efforts to shut him down.

“(Jay Araya) hit a lot of shots, and some of them were not easy shots,” Hofman said. “They were contested shots. He’s a very good player.”

Ripon Christian built an early 13 point lead, but Araya led his team back and Stockton Christian trailed by just two, 3735, at halftime.