Sports quick hits: Introducing the boys and girls basketball early-season Top 10 Rankings

Basketball season is in full swing with tournaments nearly every week, daily nonleague matchups and a new opportunity for teams to bring home a section championship.

Early this season, Patterson’s boys and girls teams and Escalon’s girls are unbeaten. Riverbank’s girls are looking for another successful season after finishing last season co-Trans Valley League champions and Division IV section runners up. The Bruins are 8-3 against a beefed-up nonleague schedule that includes contests against two top 15 teams in the Sac-Joaquin Section.

The Bee will release rankings throughout the season. Early season, midseason and postseason rankings will take into account strength of schedule, head-to-head matchups and league standings.

Here is a look at where Stanislaus District boys and girls teams stand three weeks into the 2023-24 basketball season.

Boys

Despite its 56-51 loss Saturday to Berkeley, a top 10 team in the North Coast Section according to MaxPreps, Modesto Christian is the Stanislaus District’s top team two weeks into the basketball season. The Crusaders were led in scoring by Ross Widemon, who finished with 13 points, and Jeremiah Bernard’s 11 points. Leading scorer sophomore Rashod Cotton was held to 10. The Crusaders will be at full strength at the end of the month when Gavin Sykes, Myles Jones, Ry Atkins and Marcus Washington become eligible after transferring in and serving the section-mandated sit-out period.

Pitman, ranked second to start the season, got off to a hot 7-0 start led by junior guard Avery Sanchez, who averaged 25.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and three assists per game in their first six contests. They traveled to Fresno at the start of December, participating in the Clovis West Nike Invitational, where they went 1-3 against some of the state’s best teams.

Patterson is the lone unbeaten team in the early rankings, picking up eight straight wins led by David Nnaji, who is averaging 18.8 points a game along with 7.8 rebounds and four steals.

Central Catholic and Turlock round out the top 5, in fourth and fifth place, respectively. The Raiders lost to a tough Christian Brothers team in the semifinals of their own Mark Gallo Invitational. They beat Ripon Christian to take third place in the tournament. Turlock also claimed third place in its host tournament, beating East Union on the final day of the Mark Godinez Tournament.

No. 8 Big Valley Christian has completely turned around its program this season. Its 13 wins already are the most since 2019-20, when the Lions finished with a 14-13 record. The team, led by three players averaging double figures in points, is looking like a Division V section title contender early in the season.

Records through Sat. Dec. 16

1. Modesto Christian (2-1)

2. Pitman (8-3)

3. Patterson (8-0)

4. Central Catholic (6-2)

5. Turlock (5-3)

6. Ripon Christian (5-4)

7. Beyer (5-4)

8. Big Valley Christian (13-1)

9. Gregori (6-5)

10. Riverbank (7-4)

Girls

The only Stanislaus District girls team to earn a spot in a section championship in the past few seasons, Riverbank claims the top spot in the 2023-24 early season rankings. The Bruins beat Wood of Vacaville in a tournament and picked up back-to-back big wins over Golden Valley and Weston Ranch.

They recently took the No. 19 ranked team in the section by MaxPreps, Del Oro, to the wire. The Bruins trailed by single digits late in the fourth quarter but fell by eight, 63-55. Over the weekend, they took second place in the Manteca Christmas Classic.

Right after Riverbank are two unbeaten teams as Patterson and Escalon have had strong starts through the first month of the season. The Cougars have won a pair of tournaments and play Pitman High on Monday evening.

Just a few games into the season, Ceres already has its most wins since the 2019-20 season. Leading scorers Marissa Renteria (16.2 points, 7 steals per game), Arrayah Stallworth (12.2 points, 8.1 rebounds per game) and Sovannary Carter (10.1 points, 6.4 rebounds per game) are looking like they could compete for one of the WAC’s playoff spots early this season.

TVL teams Hughson, Hilmar and Ripon Christian and WAC’s Davis round out the season’s first Top 10.

Records through Sat. Dec. 16

1. Riverbank (8-3)

2. Patterson (12-0)

3. Escalon (8-0)

4. Gregori (6-6)

5. Ceres (9-2)

6. Pitman (5-4)

7. Hughson (5-4)

8. Hilmar (7-3)

9. Davis (7-4)

10. Ripon Christian (4-4)

• Coaches and stat keepers: Make sure to keep us updated with team and player achievements, milestones, records, Prep of the Week nominations, etc. Email qhamilton@modbee.com

Ripon Christian volleyball team honored

The honors keep rolling in for the back-to-back state champion Ripon Christian girls volleyball team. The Knights were honored with a ceremony that included a firetruck ride through town Friday, Dec. 8.

The Knights have won the past four Sac-Joaquin Section titles in various divisions. During their four-year section championship run, they are a combined 133-28 overall and 55-1 in Southern League contests. They averaged just over 33 wins per season. Last season, the Knights won the Division IV state championship as a No. 9 seed. They followed that up this season with a D-III state crown despite being a 14-seed in the NorCal bracket.

After the ceremony, two of the team’s star players, middle blocker Sydney Hoffman and outside hitter Jordan Vander Veen, signed to play college volleyball at Stan State and Concordia University Irvine, respectively.

Record breaker DaRon Bland a Pro Bowl votes leader

Central Catholic High School graduate DaRon Bland has made an impact during his second season with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys. After leading the team in tackles in a few outings last season, the defensive back was handed a larger role after the injury to Trevon Diggs early this season.

He has taken full advantage of the opportunity. Bland on Thanksgiving set an NFL record for most pick-sixes in a single season (5) and is the NFL leader in interceptions (8).

Because of the breakout season, the fifth-round pick is one of the leaders in Pro Bowl voting for a defensive back. With two regular season games left, in addition to being the league leader in interceptions and pick-sixes, Bland is sixth in passes defensed (14) and has 60 total tackles with 45 solo takedowns.

Stan State women’s basketball starts conference play unbeaten

The Stanislaus State women’s basketball team is off to a great start in CCAA play, winning its first four games over Cal State East Bay, San Francisco State, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State LA. The Warriors 4-0 record gives them more conference wins than they had during the 2022-23 season (3-19).

Earlier this season, the Warriors picked up a huge 69-64 overtime nonconference win over NAIA No. 17 ranked Eastern Oregon University at the Hoops-in-Hawai’i Thanksgiving Classic in Honolulu.

The Warriors (9-5) passed last season’s win total of seven games thanks to a six game win streak from late November to early December. During their Dec. 14 win over Seattle Pacific University, the Warriors forced 27 turnovers. Four players, Mya Blake, Aunika Hornung, Liliana Marques and Taylor Pilot, combined for 42 of the team’s 70 points.

Stan State this season has been led by Mya Blake and Liliana Marques, who average 12.5 and 12.2 points, respectively. Joia Armstrong and Aunika Hornung lead the Warriors with 5.8 rebounds apiece.

Ripon Christian girls basketball leading scorer reaches milestone

Ripon Christian guard Maddie Yonker reached a career milestone in a 31-27 win over Johansen. The senior in her fourth varsity season scored her 1,000th career points on Dec. 12. This is a unique feat as Yonker’s freshman year saw a COVID-shortened spring season where the Knights played an eight-game schedule.

Yonker was the team’s leading scorer and rebounder as a junior, posting averages of 17.5 points and 10 boards a game. She has picked up right where she left off so far this season, averaging 15.4 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.9 blocks in seven recorded games.

Former Manteca, MJC football star is NCAA All-American

Former Manteca High and Modesto Junior College receiver Jacob DeJesus has impressed in his first season as a receiver at UNLV. The electricity he showed at the junior college level for the Pirates has garnered the attention of All-American voters as he was named an All-American second team kick returner by USA Today and Action Network. DeJesus is the first Rebel in history to earn All-America honors as a kick returner.

According to the UNLV Athetics website, DeJesus leads the nation with 1,019 total return yards and is the only player in the top 15 for both punt (3rd) and kickoff (13th) returns. In punt returns, he averages 16.1 yards per attempt and returns kickoffs for an average of 26.3 yards per attempt.

His 51 catches so far this season are ninth in the Mountain West and is second in the conference in all-purpose yards with 1,536. He has helped lead UNLV to a 9-4 overall record and an appearance in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl in Phoenix on Dec. 26. DeJesus and the Rebels will face Kansas (8-4).