It was all Ripon Christian High girls basketball in Thursday’s Southern Athletic League showdown against Turlock Christian.

The Knights came out firing away from all cylinders as they were able to contain the paint and sink easy buckets against an undersized Eagles squad and TC fell 34-75.

“The sun rises no matter what happens. Whether we won or lost, it’s how we handle these adversities and that’s life,” Turlock Christian head coach Edwin Santiago said. “It’s how you respond from those defeats and how you get back on your feet that shows what type of character and person you are.”

Right from the start the visiting Knights were on as they set the tone, especially with the height advantage, providing a long night for the Eagles.

With an 18-36 score by half, the Knights held a steady lead, then in the second half things just got even better for them as they managed to outscore the Eagles 39-16 in the third and fourth quarter despite a tough effort by TC in the closing minutes.

“I thought this was the best effort from all our 12 players. We were just not as tall and fast as they are,” Santiago said. “They were taller, faster and they beat us pretty good.”

Rebounds also became a weapon for a Knights offense that out-rebounded the Eagles 52-34 and allowed numerous second chance opportunities that became deadly for TCs defense to contain.

“They [RC] are a better team than us; they are the best team we faced so far this year,” Santiago said. “We are looking at this as an opportunity to prepare and get better and there were some things we learned about each other today and things we need to work on, so next time we meet them we see them as preparation for the playoffs.”

After a three game road winning streak, the Eagles loss is their first in league play thus far but coach Santiago knows they will improve upon a tough outing

“We definitely will not get on each other after this game, we accept it and embrace it. But we will grow from it and will be better off as a result of the adversity and thank you to Ripon Christian for making us a better team and better players,” Santiago said.

The Eagles will continue SAL play next week as they will play at Le Grand at 6 p.m. on Monday.