January 26, 2013 1988 State Champs

Celebrating 25 Year Anniversary

“There’s no doubt about
it. Ripon Christian has been
successful in capturing state
championships, not because of
the size of our enrollment, not
because of our outstanding
athletic talent, although it has
been notable, and not because
of a recruiting program. We
have been successful because of
our history of academic
excellence and quality
teaching of fundamentals.

Personally, spanning 58
plus years of involvement with
athletic programs at all levels
these kids have been blessed
with great teachers and
coaches whose focus has been
on basic fundamentals
breaking down drills and
skills to the smallest levels.

The credit of Ripon Christian 1 Small School - 2 Teams - 2 State Titles

winning State Championships
reaches down to the elementary
and junior high school where
students are taught the basics in
PE classes…how to shoot and
dribble, and where Pete Duyst,
Janet Engel and others kept the
focus on organized practice. We
also need to acknowledge the
many volunteer coaches over the
years that realize and followed
through on the value of
fundamental teaching.

It goes without saying that the

aim of the game is winning, but
Ripon Christian’s philosophy goes
much deeper than that. Along
with the great tradition of
academic excellence, we take pride
in our strong generational
support as evidenced in the active
RC Boosters. May we continue to
carry on this legacy and our deep
conviction of faith in our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.” Chuck
Hoag
 1988 State Champs Page 2 of 5

1987-88 Boys Roster

“Just a few things I remember

Head Coach: Ron VanderMolen about playing for my Dad were:
Asst: Jim Schuller
#1 NO girlfriends (he tried)
NO. Name: Pos. Grade
10 Steve Beukelman G 11 #2 NO snow skiing during the
21 Mike Beidleman F 10 season (snowboarding hadn’t been
22 Mike VanderHoek F 10 invented yet)
“Most striking memory was 24 Mark Vos F 12
25 Jack Hoekstra G 10 #3 Friday night Nor Cal Semi
the level of scouting Coach did. 35 Mark Hofman G 11
finals we drove 7 hours to Loyalton,
During our playoff run we knew 43 Phil Witt F 12
44 Mike VanderMolen G 12
he made two players cry at halftime,
everything there was to know we won, get home after midnight
45 Brent Alger F 11
about the opposing team. Each 50 Steve VanderVeen F 11 and play at Arco Arena around
player's strengths and 51 Chad Driesen F 11 noon the next day.”
weaknesses (very detailed), how 52 Kevin dendulk C 12 Mike Vander Molen
55 John Bos F 11
they ran their offense, all their
out of bounds plays (by name),
and where the weak spot of the
defense could be found. We felt
prepared and confident going
into every game. I'm still
confused how we won most of
these games but his prep was
definitely a key component.”
Mark Vos

“The atmosphere was unreal, both boys and girls teams going to the State Championship. We travelled down the
day before the game, staying at a motel near the College of the Canyons. Once again we ended up playing from behind,
getting down to the last 7 seconds of regulation. We were down by 3 and shooting a free throw. Obviously a made free
throw would not win the game, so the game plan was to purposely miss the shot, get the rebound and pass the ball out
for a 3 pointer. Wouldn’t you know, it worked just as designed, and we once again forced overtime in a championship
game. After double overtime, we were the California State Champions!
I remember at one point during a time out (I don’t remember if this was the NorCal championship or State) Coach
VanderMolen took out our 2nd place Sectional Playoff Patch (we had lost to Central Catholic on a last second half court
shot, so were 2nd in the Sectional Playoffs) near the end of the game. He used it as motivation stating that we did not
want another one of these (2nd place in a playoff game).
There are so many other memories, and I have told stories for the last 25 years about that time in my life. From the
early season win against Davis, to the final parade and celebration; this is something that can never be taken away.”
Phil Witt
 Page 3 of 5 1988 State Champs

A Word from Coach Vander Molen

“Describing that year is easy but
explaining it is more difficult. Our fans
may take a stab at doing both, but they
all will assure us it was EXCITING!
Pre-Season: As usual, we played large
area schools in order to prepare for the
TVL, to which we had been assigned
after Southern & Golden Valley League
successes. We took our licks in preseason.
TVL- We gained a first place tie after a
great deal of success in league, though in
previous TVL seasons we usually were in
second place. We typically qualified for
playoffs, since first & second place teams
went to playoffs in those days.
Section: We were successful in Section
until the final game, which was against
Central Catholic. We led with two
seconds left and were at the free throw
line. For some reason the clock was not
started after the missed free throw, so
following a dribble, a pass and another (all
in two seconds) we were defeated by a half-
court three pointer. Though unhappy, we
still qualified for state playoffs.
The 1550 Mile Trip: Richmond,
Loyalton, Arco, Valencia. In each game we
were the underdog, but in each game
someone came through to produce very well:
Steve VanderVeen against University; Mike
VanderMolen against Loyalton; Mark
Hofman & Mark Vos at Arco in an
overtime win against College Prep. In all
those games Kevin denDulk stopped top
rated centers; Mike VanderHoek and John
Bos did solid rebounding; Phil Witt gave
critical help on defense. Along the way
several JV players and their coach Jim
Schuller helped with practices and filling in
as substitutes.
The Shot: Did you ever see a person miss
a free throw on purpose and then shoot a
three to tie or win a game? If you were in
Valencia for the state championship against a
talented Calipatria team, you saw Mike
VanderHoek get the required rebound and
Mike VanderMolen miss on purpose and get
the 3 pointer for an exhausting, unbelievable
victory! GO KNIGHTS!!!
Describing is not too difficult, but explaining
it is. There are many factors: being in
Division V for the first time; 3 point shots for
the first time; intelligent players who learned
a variety of defenses and offenses, the list
could go on. But Mike VanderMolen put it
best: “It was meant to be!” Congratulations
to Boys’ California State Division V
Champions on your 25th Anniversary Year,
2013! May you always be thankful to and be
blessed by God.”
Coach Ron VanderMolen

1987-1988 Girls Roster “I remember how hard Janet and “Dr. VanderMolen has
Coach Hoag made us work, but I also become a permanent part of
Head Coach: Janet Engel remember that we had a lot of fun as well. some of my favorite
Asst: Chuck Hoag Coach Hoag tried to toughen us up to the memories.”
point of tears many times so Janet would Mark Hofman
NO. Name: Pos. Grade
10 Leslie VanGroningen Heimstra F 9 need to step in and make it all better. Then
11 Cher DeJong Kooiman G 10 Coach Hoag would pull out one of his
“Most exciting day in high
12 Becky Cisne Beidleman C-F 10 magic tricks and we would all be laughing school sports for me! I've
13 Donna Terpsma Schoolland F-G 12 again. never been a part of such a
14 Cheryl Visser Judd F 10
15 Kim Viss Driesen G 12
These two coaches lived and breathed spirited, excited crowd! The
20 Susan Drost Hilvers C 11 basketball and it showed in how well our game was down south and it
21 Kathy VanderVeen G-FG 11 team was coached. Janet and Coach Hoag seemed the whole school, as
22 Carrie VanGinkel Dotinga G 10 were so knowledgeable and innovative... well as the whole town of
24 Kim Smits McMurray G 9 they had our team doing things that no Ripon, travelled to be there! I
25 Arlene Nydam F 11 can also remember the school
other coach in the area had tried and
probably had even thought of before. I spirit just being electric during
that time! What great RC
remember how passionate they were for the
sports memories! Glad to still
game and it is still very evident today, 25 be a part of them through my
years later. In my opinion, these two were children!”
one of the best coaching teams in RC Julie Van Tol Vrieling
history and probably one of the best in this
area ever. “
Susan Hilvers
 1988 State Champs Page 4 of 5
A Word from Coach Engel
“When I think back on the state
championship of 1988, there are
several things about the game of
basketball that are different
compared with today. The smaller
basketball for girls was relatively
new. Boys and girls used to play
with the same size basketball.
Alternating possession for jump
balls was recently put into place.
We used to jump every “jump ball”
at the circle closest to where it
occurred. The 3 pt. shot was in its
first year. We only had one as a
team that year since we were still
learning how to shoot them and
utilize it in our offense. There was
no shot clock either. Teams had to
play defense for long stretches since
the offense could maintain
possession of the ball for an
unlimited period of time. There
were no white boards for coaches.
We all carried chalk in our pocket
and drew diagrams on the gym
floor in front of our bench during
time outs and erased it with our
feet.
With the background set, some
memories of that year come to
mind. The 1988 season was the
first year CIF had the five division
format. I was only 26 and in my 4th
year of coaching. Our team was a
close knit group of seven players,
I was a freshman which became eight after we
pulled up for the playoffs finished a game vs. Hughson with
that year & it was such four players, when three fouled out.
More players were pulled up for
an exciting & memorable the post season. RC was known for
experience with our small their tough man to man team
team (11 girls) from our
small town.”
Leslie (Van Groningen)
Hiemstra
defense. On the average, we scored
58 points a game and only gave up
34. Our average margin of victory
was 24 points. We only had one
loss that year to Atwater in the
Linden tournament before TVL
league play. From that point we
went on a 49 game win streak that
included the state title and ended
the following season after winning
the section and losing in the Nor
Cal playoffs. That streak is one of
the top five in the record books for
northern CA. Our record that year
was 27-1.
Our team won with the
fundamentals and exceptional
shooting. I recall other coaches
telling their girls to watch how we
shot during warm ups as an
example of how shooting is
supposed to look. We executed our
half court offense and had a
stifling full court press. We also
ran the fast break with the best of
them. At the risk of sounding
arrogant, this team was set apart
from most others in the Valley that
year. We played man defense all
year, but won the state title game
with a 3-2 zone which we had
tucked away for that special
time. Avenal was the southern CA
champ and had great outside
shooting. Our taller post players
played the perimeter and my
smaller guards played under the
basket. The clock broke midway
through the game and I had
someone on the bench keeping track
of the time with a stop watch. The
score table used a flip scorer which
I had to get up to see more often
that I can remember. At halftime
we were ahead 21-13, but pulled
away in the second half to win by a
final score of 53-36. We felt all the
teams we beat in the Nor Cals
were tougher opponents. The thrill
of victory was felt by the entire city
of Ripon! We won on a Saturday,
and by Monday, the town threw a
celebration for both boys and girls
teams with a special parade and
gathering at the community center.
We all got to ride on fire trucks
down Main Street! I will always
remember the very special feeling of
unity between both Ripon High
Schools and the surrounding
community.
One of the special things about
remembering this event 25 years
ago is the unique privilege I have
of teaching and coaching the kids
of my players from the 1988 team
today. Two of those players have
coached along side me—Susan
Drost Hilvers and Rebecca Cisne
Beidleman—and we still get along
after all those years”
Janet Engel
 Page 5 of 5
AdditionAl MeMories …
Some memories that stand out
for me are:
Loving to pull my blue and
gold striped socks up as high as I
could before games.
Jopie Drost bringing confetti to
the games to throw when her
Susan scored.
Eating orange slices as a team
to finish off early-morning practice
twice a week and walking into
Mr. Brummel’s first period band
class almost on time and with wet
hair.
Coach Hoag would run home
during his prep period and return
with either a pre-game vita-mix
shake or a “Peanut Butter, Jam,
and Banana sandwich” . . . it
didn’t matter if I had just eaten
my own lunch; I had to eat it in
order to play well that night.
Mr. T. dressed up in a blue &
gold cheerleading skirt and lead a
frenzied Student Body in his
famous “DE-FENSE” cheer at a
Honorable Mention
School sprit back then was at its best.
We couldn’t recognize all of these players
and coaches without saying thank you to
the cheerleaders who supported us and
cheered us on to victory…
 Claire Piers VanVuren
 Vonda Prins VanVliet
 Kim VanGinkel Danielson
 RaeAnn Hilarides Alger
 Amy Brat
 Karyn Sikkema VanDonselaar
 Julie Brown
 Peri Padmos denDulk
 Devon Davidsy
1988 State Champs
pep rally.
Marylin Hoekstra had her
fingernails painted blue and gold
for the State Championship game.
One RCHS player may have
liked to curl her hair and apply
make-up during half-time.
After losing to Atwater High
(Div-I) in the 1987-88 preseason,
Coach Janet Dykhouse went on to
coach a 50+ winning streak into
the 1988-89 season. Wow!
Having at least 11 different
offensive plays that we used
regularly, while other teams had 2
or 3, thanks to Master Mind,
Coach Hoag.
In the section game at MJC, the
crowd went extra wild and I
couldn’t figure out why until I
looked down and realized I had
just sunk my only, and our team’s
only, 3-pointer of the season (’88
was the first year the 3 pt. line was
introduced for girls).
Avenal’s Coach said at the state
game, “We could handle one big
girl maybe two…BUT NOT
THREE!”
Susan Drost told a reporter
that our team was so tall because
we drak a lot of milk. Great press
for our local darymen.
Driving home from a game
with Coach Dykhouse and her
mentioning a certain guy named
“Randy” and asking what we
thought of him…
All those adorable gradeschool
fans wanting us to autograph their
hands and foreheads after the State
game. (Many of them are now my
peers)
My fondest memory was that I
gave my Dad my championship
medal when I was leaving for
college. He cried. I cried. He gave
it back…
Donna Terpsma Schoolland