Riverbank High winter teams got a good start on preseason play at home this past week, with basketball and soccer action.
Bruin Soccer
The Riverbank varsity soccer boys took part in a scrimmage match against Grace Davis High School, visiting from Modesto on Wednesday, Nov. 15. Officially, no score was kept, but the Bruins scored in the first half, but got scored on twice by the Spartans in the second period.
Despite this being a holiday week for school classes, the soccer squad was scheduled to play in Oakdale in preseason action on Nov. 21, and will play at home against Central Valley next Monday, Nov. 27.
Lady Bruin Basketball
Girls basketball played in its first home scrimmage game on Friday, Nov. 17, against Ben Holt Academy from Stockton. RHS led the game from the beginning, scoring 14 points before the Lady Bobcats sank their first bucket, finishing ‘unofficially’ ahead 60-30.
The Academy is named for Benjamin Leroy Holt, an American businessman and inventor who patented and manufactured the first practical crawler-type tread tractor. The continuous-type track was used for heavy agricultural and engineering vehicles to spread the weight over a large area to prevent the vehicle from sinking into soft ground. On Nov. 24, 1904, he successfully demonstrated his first tractor in the fields around Stockton. In World War I, the tractors replaced horses for hauling artillery equipment.
Girls basketball originally did have a game scheduled for this week during the holiday break, but it was moved instead to December.
Bruin Basketball
For the Bruin boys, the basketball team had its first home scrimmage on Saturday, with the Mariposa County Grizzlies coming to town. Again, Riverbank led from the beginning, finishing on top, 68-38. They were scheduled to host Enochs of Modesto on Nov. 21, with Ceres slated to come to town for preseason play on Nov. 22.
The annual Ron Peterson Tip-Off Tournament is scheduled for next weekend.