G League Action: Santa Cruz Starts Fast but Third-Quarter Collapse Sinks the Night 131-118

Tough night for the Santa Cruz Warriors who dominated by the Rip City Remix on Sat Nov 8, 2025 (Santa Cruz Warriors photo)

Santa Cruz Starts Fast but Third-Quarter Collapse Sinks the Night 131-118

By Brien Gingrich, Santa Cruz Voice

SANTA CRUZ–6:59 PM. Kaiser Permanente Arena hums again for night two of the back-to-back. This time, Santa Cruz opens with control and confidence.

1st Quarter. The Warriors jump out 5–0 before Rip City even finds the rim. They move the ball crisply, attack early, and keep the crowd engaged from the start. Santa Cruz leads wire-to-wire through the frame, closing the first up 30–26.

2nd Quarter. The offense continues to click. Trey Galloway finishes in traffic, L.J. Cryer runs the pace, and Marques Bolden controls the paint. The Warriors stretch the lead to ten midway through the period before the Remix close the gap. Santa Cruz heads to halftime up 64–62, shooting nearly 49 percent from the field and 37 percent from deep.

3rd Quarter. Then comes the undoing. Rip City catches fire, pouring in 42 points to Santa Cruz’s 23. Dillon Jones and Javonte Cooke take over, combining for timely buckets that flip the game. Missed rotations and turnovers pile up, and the Remix seize control. What had been a tight contest turns into a 17-point deficit, 104–87, heading to the fourth.

4th Quarter. The Warriors keep swinging. Cryer stays aggressive, Galloway drives through contact, and Bolden grinds on the boards. They cut the lead to single digits more than once, but Rip City always answers. The Remix hit 46 percent from the floor and hold firm at the line, pushing the margin back out in the closing minutes.

Final. Rip City Remix 131, Santa Cruz Warriors 118. Cryer led the Warriors with 22 points and 5 assists; Galloway added 21; Bolden 18; Ethan Taylor and Jack Clark 13 each. Santa Cruz shot 46 percent overall but couldn’t recover from the 42–23 third-quarter swing.

Santa Cruz Warriors game wrap: Remix knocks off Warriors in season opener 120-107

Santa Cruz Shows Heart but Falls Short as Remix Rule the Opener 120-107

Santa Cruz Warriors can’t get by the Rip City Remix in the season opener on Fri Nov 7, 2025 in G League action on Fri Nov 7, 2025 (photo by Santa Cruz Warriors)

Fri Nov 7, 2025

By Brien Gingrich, Santa Cruz Voice

SANTA CRUZ–6:59 PM. The house lights drop at Kaiser Permanente Arena, and the buzz is back — a new G-League season on the coast. But opening night didn’t wait long to turn rough.

7:04 PM. Nearly three full minutes tick off the clock before the Warriors finally get on the board. Rip City Remix race out ahead, drilling open looks and pounding the glass. The home crowd keeps trying to will Santa Cruz into rhythm, but the rim feels sealed shut.

End of 1st. Rip City 40, Santa Cruz 21. The Remix are getting anything they want — downhill drives, corner threes, second-chance buckets.

Mid-2nd. L.J. Cryer finally steadies the offense with a couple of pull-ups, and Marques Bolden starts to make his presence felt inside. Still, every Santa Cruz surge gets answered by Blake Hinson or Dillon Jones.

“We dug ourselves a hole early,” said head coach Lainn Wilson. “They came out hitting, and we were chasing from the start. You can’t spot a team twenty and expect to climb back. That’s on us.”

Halftime. Rip City 70, Santa Cruz 48. The crowd wants something to cheer for, but the Warriors head to the locker room needing a reset more than a pep talk.

3rd Quarter. Santa Cruz finds a pulse. Cryer takes command — step-back three, floater, a feed to Bolden for a dunk. The communication tightens on defense, the hustle picks up, and the lead dips under twenty for the first time since the opening frame.

“I thought we responded well after halftime,” Wilson said. “The talk on defense got better, we went after loose balls, and we started to win the effort plays that define games in this league.”

4th Quarter. Jack Clark ignites off the bench — 17 points with fearless drives — and Trey Galloway adds steals that flip the tempo. The Warriors trim it to single digits, but fatigue and execution catch up late. Rip City hits clutch jumpers and closes it out.

“It’s the first one of the year, and you can tell guys are still finding their legs,” Wilson admitted. “The pace in this league is relentless. That’ll come with reps.”

Final. Rip City Remix 120, Santa Cruz Warriors 107. Cryer leads with 25 points and 7 assists, Bolden posts 15 and 8, Galloway adds 15 and 3 steals. The Warriors actually win the second half — 59-50 — but the early drought was too much to overcome.

Postgame, Wilson’s tone was even — disappointed but forward-looking. “The group’s disappointed, but that’s good,” he said. “It means they care. We’ve got another shot tomorrow, and the focus now is to clean up the first-half mistakes and build on that second-half fight.”

-Brian

G League action: Kings rip Rip City for second night in a row 129-105

Stockton Kings forward Colby Jones drives the ball against the Rip City Remix at the Moda Center in Portland in G League action on Mon Jan 6, 2024 (Stockton Kings X photo)

By William Espy

The Stockton Kings visited Portland, OR once again to take on the Rip City Remix in the second half of a back-to-back series. The Kings remain undefeated with a 129-105 win over the Remix on Monday night at Moda Center.

Entering the game, the Kings found themselves tied with the Santa Cruz Warriors for first place in the Western Conference. Both teams were 4-0, and Stockton wanted to extend their winning streak to five games. Meanwhile, Rip City wanted to stay above .500 as they entered the night 1-1.

A win would have major implications for both teams, and given their previous meeting was decided by just seven points, it seemed obvious this would be a hard-fought battle.

The Kings got out to a quick 10-0 lead less than three minutes into the night. While the Kings maintained a lead for the rest of the first quarter, Rip City was able to make it closer as it progressed. After 12 minutes, Stockton’s lead was reduced to just four points as it was 29-25 in their favor.

In the second quarter though, the Kings extended their lead back into double-digits as they led 50-33 at the midway-point of the frame. That number would only continue to grow, as Stockton had a substantial 62-38 lead heading into halftime. They had a massive lead, and now all they needed to do was keep their foot on the gas if the Kings wanted to move to 5-0 to start the regular season.

Stockton maintained pressure to start the third quarter. They kept their lead to 20 or more points for the majority of the quarter and all the way through to the end of it. It seemed that things were heading in their favor and the Kings just needed to close it out.

Rip City started bringing it back a little in the fourth quarter, but they still had a massive hill to climb. Despite the Remix’s push, the Kings weren’t slipping either. Both teams were getting short bursts of momentum, but the gap wasn’t wildly changing.

The Kings ultimately walked away with a 129-105 win. They were led by Colby Jones’ 32 points, while Jon Elmore had a very respectable 24 of his own. James Bouknight led the Remix in scoring with 28 points in the losing effort.

After two hard-fought games the Kings ended up sweeping their trip to Oregon, as they improved to 5-0 on the season and Rip City fell to 1-2.

G League action: Kings make comeback in 4th quarter defeat Rip City 118-111 at the Moda Center and remain undefeated

The Stockton Kings continue to roll staying undefeated beating the Rip City Remix at the Moda Center in Portland on Sun Jan 5, 2025 (Stockton Kings X image)

By William Espy

The Stockton Kings are on the road for the first time of the regular season. They’re in Portland, OR to face off against the Rip City Remix at the Moda Center, a team they played twice during the Tip-Off Tournament. The Kings came out a 118-111 winner over Rip City.

The two teams kept the game close for most of the first quarter, but as it neared its end, Stockton started to pull ahead. After the first, the Kings led 30-22.

The Kings maintained a double-digit lead for the majority of the second quarter, but with a few minutes remaining the Remix fought back and brought it much closer. By the end of the quarter, the Kings’ lead was down to just four points with a score of 56-52.

The Remix momentarily took the lead late in the third quarter, but Stockton quickly recovered and took it back. They wouldn’t be able to pull away though, as heading into the final frame they had a narrow, two-point lead. It was 89-87 and either team could walk away victorious.

Rip City quickly took the lead in the fourth quarter, and started to pull ahead a bit. The Kings kept fighting though, and did their best to keep it close despite momentum being firmly in the hands of their opposition. Eventually that effort would pay off, as Stockton would regain the lead late in the fourth quarter, and it would ultimately be enough for them to walk away with the win, 118-111.

The majority of the Kings’ offense came from two players, Mason Jones and Skal Labissiere. Jones finished with 34 points, while Labissiere had 31 of his own. The only other player in double-digits for Stockton was Terry Taylor with 17.

Meanwhile, Rip City was led by Bryce McGowens who has been phenomenal for them so far this season. He finished with 28 points. Henri Drell finished second in team scoring with 18, but was very efficient shooting 7-11 from the field.

The two teams will face off once again on Monday night, as the Remix will look to get back over .500 and the Kings try to remain undefeated in the regular season.

Drell leads with 22 in Remix 103-98 win over Kings in Stockton

Stockton Kings forward Isaac Jones (3) throws down on the Rip City Remix’s forward Henri Drell (55) at Adventist Health Arena in Stockton on Sun Dec 15, 2024 (Stockton Kings X photo)

By William Espy

STOCKTON–For the second time in three days, the Stockton Kings hosted the Rip City Remix at Adventist Health Arena in Stockton. The Remix took Sunday’s second game 103-98 in Stockton. The Remix led by Henri Drell in scoring with 22 points.

The game started off similarly to their previous meeting, as the Kings went on a long run before the Remix were able to get on the scoreboard. Stockton pulled out to a quick double-digit lead, but once again Rip City fought their way back into it, tying it up with just under four minutes remaining in the quarter.

The Remix would actually take the lead before the end of the quarter, making it 31-30.

Rip City would maintain and extend that lead in the second quarter. Stockton trailed 59-44 heading into half-time. Henri Drell picked up where he left off in the last meeting, leading his team in scoring with 17 points heading into the break. Meanwhile, there was only a single player on Stockton in double-digits, Isaac Jones with 10. The Kings were struggling to make any shots, as they were 35.7% from the field. Rip City also had seven steals, which was the difference maker to this point in the game.

The Remix continued to pull away a bit at the start of the third quarter, but the pace was starting to pick up as the frame progressed. The Kings were starting to run out of time, and that was reflected in the way they were starting to play. Unfortunately for them though, the Remix thrive in high-paced situations.

Stockton was trailing by more than 20 points late in the third when Isaac Jones’s highlight reel dunk over the Rip City defender seemed to spark the home team. Heading into the final frame, the Kings trailed 85-65 so they’d need to make a dent in the Remix’s lead very quickly if they wanted a chance of walking away victorious.

That moment certainly ended up being a turning point, as the Kings went on an 8-0 midway through the final quarter, reducing the Remix’s lead to 92-85 with quite a bit of time remaining. With two minutes remaining, it was a three-point game. A late three-pointer by Alex Reese made it a four-point game, and Stockton took their last timeout with 17.1 seconds remaining. Colby Jones missed a three, and the Kings were forced to foul Justin Minaya with nine seconds left. He missed the first but made the second free throw to put the game essentially out of reach.

Rip City’s 103-98 victory was their first on the road this season, while it was also the Kings’ first loss at home. Drell’s 22 points led the Remix, while Isaac Jones had 31 points and 15 rebounds for Stockton in a losing effort.

The Kings will get back at it again tomorrow night, as they host the top team in the West, the Valley Suns in the second half of a back-to-back.