Duwaine Ganskie had hoped his Bruins would get the chance to measure up against one of the top players in the Sac-Joaquin Section Monday night, when Bear River drove down Combie Road for a matchup with the host Forest Lake Christian Falcons.

That top player, FLC senior Josh Ritchart, had hoped to see how he and his Falcons would fare against a group of old neighborhood friends.

But because Ritchart had been ejected from last week's season-opening win over Jim Elliott Christian, the 6-foot, 8-inch senior was suspended from Monday's action.

And, unfortunately for the Falcons, no Ritchart meant no contest.

Bear River's varsity boys and girls teams each headed home with blowout victories, although the foundation games, which support the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section scholarship program, don't count in terms of season win-loss records.

Ganskie's Bruins downed the Falcons 57-14, while the Lady Bruins were 57-19 winners.

“We were looking forward to defending a quality big guy like him,” Ganskie said of Ritchart. “We're going to see a few of them through the course of the year, so we were disappointed we didn't get the chance to play against him.

“But I've got to hand it to my kids. They played pretty well and refocused on what we wanted to do and they looked like Bear River out there.”

The Bruins, who open regular season action Thursday at the Tahoe Varsity Tournament, got a balanced scoring attack against FLC. Sean Smith led the way with 10 points, while Johnny Cassar scored nine.

Will Gray, Cody Lamarche and Zach Welz each scored eight points for Bear River, while Jordan Beskeen scored six.

Many of those Bruins are longtime friends of Ritchart, having played AAU basketball with him between the second and eighth grades. Ritchart said he, too, was looking forward to the matchup.

“It was tough,” he said. “I'm sorry I wasn't able to play. I left my guys out there and I wish I could have helped change the outcome a bit.”

Ritchart said he drew the technical fouls last week after being called for a charging foul, when he felt a Jim Elliott Christian player pushed him in the back on a lay-up attempt.

“What I'm taking from that is that I just don't want this to happen again where I have to sit out a game,” he said. “When you get a bad call, you just have to shake it off, get back down the floor and not let it affect the way we play.”

FLC (1-0) looked lost without Ritchart on the floor, struggling to score on the offensive end and not having much luck in stopping the Bruins on the other. Bear River led 14-2 after the first quarter, 30-7 at halftime and 45-9 after three periods of play.

Josh Knapp led the Falcons with seven points, while Jason Camacho added three.

Forest Lake will open competition in the Wheatland Tournament on Thursday.

Girls: Bear River 57, Forest Lake Christian 19

Much like the varsity boys game, Bear River's balanced scoring attack and stifling defense made Monday's meeting between the girls squads a lopsided affair.

“I was happy with how (the Lady Bruins) got after loose balls,” said Bear River coach Jeff Bickmore, whose team opens nonleague competition at home against Chico at 7:30 p.m. today. “It was good to seem them get after it.

“I thought they played well together, although we had a few more turnovers than I'd like to see. But other than that, they did fine.”

Emily Guerra led Bear River with 12 points, five assists and four steals. Riley Pearson had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Kelsey Uno added 10 points on the night.

Kyanne Hagar had 11 rebounds for Bear River, while Lindsey Harter had seven steals.

Bear River led 37-14 at halftime.

Forest Lake Christian, led by first-year head coach Linda Clough, hosts its annual Falcon Christmas Classic on Friday and Saturday.

Contact Sports Editor Brian Hamilton via e-mail bhamilton@theunion.com or call 477-4240.