(Versailles, IN) —Drew Volz scored 19 points and South Ripley used a decisive third-quarter run to pull away from South Dearborn 61-42 in Ohio River Valley Conference action Friday night at South Ripley High School.
The Raiders (15-5, 4-0 ORVC) extended their winning streak over the Knights to 15 games, dating back to 2011, with three players reaching double figures. Blake Gunter added 14 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double, while Eli Gilpin contributed 10 points, including eight crucial fourth-quarter points.
The game remained competitive through the first half and into the third quarter. South Dearborn (12-5, 3-4 EIAC) briefly held a 31-29 lead midway through the third quarter, but South Ripley responded with a 12-1 run to seize control, taking a 40-31 advantage into the final period.
South Ripley’s defense clamped down in the second half, holding the Knights to just 17 points after intermission.
“You had to put your big boy pants on for this one tonight,” South Ripley coach Seve Beach said after the game. “We can’t praise our guys enough on their effort. We were as coaches talking about coming into this game: Is it going to be the most physical game that we’ve played all year with how they just drive it and try to just drive it straight through
your chest for 32 minutes and how well of an offensive rebounding team that they are.”
Beach added that his halftime concerns proved unfounded.
“So coming out of halftime, guys, I’m not going to lie, I was really concerned if we were going to be able to keep up with that for another 16 minutes,” he said. “And we come out and they score 17 in the 2nd half.”
Gunter’s performance drew particular praise from Beach, who noted the sophomore’s relentless effort on both ends of the floor.
“It’s not just the 14 and 13,” Beach said of Gunter’s stat line. “Those type of plays right there, that just exudes the confidence in the rest of the team, and they see that energy and they feed off of that.”
Beach praised his team’s effort on the boards.
“We were winning those 50-50 balls in 2nd half,” he said. “We were the 1st to the floor. We were not catching the 1st rebound, but we were tipping it and keeping it alive so then somebody else could go get it instead of Wyatt Adams having 15 offensive rebounds like he’s been doing on a regular basis.”
Wyatt Adams paced South Dearborn with 14 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter. Scout Gray added 11 points but was limited to just two in the second half. Riker Morris provided eight points off the bench, all in the second quarter.
Before the game, South Dearborn coach Brad Moorhead identified Volz as the key to stopping the Raiders’ attack.
“The engine Drew Volz, he’s the one that makes everything happen, and that’s been a big focus for us is trying to shut the engine off of the whole thing, and maybe we can see if we can get the car slowed down,” Moorhead said in his pregame interview.
But Volz proved too much to contain, scoring eight points in the opening quarter and adding six more in a decisive third quarter that saw the Raiders outscore the Knights 17-6.
South Ripley’s balanced attack also featured seven points from Dylan Jessee, six from Bryson Sipples and five from Mason Bascom.
The victory keeps South Ripley in sole possession of first place in the ORVC standings with two conference games remaining. The Raiders have won four straight league games and control their own destiny in the race for the conference title.
“Drew leads us in scoring, but another very well balanced night for us as a team and everybody had their moments, whether it was putting the ball in the basket or playing really, really good defense,” Beach said.
South Dearborn returns to action Saturday night at Milan. You can hear that game on 103.9 FM and the WRBI App. South Ripley enjoys a week off before hosting Rising Sun on Friday, February 21.