(Osgood, IN) – Batesville turned defensive pressure into a championship.
The Lady Bulldogs pulled away in the second half and defeated South Ripley 43–33 Friday night in the Ripley County Tournament championship game at Jac-Cen-Del High School.
Batesville led 18–15 at halftime, then seized control with a dominant third quarter, outscoring South Ripley 17–5 to open up a double-digit lead. The Bulldogs pushed the margin to 35–20 by the end of the period before South Ripley mounted a brief comeback attempt early in the fourth.
South Ripley cut the deficit to single digits behind strong inside play from Kaiya Rinear, but Batesville steadied itself, got timely stops, and closed the game at the free-throw line.
Junior Kaylin Kathmann led Batesville with 14 points, directing the offense and setting up scoring chances throughout the night. Sophomore Maggie Jelinek added 13 points, doing most of her damage in the paint.
Leah Meyer finished with 5 points, while Molly Gesell and Nora Wiedeman scored 4 points apiece. Caitlin Raver added 3 points.
South Ripley was led by Rinear, who scored 19 points and accounted for more than half of the Lady Raiders’ offense. Ellie Combs and Illana Prosser scored 3 points each, with Evelyn Kelly and Sophie Lauber adding 2 points apiece.
After the game, Batesville coach Mitchell Taylor credited his staff and players for executing the game plan.
“Credit to the coaching staff, coach Hilton put together a great game plan for this one. Girls executed. They’ve been doing it all year.”
Taylor pointed to Batesville’s defensive approach as a key turning point.
“We just tried to pressure them. We wanted to turn them over.”
He also said his team responded when South Ripley made a fourth-quarter push.
“Our leaders stepped up in big ways to keep that separation we needed.”
The win gives Batesville the 2026 Ripley County Tournament championship, avenging last season’s narrow title-game loss to South Ripley.
Ripley County Tournament All-Tourney Team
The 2026 Ripley County Tournament girls all-tournament team included Tryniti Reed (Milan), Tinley Enneking (Jac-Cen-Del), Brooklyn Simon (Jac-Cen-Del), Brynlie Simon (Jac-Cen-Del), Illana Prosser (South Ripley), Evelyn Kelly (South Ripley), Kaiya Rinear (South Ripley), Nora Wiedeman (Batesville), Molly Gesell (Batesville), Maggie Jelinek (Batesville), and Kaylin Kathmann (Batesville), who was named MVP.
Listen to the broadcast here:
