Friday night in boys varsity basketball on WRBI, South Ripley gave up 22 more shot attempts to visiting South Dearborn but, somehow, managed to beat the Knights 42-41.
SD’s tenacious defense forced the Raiders into 22 turnovers and the Knights also had a 13-7 advantage in offensive rebounds. In addition, South Dearborn only gave up the ball on nine miscues.
But, while Ripley lacked in a quantity in shots, they made up for it in quality. The Raiders hit 56 percent from the floor (15/27) while the Knights made just 37 percent (18/49). The host Versailles crew did get more free throw opportunities sinking 9-of-15 compared to just 3-of-5 for the Aurora boys.
South Dearborn led 14-9 at the end of the first quarter and 22-20 at the half. SD’s Eli Hoffman and Ryan Willoughby both had eight points by intermission while Nick Schwarte and Cole Henry both canned five each for Team Green.
In the third, Zach Gentile and Schwarte helped South Ripley to a 33-32 lead at the end of the third. And in the closing seconds of the fourth, teammate Blake Volz received a great pass in traffic from Blaine Ward and hit an inside two for the go-ahead and game winning basket.
South Dearborn got two good looks just before the final horn that did not fall. Ripley won 42-41.
The bucket by Volz were his only two points of the contest. Gentile led the Raiders with 12. Both Schwarte and Henry had 10 each.
The Knights got 16 points from Hoffman, 13 via Ryan Willoughby and eight from Reese Willoughby.
We thank South Ripley AD Jeff Gorrell for the accommodations and hospitality along with coaches Tyler Theising and Matt Coleston for their information.