On girls basketball sectional championship Tuesday, South Ripley repeated as 2A-45 champs in Hanover, beating Switzerland County 42-26.
The Lady Raiders led 11-7 at the end of the first quarter and 22-14 at the half.
At intermission, Sarah Meyer and Gracie Gunter both posted six points for Ripley. Meyer’s half-dozen came on a pair of three balls. Maddie Duvall and Jessie Duvall had five and four respectively for the Pacers.
It was 28-21 at the end of three, then South Ripley outscored Switz 14-5 in the final frame to win by 16.
Sarah Meyer ended the night with a quad of trifectas and tallied 14 points. She also picked up four rebounds. Sister Rachel netted nine points, five boards and three assists. And Gunter closed with eight points, five dishes and three caroms.
For the 18-7 Swiss, Maddie Duvall led with eight points and sister Jessie scored seven.
It was the 11th straight win for the 18-8 Lady Raiders who move on to face 20-6 North Knox at 12 pm in the Crawford County 2A Regional. You can hear that game on WRBI beginning at 11:40 am.
Our coverage Saturday will begin at the Columbus North 4A Regional with 11th ranked East Central and No. 2 Franklin starting at 9:40 am. See East Central’s full game story from our broadcast here.
At the 3A Greensburg Sectional, a very young Lady Pirate team nearly pulled of an upset of Rushville, but the Lady Lions won 44-38 in overtime.
Rushville jumped out to a 16-5 lead after the first quarter, but Greensburg cut into the deficit during every quarter (from 11 to six to two) until eventually forcing OT tied at 34. Then the Rush County Cats outscored the Bucs 10-4 during the extra session to repeat as Sectional 29 champion.
The Lions biggest advantages were three-point shooting and turnovers. Rushville outscored Greensburg 21-9 from the arc and also forced 17 GCHS turnovers while committing just four of their own.
RCHS had balanaced scoring. Belle Gossett led with 12 points, nine came from Annika Marlow, eight each were scored by Briley Munchel and Sophia Dora while Lexi Morris contribued seven. Dora had a team-best seven rebounds. Marlow had a club best three assists while Munchel had a team-high five steals.
Greensburg’s Leah West led the floor in points, rebounds and blocks with 25, nine and three. Teammate Kayla Tamm tallied five points and five assists. Mylie Wilkison collected five points, four boards and three assists. The Lady Pirates end their season at 10-15.
Rushville is now 17-9 and will take on the 23-2 and fourth ranked Dragons of Silver Creek in the second game of the 3A Charlestown Regional Saturday.
The 1A Sectional 60 final at Waldron also went into extra play. Top ranked Waldron beat No. 5 Jac-Cen-Del 65-57. It was the first sectional title for the Lady Mohawks since 2010.
Waldron held a 17-11 lead at the first stop and a 30-24 advantage at halftime. The Eagles pulled to within a point after three periods, 40-39, and went up three (47-44) with under a minute to go in regulation.
But Waldron’s Mackenzie Shaw hit a three at the buzzer to force overtime tied at 51. Then over the extra four minutes, the Hawks outscored Jac 14-6 to win by eight.
Shaw had 14 points. Mohawk teammate Nichole Garner logged a game-high 23 which included nine big free throws in overtime. Bella Larrison recorded 15 points.
Leading scorer for the Osgood gals was Annabelle Williams with 21. Teammates Jalee Rider and Reese Obendorf both followed with seven.
The Eagles close the season with a mark of 19-7. Waldron is now 22-1 and will meet 12-11 Bloomfield in the second game of the 1A Southwestern Shelby Regional.
We thank everyone who contributed to the recaps.