Should anything which happens in the Ripley County Tournament be surprising? Probably not, but South Ripley’s girls championship win over Class 1A-No. 4 Jac-Cen-Del was indeed an upset, at least statistically.
Before tipoff, we knew this: the Lady Eagles had the more impressive record, had nearly a 20-point advantage in the Sagarin Computer Ratings, had seven straight victories in the series, had won three consecutive county championships, had a 20-point advantage in scoring average and also carried better season averages in rebounds, turnovers and all shooting stats.
That’s why you play the game.
In our postgame show, Lady Raider coach Matt McNew said his girls worked two days on a part of the game plan which opened up the floor and, to a certain extent, turned the Eagles’ defensive aggressiveness against them. South Ripley created space which created lanes which created scoring opportunities, many at the rim.
It also didn’t hurt the ladies from Versailles hit 64 percent from two-point range and the Osgood gals converted just 33 percent. Team Green also outrebounded the Nesters by 15.
While it took a complete team effort for Ripley to pull off its biggest win since last year’s sectional, without question, the Raiders Emily Flood was the catalyst. The cat-quick junior guard sliced and diced her way inside for most of her 22 points, but also found success three times from beyond the arc. Her efforts were rewarded with tournament MVP honors from the selection committee.
Senior teammates Rachel Meyer and Gracie Gunter scored 10 and nine points respectively and were named to the all-county squad as well. Meyer had seven rebounds and three assists.
An unsung hero for the Raiders in the finals was Katelynn Samples. The junior only scored two points but was a force on the glass with 10 boards to go along with four assists and a pair of steals.
Jac-Cen-Del’s Desiree Sparks, Reagan Hughes and Annabelle Williams also made all-county. In the finals, Sparks led the Eagles with 14 points, Hughes had eight and Williams posted four. Williams also had 13 points and eight assists during Jac’s win in the opening round.
South Ripley led 10-9 at the end of the first quarter. A 7-0 run in the second helped the Raiders to a 22-14 lead at halftime.
In the third, Ripley’s defense held the Eagles to no field goals and increased the point spread to a dozen, 34-22.
Early in the fourth, the Raiders got up by as many as 15 before the Eagles swooped back into the picture and closed to within five. However, South Ripley held its ground and went on to post the eight-point title victory, its first since 2018.
In the earlier consolation game, Milan hung with Batesville for a half trailing by only five at intermission, 18-13. But the Bulldogs dominated at both ends of the floor over the final two quarters, outscoring the Indians 42-18, to win the third place match 60-31.
Batesville forced Milan into 31 turnovers while committing 14 fewer. That helped create 16 more shot opportunities. BHS also hit at a nice 53 percent clip on two-point attempts.
Batesville’s Emma Weiler, Alyson Peters and Calley Kaiser were named All-Ripley County. Against Milan, Peters posted 12 points, Kaiser scored 10 and Weiler followed with eight.
Milan’s Audrey Schmidt was the final tourney-team selection. She logged 12 points against the Dogs.
We thank Jac-Cen-Del AD Kate Todd for the accommodations and hospitality along with coaches Bryan Helvie, Karisa Voss, Matt McNew and Scott Smith for the information they supplied.