Raider boys drill Hilltoppers
South Ripley boys basketball made its first appearance in the Associated Press Class 2A state rankings this past week and the No. 13 Raiders showed why last Wednesday, drilling Shawe Memorial 84-42 in an Ohio River Valley Conference game.
The Raiders are also ranked No. 17 in the USA Today Class 2A rankings. South Ripley had not scored 80-plus points since an overtime win against Southwestern (Hanover) in 2023.
Shawe (1-4) hung around a bit early on but a 25-13 Raider run in the second quarter gave way to a dominant 44-22 halftime lead. South Ripley strung together second half runs of 22-10 and 18-10 to put the game into blowout status.
It was a night in which South Ripley senior Cole Henry was on track to make a run at the school’s single-game scoring record of 45 points in the first half but the Raiders’ leading scorer was content on settling for 33 points for the evening. Henry scored 21 points in the first half. Freshman Blake Gunter came off the bench for 11 points in the second half and finished with 15 points and Blaine Ward added 13 points.
Drew Volz and Bryson Sipples put in nine points and seven points respectively for the Raiders. Shawe senior Braiden Smith scored 32 of the team’s 42 points.
South Ripley (6-0, 1-0 ORVC) was at South Decatur on Saturday and visited Batesville this past Monday.
WEDNESDAY’S BOYS BASKETBALL GAME
at South Ripley
CLASS 2A NO. 13 SOUTH RIPLEY 84, SHAWE MEMORIAL 42
SM – 9. 13. 10. 10. – 42
SR – 19. 25. 22. 18. – 84
SHAWE (1-4, 0-3 ORVC) – Braiden Smith 32, Gus Grote 5, Loren Stiver 3, Cavaan Hambrick 2, Dylan Fitzpatrick 0, Tyler Hill 0, Aiden Edmonson 0, Nate Fewell 0.
SR (6-0, 1-0 ORVC) – Cole Henry 33, Blake Gunter 15, Blaine Ward 13, Drew Volz 9, Bryson Sipples 7, Mason Bascom 3, Landon Werner 2, Chancie Volz 2, Brogan Buchanan 0, Dylan Jessee 0.
3-Point Goals – SM 3 (Smith 2, Stiver 1), SR 4 (Bascom 1, Sipples 1, Ward 1, Henry 1). Total Fouls – SM 17, SR 16. Free Throws – SM 11-18, SR 8-15. Fouled Out – None.
