RCT boys title belongs to the Dogs
Rich Fowler
Batesville’s boys basketball team captured its 34th county championship in program history on Saturday night with a win over South Ripley. The Bulldogs have won 19 of those titles in the last 25 years.
It was not the 89-81 high-scoring affair that Batesville won back on December 23 in Versailles but a fast and furious pace highlighted an exciting rematch last Saturday night that saw the same winner on the scoreboard as the host Class 3A No. 10 Bulldogs outlasted Class 2A No. 12 South Ripley 66-55 in the boys version of the Ripley County Tournament.
Batesville has won three of the last four county titles, all of which came against South Ripley who had entered last week as the tournament’s defending champion.
Nobody was able to take a breath in the first quarter as a pair of Southeastern Indiana’s fastest teams used the hardwood much like a track meet and South Ripley got the upperhand with a 24-22 edge. The Raiders continued to stay in front and in charge but with the lead having dropped to just one point going into halftime, Batesville was starting to show flashes of embarking on a momentum shift.
That shift came to fruition in the second half as South Ripley’s offense cooled down and the Bulldogs boasted a plethora of timely shots. Batesville outscored the Raiders 32-20 in the final two quarters and a surge late in the fourth quarter sealed the deal and brought the county crown back to the blue and white for the 34th time in program history.
Both teams did not shoot the basketball particularly well -each around 40 percent from the field- but each was above 30 percent from the three-point line and turned in notable individual performances.
The Most Valuable Player of the Ripley County Tournament, Batesville senior Trenten Luers, tallied a team-high 23 points with six rebounds and three assists. Kamryn Holcomb drilled four 3-pointers en route to 19 points. Brayden Maple added seven points, five rebounds and five assists and Ethan Schneider paced the Bulldog defense with five steals and five deflections.
South Ripley junior Drew Volz dazzled in the first quarter and the rest of the way after, putting up 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting and a 9-of-9 clip from the free throw line. Bryson Sipples put together eight points, seven rebounds and three assists and Landon Werner paired eight points with four rebounds.
Volz and Werner each had two steals
Batesville (9-1) hosts Greensburg on Thursday night in an Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference rivalry matchup and will then play Southwestern (Hanover) at home on Saturday afternoon. South Ripley (8-4) is home tonight against Franklin County.
RIPLEY CO. TOURNAMENT BOYS
CHAMPIONSHIP
at Batesville
CLASS 3A NO. 10 BATESVILLE 66,
CLASS 2A NO. 12 SOUTH RIPLEY 55
SR – 24. 11. 10. 10. – 55
BV – 22. 12. 16. 16. – 66
SOUTH RIPLEY (8-4) – Drew Volz 24, Bryson Sipples 8, Landon Werner 8, Dylan Jessee 6, Mason Bascom 5, Eli Gilpin 4, Ethan Schmaltz 0.
BATESVILLE (9-1) – Trenten Luers 23, Kamryn Holcomb 19, Brayden Maple 7, James Hughes 6, Braydin Hughes 5, Ethan Schneider 3, Winston Garrett 3.
3-Point Goals – SR 6 (Volz 3, Jessee 2, Bascom 1), BV 9 (Holcomb 4, Luers 3, Schneider 1, Garrett 1). Total Fouls – SR 19, BV 15. Free Throws – SR 13-13, BV 13-17. Fouled Out – SR: Volz.
