Buzzer beater gives Lady Raiders RCT Title – Early run sends Raiders to county crown

A come-from-behind effort in the final minutes and a buzzer beater to win a second-straight county championship. Sounds almost too picture perfect but South Ripley completed such a feat on Tuesday night at home, defeating Batesville 46-44 in the Ripley County Tournament Girls Championship.

It was a repeat crown for the Lady Raiders and their 13th in program history. The championship also marks just the second time South Ripley has pulled off back-to-back titles, the first since a three-peat from 2003-2005.

A late stoppage of the clock gave way to a final inbounds play in regulation for South Ripley with the game knotted up at 44. An entry pass found Lexi Franklin but the senior’s shot would just barely miss the mark but swooping in was junior Kaiya Rinear who grabbed an offensive rebound and sent the ball through the net as time expired, sending Raider Nation into a frenzy and giving first-year head coach Brad Goldsberry his first county championship.

And while that moment certainly makes the headlines, one cannot overlook the total team effort it took for South Ripley to even get to that point.

Batesville had been in control for three full quarters and looked to be in a clear position to regain county supremacy. The Lady Bulldog lead hovered at three possessions at each of those stops, including a 35-27 advantage going into the fourth quarter but South Ripley put four players in the score column and shot 5-of-5 from the free throw line as part of the final eight minutes, all leading to the final heroics. Adding to such a comeback arsenal was the Lady Raider performance from the free throw line for the game, going 15-of-16, a trait that would then translate into the boys championship for the green and white.

Rinear’s putback at the buzzer allowed her to lead the Lady Raiders on Tuesday with 13 points but it was sophomore Claire Samples who would be named Ripley County MVP after combining for 24 points in two games this week, including 12 points in the title tilt. Nine of those points for Samples came in the second half and she, along with Rinear, put up 14 points total in the last two frames.

Lexi Franklin and Aubrey Werner were also double figure scorers for South Ripley. Franklin posted 12 points and Werner put in 10 points, eight of which came as part of that 19-9 run in the fourth quarter.

Batesville got a game-high 20 points out of Sophie Gesell but no other player for the blue and white was able to hit for double digits. Nora Wiedeman and Alyson Peters each scored nine points and the duo of Kaylin Kathmann and Maddie Haskamp put in two points apiece.

The Lady Bulldogs (12-7) are home on Friday night for a tough non-conference matchup against Indian Creek,
South Ripley, who has now avenged a regular season loss to Batesville from back in November, sits at 9-8 on the season and sets its sights on Rising Sun this evening at home in an Ohio River Valley Conference game. The Lady Raiders then welcome to town Class A No. 5 Oldenburg Academy on Saturday.

GIRLS RIPLEY CO. TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP at South Ripley
SOUTH RIPLEY 46, BATESVILLE 44
BV – 16. 9. 10. 9. – 44
SR – 7. 11. 9. 19. – 46

BATESVILLE (12-7) – Sophie Gesell 20, Nora Wiedeman 9, Alyson Peters 9, Kaylin Kathmann 3, Maddie Haskamp 3, Marlee Obermeyer 0, Lydia Haskamp 0, Grace Walter 0, Molly Gesell 0.

SOUTH RIPLEY (9-8) – Kaiya Rinear 13, Claire Samples 12, Aubrey Werner 10, Lexi Franklin 9, Katie Miller 2, Emily Parks 0, Kinley Demaree 0.

3-Point Goals – BV 6 (Wiedeman 3, Gesell 2, Kathmann 1), SR 3 (Franklin 2, Werner 1). Total Fouls – BV 16, SR 11. Free Throws – BV 4-9, SR 15-16. Fouled Out – None.

Every fan in attendance was expecting a repeat of December’s 78-74 barn burning win for South Ripley at Batesville but a rematch on Tuesday night saw the Class 2A No. 6 Raiders leave no doubt, using a dominant first quarter run to dictate a 63-51 final score that led to a Ripley County Tournament Boys Championship in Versailles.

It is the first county title for South Ripley since 2021 and the first for head coach Seve Beach. The Raiders have now won the tournament 10 times and the victory allowed for both boys and girls teams to sweep the tourney for the first time in school history.

An eye popping first eight minutes saw a barrage of three-pointers -four to be exact- and a South Ripley offense that was hitting on all cylinders as sophomore Drew Volz and senior Blaine Ward each went for six points while Chancie Volz had five points and both Bryson Sipples and Cole Henry sat at four points. By the end of the assault, the Raiders led 24-6 and Batesville was forced into playing from behind the rest of the night.

It would actually look good on paper that Batesville won the final three quarters by a 45-39 margin but the Raiders were content with such a fact as it never really came down to the Bulldogs truly challenging after the first period. The Bulldogs would pick their spots where the deficit reached single digits but each of those moments was answered by a green and white spurt. That included a 20-16 clip in the fourth quarter that solidified a celebratory night for the Versailles crew.

After stellar outings in last week’s opening round win against Milan, Henry and Ward would be named Co-MVPs of the tournament after their championship performances. Henry had two monster slams -one off an alley oop from Ward- which highlighted 10 points in the fourth quarter and finished with 18 points while Ward hit three 3-pointers en route to 13 points. Drew Volz scored 10 of his 16 points in the first half and Bryson Sipples alongside Chanice Volz put in nine points and seven points respectively.

South Ripley would also go a perfect 16-of-16 from the free throw line which included a 10-of-10 mark in the final eight minutes.

Batesville had three players score in double figures but had just a total of four guys in the score column. Cade Kaiser led all scorers with 21 points, all of which came in the final three quarters. James Hughes added 15 points and Trenten Luers scored 13 points with 12 points coming from the three-point line. Brayden Maple chipped in a lone field goal for two points.

The Bulldogs (4-6) still have two games to go this week. Batesville is at Greensburg tonight for an Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference rivalry matchup and will then visit Jac-Cen-Del on Friday in a rematch of last week’s county tourney opening round.

South Ripley remains unbeaten on the season and is now 12-0. The Raiders host Oldenburg Academy on Friday and will then square off in a highly-anticipated showdown at home against Switzerland County in a battle of Ohio River Valley Conference and Sectional 45 foes.

BOYS RIPLEY CO. TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP at South Ripley
CLASS 2A NO. 6 SOUTH RIPLEY 63,
BATESVILLE 51
BV – 6. 16. 13. 16. – 51
SR – 24. 8. 11. 20. – 63

BATESVILLE (4-6) – Cade Kaiser 21, James Hughes 15, Trenten Luers 13, Brayden Maple 2, Cayden Drake 0, Kamryn Holcomb 0, Ethan Schneider 0.

SOUTH RIPLEY (12-0) – Cole Henry 18, Drew Volz 16, Blaine Ward 13, Bryson Sipples 9, Chancie Volz 7, Landon Werner 0, Eli Gilpin 0.

3-Point Goals – BV 7 (Luers 4, Hughes 2, Kaiser 1), SR 5 (Ward 3, C. Volz 1, Sipples 1). Total Fouls – BV 19, SR 12. Free Throws – BV 10-15, SR 16-16. Fouled Out- BV: Kaiser.