Lady Raiders and Lady Bulldogs advance to RCT final

For the fourth year in a row, girls basketball supremacy in Ripley County will be decided by South Ripley and Batesville as the Lady Raiders and Lady Bulldogs won opening round games in the Ripley County Tournament on Tuesday night at Jac-Cen-Del.

South Ripley, the two-time defending champion, defeated Milan 64-17 in Tuesday’s opener while Batesville was a 55-39 winner over Jac-Cen-Del.

While both the Lady Raiders and Lady Indians were missing core pieces in Claire Samples and Emma Voss respectively, it was obvious that the green and white still had plenty of lethal pieces capable of punching a championship game ticket. South Ripley jumped out to a 22-5 lead and that advantage surged to 26 points by halftime. Milan then fell victim to a 15-6 run in the third period and failed to score in the final eight minutes.

While Kaiya Rinear scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half, the big story was South Ripley getting contributions from a couple of underclassmen as sophomores Evelyn Kelly and Illana Prosser ripped off 12 points and 10 points respectively. Ellie Combs and Kinley Demaree also provided a spark, scoring nine points apiece.

Milan’s Lexi Hagga hit three 3-pointers and finished scoring 11 of the 17 points on the scoreboard.

Game two saw host Jac-Cen-Del hang around despite a major hole but a 20-4 deficit in the first quarter set the tone for a Batesville team that never relinquished the lead.

16 points for the Lady Eagles closed out the first half and then a 33-20 lead for Batesville at one point shrank down to 33-26 but the blue and white responded from the quick jab and got back on track. The Lady Bulldogs ended the game with a 15-11 spurt which allowed for the contest to stay out of reach and send the home team to the consolation game later this week.

Batesville’s Kaylin Kathmann scored seven quick first quarter points and wrapped up with 13 points while sophomore Molly Gesell scored 12 points. Both Nora Wiedeman and Leah Meyer added nine points and Maggie Jelinek put in eight points with six points coming in the fourth quarter.

Jac-Cen-Del’s one-two punch Tinley Enneking and Brooklyn Simon combined for 30 of the 39 Lady Eagle points. Josie Allen followed with five points.

Friday night’s consolation game between Milan (3-11) and Jac-Cen-Del (4-11) will tip off at 6 p.m. The Lady Eagles won a prior matchup 56-32 on November 19. That will be followed by the championship pitting South Ripley (12-4) and Batesville (9-9).
South Ripley won 59-52 over Batesville on November 22. The Lady Raiders won the county tournament over the Lady Bulldogs a year ago by a 46-44 final score when Rinear sank a game winner at the buzzer.

GIRLS RIPLEY CO. TOURNAMENT
OPENING ROUND at JCD

SOUTH RIPLEY 64, MILAN 17

SR – 22. 15. 15. 12. – 64
M – 5. 6. 6. 0. – 17

SR (12-4) – Kaiya Rinear 17, Evelyn Kelly 12, Illana Prosser 10, Ellie Combs 9, Kinley Demaree 9, Aubrey Werner 4, Emily Parks 2, Sophie Lauber 1, Sam Curl 0.

M (3-11) – Lexi Hagga 11, Caroline McMillan 4, Tryniti Reed 1, Lillyan Gilbert 1, Ellie Rullman 0, Ally Blevins 0, McKenna Eaglin 0, Jillianne Herd 0, Ashlyn Ball 0, Miley Mitchell 0, Lily Potter 0, Emma Burdette 0.

3-Point Goals – SR 6 (Combs 3, Demaree 1, Prosser 1, Kelly 1), M 3 (Hagga 3). Total Fouls – SR 6, M 13. Free Throws – SR 8-16, M 2-4. Fouled Out – None.
GIRLS RIPLEY CO. TOURNAMENT OPENING ROUND
at JCD
BATESVILLE 55, JCD 39

BV – 20. 13. 7. 15. – 55
JCD – 4. 16. 8. 11. – 39
BV (9-9) – Kaylin Kathmann 13, Molly Gesell 12, Leah Meyer 9, Nora Wiedeman 9, Maggie Jelinek 8, Jolene Dirkhising 4, Caitlin Raver 0, Aubrey Kathmann 0, Bella Watson 0, Jersey Trenkamp 0, Addisyn Hughes 0.
JCD (4-11) – Tinley Enneking 17, Brooklyn Simon 13, Josie Allen 6, Brynlie Simon 2, Payton Simon 1, Abbie Moorman 0, Rylin Simon 0, Kaitlynn Shadday 0, Lanie Narwold 0, Brailynn Sloan 0, Avah Schrepfer 0.
3-Point Goals – BV 3 (Wiedeman 1, Kathmann 1, Meyer 1), JCD 3 (Brooklyn Simon 3). Total Fouls – BV 10, JCD 9. Free Throws – BV 6-10, JCD 8-16. Fouled Out – None.