Raider boys take ORVC lead
PHOTO BY BETH SCHMALTZ
South Ripley’s Drew Volz streaks to the bucket for two of his 28 points in a monster performance on Tuesday night. The Raiders with the win against Southwestern are now in control of the ORVC standings.
South Ripley boys basketball is just two wins away from an outright Ohio River Valley Conference championship and for the time being the Raiders are in sole possession of first place after blitzing Southwestern 85-68 on Tuesday night in Hanover.
The Raiders have won back-to-back games and are now 4-0 in the ORVC. South Ripley is now a winner in three-straight against Southwestern, a conference and Class 2A Sectional 45 rival.
Both teams spent the first eight minutes getting a feel of each other but after that it was all South Ripley who soon embarked on a 28-19 run in the second quarter that saw 12 of those points come from the three-point line. The Raiders used an 18-11 spurt in the third frame to add to what had been a 13-point halftime lead and Southwestern (10-8, 4-1 ORVC) never recovered despite 26 points in the fourth frame.
A pair of Raiders put up 20-plus point performances, led by junior Drew Volz who scorched the nets for 28 points. Volz scored 15 points in the second quarter -nine points from the 3-point line- and had 22 points total in the first half. Eli Gilpin picked things up in the second half with 13 points and finished his evening with 22 points. He had nine points in the first quarter and 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Two other Raiders joined in double figures. Blake Gunter scored 14 points and Dylan Jessee added three 3-pointers en route to 11 points.
Four reached double figures for Southwestern. Quentin Lewis had 19 points and Brady Cook followed with 18 points. Caleb Goode and Braxton Lewis scored 12 points and 10 points respectively.
South Ripley (14-5) goes to battle tonight with South Dearborn at home.
TUESDAY’S BOYS BASKETBALL GAME
at Southwestern
SOUTH RIPLEY 85, SOUTHWESTERN 68
SR – 16. 28. 18. 23. – 85
SW – 12. 19. 11. 26. – 68
SOUTH RIPLEY (14-5, 4-0 ORVC) – Drew Volz 28, Eli Gilpin 22, Blake Gunter 14, Dylan Jessee 11, Mason Bascom 8, Bryson Sipples 2, Landon Werner 0.
SOUTHWESTERN (10-8, 4-1 ORVC) – Quentin Lewis 19, Brady Cook 18, Caleb Goode 12, Braxton Lewis 10, Jeter Chatham 4, Andrew Nussbaum 3, Luke Morrow 2.
3-Point Goals – SR 10 (Volz 4, Gilpin 3, Jessee 3) SW 9 (Q.Lewis 5, Cook 2, Goode 1, B.Lewis 1). Total Fouls – SR 12, SW 14. Free Throws – SR 11-18, SW 13-21. Fouled Out – SW: Nussbaum.
