Raiders 7th Grade is ORVC Champs

Submitted Photo

South Ripley Junior High coaches Rodney Gullion and David Swingle lead the 7th grade group to an ORVC Tournament championship last weekend.

South Ripley’s seventh grade boys basketball team added another early season championship to the cause as the Raiders claimed the Ohio River Valley Conference Tournament title to the arsenal this past weekend in Versailles.

The Raiders started their conference tournament journey with a convincing 49-19 win over Southwestern (Hanover) before moving into the semifinal round, beating Jac-Cen-Del by a 45-31 score. Drew Volz led South Ripley in the opening round with 14 points while Eli Gilpin added nine points and Riley Lannan scored eight points in the game. Brogan Buchanan led the way against the Eagles with 15 points while Volz added 13 in the semifinal.

Jac-Cen-Del got 14 points out of Blake Wagner in the game against South Ripley.

South Ripley made quite the comeback in the championship tilt, erasing a seven-point deficit to defeat Switzerland County 45-43 in the title game. Volz again led with 14 points while Gilpin added 11 points. Buchanan hit three 3-pointers in the first half and finished with nine points.

Southwestern (Hanover) won the eighth grade tournament to earn bragging rights in the ORVC.