Simon in at JCD, McNew exits SR
RIPLEY PUBLISHING FILE PHOTOS
Familiar faces will not be on the sidelines next year as long time friends Scott Smith and Matt McNew are exiting the Jac-Cen-Del and South Ripley girls basketball programs. Whether together or on opposite benches, the two delivered numerous championships to the area.
The girls basketball scene in Ripley County changed in a major way this past week after Jac-Cen-Del and South Ripley officially revealed shakeups inside both programs.
As anticipated, the legendary coaching career of Scott Smith came to a close at Jac-Cen-Del with his official resignation approved by the Jac-Cen-Del school board and coach-in-waiting Lily Simon has been named the heir to the Lady Eagle throne. In Versailles, Matt McNew has stepped down as varsity girls basketball coach at South Ripley.
When Coach Smith elected to return two seasons ago, we knew that two years was tops for the Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame member. After back-to-back sectional and regional championships during that span, it only added to his status as the most highly decorated head coach in Southeastern Indiana, regardless of sport.
Smith was hired as Jac-Cen-Del head coach prior to the start of the 2001-2002 season and his 23-year career comes to a close with a record of 423-151. Those 423 wins rank 24th all-time among Indiana high school girls basketball coaches and his postseason success rivals the legendary head coaches in the game. Smith’s Lady Eagle ball clubs not only produced 10 seasons of 20-plus wins, but also 18 Class A sectional titles, six regional crowns, a semi-state title and the Class A state championship in 2016.
His replacement, Simon, was a key cog for that state title team in 2016 and ranks second on the all-time career scoring list for the program. After a successful high school career translated into success playing basketball at the University of Findlay in Ohio, she returned to her alma mater and has found herself under the tutelage of Smith while also serving as a valuable asset on the bench these past two seasons during a pair of postseason runs.
Her knowledge of the game and her winning mentality should bode well for the Osgood faithful and allow for her to maintain the success of the program. Simon will return a pair of starters in Kelsey Borgman and Sophia Sullivan along with much of what came off the bench for the Lady Eagles this past season.
It is rather ironic that Smith’s resignation news happened the same week as Matt McNew’s as the two were longtime coaching buddies at Jac-Cen-Del during many of the already mentioned seasons for the Lady Eagles. McNew is now leaving South Ripley after five successful seasons at the helm.
McNew made the leap from Jac-Cen-Del to Versailles and took over the Lady Raiders for the 2019-2020 season. After a 10-15 mark kicked off his tenure, he would go on to post four-straight winning seasons which included three-straight Class 2A Sectional 45 championships from 2021 through 2023. This past season saw South Ripley finish 14-9 and win the Ripley County Tournament.
In five seasons with McNew, the Lady Raiders went 75-49. South Ripley has posted the opening for its varsity girls basketball coaching position and is currently accepting interested applicants.
The program will be without graduating seniors Reese Obendorf, Lydia Cornett, Suzie Gunter and Morgan Brightwell, but much like Jac-Cen-Del still returns key pieces from this past winter.
