Josh Barnett - Sports Editor

South Ripley honored their winter athletes at an awards banquet on Tuesday, March 16 in the high school cafeteria. The teams honored were boys and girls freshman, JV and Varsity teams and the varsity cheerleaders. Each team awarded at least one student with an award such as the Mental Attitude, Most Improved, Senior Scholastic and others.

Freshmen and Reserve Girls' Basketball

This year's reserve and freshman girls' basketball coach was Mark Downard. The reserve team finished with a record of 9-9 overall and 0-4 in the conference. The freshman team won the Batesville Tourney and the ORVC Tourney. The players who made up the teams were sophomores Josie Franklin, Bethany Vaughn, Jessica Yocum and Stephanie Miller. Freshmen Siera Groves, Sarah Hartman, Abbey Lemon, Ciara McGuire, Erica Pollard, Beth Stratton, Ashley Thomas and Erin Webster.

The JV and freshmen team gives away only one award which is the Mental Attitude Award. This years recipient of the Mental Attitude Award was freshman Ciara McGuire.

Girls' Varsity Basketball

Bill Snyder was the coach of the Varsity girls' basketball team which finished the season with an outstanding record of 18-4 overall and 6-0 in the conference. They were the ORVC Tourney Champs, the ORVC regular season champs and the Ripley County Champs. The team was made up of seniors Danielle Demaree, Jessi McConnell and

Leann Wilson, juniors Erin Collier and Julie Lipperd, sophomores Kristen Huss, Beth Thieman and Josie Franklin and freshmen Ciara McGuire, Erica Pollard and Ashley Thomas. Amy Hobbs, Courtney Snyder and Katy Espelage were the managers for this year's squad.

Five girls from SR made the All-County including Jessi McConnell, Julie Lipperd, Erin Collier, Leann Wilson and Kristen Huss. Lipperd was named the Tourney MVP. Three girls made the All-Conference team including Julie Lipperd, Jessi McConnell and Kristen Huss. Jessi McConnell also made the All-Sectional Team. Two records were broken this past season with Erin Collier setting the new single season assists mark at 138 and Julie Lipperd broke the single season Field Goal Percentage record by shooting 59.1%.

This year's award winners were Danielle Demaree- Senior Academic, Kristen Huss- Most Improved, Erin Collier- Assists Award, Leann Wilson- Best Defense, Julie Lipperd- Free Throw and Rebounds Awards and Jessi McConnell- Mental Attitude and the Ripley Publishing Company Girls Basketball Excellence Award.

Varsity Cheerleaders

Tammy Hartman was the coach of this year's Varsity Cheerleaders. They were the Pumpkin Show Cheerleading Contest Champions and placed second in the Swiss Wine Contest in Switzerland County. This year's squad was made up of seniors Leann Wilson, Jennifer Mann and Andrea Lauber, juniors Kristen Jolly, Liv Moistner, Casey Payne, Kelly Yocum and Ash
ley Burress, sophomores Bridgette Adams and Stephanie Miller and freshmen Erica Burress and Sarah Hartman.

Award winners for the cheerleaders were Kristen Jolly- Most Improved, Leann Wilson- Mental Attitude and Andrea Lauber- Senior Academic.

Freshmen Boys' Basketball

Scott Holdsworth, Jason Gambrell and Kendall Sheets all took turns coaching this year's boys' freshmen basketball team. They finished the season with a 3-15 record and were third in the ORVC Tournament. This year's team is made up of Chandler Stearns, Josh Cumberworth, Corey Yeomons, Skyler Yelton, Jordan Hendrix, Tim Burcham, Dustin Mathews, Greg Logman and Alex Judy.

The freshmen team gives only one award, which is the Mental Attitude Award. Tim Burchman was the winner of this year's Mental Attitude Award.

Boys' Reserve Basketball

This year's boys reserve team was coached by second year coach Kendall Sheets. They finished the season with a record of 11-8 overall and 4-2 in the conference, which was good enough for third place. The team was made up of juniors Jacob Lemon, Andrew Kreutzjans and Neil Bolton, sophomores Brandon Seabolt, AJ Phillippe, Michael Mathews, Justin Beach, Wes Messer and Travis Tapp and freshmen Corey Yeomans, Josh Cumberworth and Chandler Stearns.

The reserve team gives away just one award, which is the Mental Attitude Award. This year's recipient of the Mental Attitude Award was Wes Messer.
Boys' Varsity Basketball

The boys' varsity basketball team finished the season with a 17-8 overall record under coach Scott Holdsworth. They were 5-1 in the conference, which tied them for first place with Milan. They were the ORVC Tournament Champions and the Sectional Champions.

This year's squad was made up of freshman Michael Fear, sophomores Michael Mathews, AJ Phillippe and Brandon Seabolt, juniors Neil Bolton, Andrew Kreutzjans, Tony Lloyd, Jacob Lemon and Tyler Ester and seniors Joel Pflum, Josh Grossman and Chris Buchanan. Tyler Hensley and Paul Miller were the managers for the boys' basketball teams. Erin Collier and Jessi McConnell were the statisticians for the varsity team.

Three players were named to the All-County team including Chris Buchanan, Tyler Ester and Joel Pflum. Those same three were also named to the All-Sectional team with Buchanan and Pflum sharing Co-MVP honors. Joel Pflum was the only Raider named to the All-Conference Team. The team set a new school record for best defense average this past season. The Raiders held their opponents to just 47.2 points per game breaking the old record of 49.1.

This year's award winners were Josh Grossman- Senior Academic, Jacob Lemon- Most Improved, Tony Lloyd- Mental Attitude, Chris Buchanan- Co-Best Defense and Joel Pflum- Co-Best Defense, Assists, Free-Throw and Rebounds.

JOSH BARNETT PHOTO

Winter Sports Banquet Award Winners

Several athletes were presented with awards during the Winter Sports Banquet. Every student who participated in winter sports including boys and girls basketball and cheerleading was honored at the banquet. Award winners were front row: Ciara McGuire, Erin Collier, Julie Lipperd, Andrea Lauber, Leann Wilson, Kristen Huss and Danielle Demaree. Back row: Tim Burcham, Jessi McConnell, Wes Messer, Jacob Lemon, Joel Pflum Tony Lloyd, Josh Grossman and Chris Buchanan.