Lady Eagles get past first round of Ripley Co. Tourney with 31 point victory over Milan

Josh Barnett - Sports Editor

Jac-Cen-Del's girls basketball team kicked off the 2005 Ripley County Tournament with a lopsided 57-26 victory over the Milan Lady Indians in the first game of the tourney on Tuesday night. With the win the Lady Eagles advanced to the championship game where they will play South Ripley who won the second game of the first round.

The two teams scored back and forth early to keep the game close with Lacee Alloway hitting a field goal to tie the score at 5-5. From there the Eagles went on to outscore the Indians 8-2 to end the quarter with a 13-7 lead.

In the second quarter JCD continued to pour it on the Lady Indians pushing their advantage to double-digits when they took a 20-10 lead midway through the quarter. Milan didn't score again in the quarter as the Eagles pushed their lead to 21 points. At the end of the first half the Lady Eagles were winning 31-10.

Jac-Cen-Del held Milan to just three points in the third quarter as they pushed their lead to 32 points. Going into the fourth quarter the Eagles were leading 45-13.

The fourth quarter marked the first time the Lady Indians outscored the Lady Eagles in the contest. Milan added 13 points to their total while Jac-Cen-Del added 12 to make the final score 57-26.

"I was very pleased with the way the kids picked each other up to
night," stated JCD coach Scott Smith, "We got great production from our bench (25 points) and all the kids played solid defense."

Emily Einhaus led JCD with a double-double performance scoring 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. Traci Siebert was the only other Eagle to score double-digits finishing the game with 10 points. Erika Simon and Amanda Harmeyer both scored 8 points and Abby Rohlfing and Alisha Lord both chipped in 5 points each.

For the Indians Kiley MacVey was the only player to reach double-digit scoring with 15 points. Shayna Gerster and Lacee Alloway scored 3 points apiece and Katie Volz and Cassie Billingsley chipped in 2 points each.

Jac-Cen-Del will be playing for the championship against South Ripley in the second game Friday night. Milan will be playing against Batesville in the consolation game on Friday night, that game is scheduled to start at 6:00 pm with the championship game following.

Lady Raiders blow past host school Batesville in first round of the Ripley Co. Tourney

Josh Barnett - Sports Editor

South Ripley's girls basketball team picked up a decisive win in the second game of the first round of the Ripley County Tournament. The Lady Raiders defeated Batesville 61-40 to advance to the championship
game where they will be taking on Jac-Cen-Del.

The Lady Raiders opened the game up with a 10-0 run holding Batesville scoreless until the final :30 of the first quarter when the Bulldogs Dana Smith hit a three-pointer to end the drought. South Ripley scored again and Smith hit a last second
bomb to end the quarter at 12-6 in favor of the Raiders.

Batesville cut in to the lead early coming as close as one point, but it was the closest they would get to the lead. South Ripley went on to outscore the Lady Bulldogs 14-9 in the second quarter to take a double-digit lead going into halftime. At the end of the first half South Ripley was leading 26-15.

South Ripley put the game out of reach in the third quarter when they added 23 points to their total while holding Batesville to just 11. Going into the final quarter the Lady Raiders were leading 49-26.

In the fourth quarter the Lady Raiders scored 8 of their 12 points from the free-throw line connecting on 8 of 11 free-throws in the quarter. Batesville outscored South Ripley for the first time in the game in the fourth quarter with 14 points, but it was to little to late as the Raiders grabbed the 61-40 victory.

Two Raiders finished the contest with a double-double. Julie Lipperd had a team high 17 points and 14 rebounds and Erin Collier had 14 points and 10 assists. Ciara McGuire also scored double-digits with 12 points and had a team high 7 steals. Beth Thieman and Kristen Huss both chipped in 5 points.

Dana Smith led Batesville with 18 points followed by Carrie Giltz with 12 and Cara Hartman with 6.

South Ripley will be taking on Jac-Cen-Del in the championship game looking to win their third straight Ripley County Tournament on Friday night. Batesville will be taking on Milan in the consolation game on Friday night. That game is scheduled to start at 6:00 pm with the championship game shortly following.