South Ripley rallies in 4th to stun Switzerland, 31-29 | Sports
Switzerland County held three quarters of South Ripley. The Pacers’ defense pushed the Raiders at every turn, holding Ripley to just four field goals in 24 minutes while building a double-digit lead to have an Ohio River Valley Conference title firmly in sight.
But in no time everything was gone. South Ripley pulled off the mat, nearly shut out Switzerland County in fourth and came back with less than six minutes of play from 12 to stun the Pacers 31-29 in Vevay on Thursday.
The loss not only ended Switzerland County’s hopes for their first ORVC title since 2014, but also made next week’s potential rematch for a section championship all the more enticing.
“It was just because we were passive at the end of the game,” said Switzerland County coach Brooke Todd. “But as disappointed as I am, this is a team that’s learning from their mistakes and I think we’ll be ready next week.”
South Ripley (14-8, 5-0 ORVC) did everything to slow the pace of the game. The Raiders kept the ball as long as possible with each possession to keep Switzerland from switching, and the result was a three-point lead (14-11) for the Pacers at halftime.
Switzerland (16-6, 4-2 ORVC) seemed to take control in game three as the pace picked up slightly. The Pacers scored nine straight points – the last six with a pair of 3-pointers from Jessie Duvall – and extended the lead to 23-11, with the third remaining 3:08. Apart from a free throw from Emily Flood, South Ripley was kept scoreless in the frame.
The Pacers took that 23-12 lead into the fourth quarter, but instead of forcing the issue and knocking out the Raiders, Switzerland instead faltered and the result was disastrous.
Instead of thwarting the win, the slow seemed to energize the Raiders. Rachel Meyer hit a basket just under the six-minute mark – South Ripley’s first field goal in almost 14 minutes of play – and the Raiders went to the races. Flood followed with a basket, Mya McNew hit a bucket and Sarah Meyer and Rachel Meyer each lost 3 points as Ripley took a 24-23 lead.
Four more points from Gracie Gunter — two from a basket and two from free throws — capped a 17-0 run for South Ripley that gave the Raiders their biggest lead of the game, 28-23 with 58.5 seconds left.
Maddie Duvall finally ended Switzerland’s 10-minute goal drought with a 3-pointer, drilling another three from a Sarah Meyer free throw at the other end to level the game 29-29 with 15 seconds remaining.
Duvall then attempted to steal McNew’s inbounds pass but ended up fouling instead and McNew immediately hit both free throws to put the Raiders two ahead. Switzerland then turned the ball over as it hurtled towards the ground and failed to stop the clock with a foul in the final seconds as Ripley walked away with the win.
Todd raged at her team’s lack of execution late in the game, but she was also pragmatic.
“The things that we saw tonight are fixable and that’s what we’re going to do,” Todd said. “You don’t like losing games and yes that would have been for the conference title but we would have shared it with two other teams. It’s about fixing what we did wrong, not changing who we are and getting ready for next week and I think we’ll be ready.
Maddie Duvall and Jessie Duvall each scored 12 points to lead Switzerland and Jessie added four steals and four deflections. Halle Archer had three points and Kenzie Taylor had two points and had three steals and four rebounds.
Flood scored 10 points while Rachel Meyer and Sarah Meyer each added six points to lead South Ripley.
South Ripley hosts Southwestern today and can win the ORVC title straight away with a win. A loss to the Raiders and Ripley shares the crown with Class A No. 6 Jac-Cen-Del (17-6, 5-1 ORVC).
Switzerland County is now turning its attention to the IHSAA Class 2A Sectional at Southwestern. The Pacers will face South Decatur in the opening round on Tuesday.