Preview: South Ripley Raiders vs. Jac-Cen-Del Eagles
The South Ripley Raiders will be playing in front of their home fans against the Jac-Cen-Del Eagles at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Hopefully South Ripley focused on turnovers this week since the team gave up 23 on Thursday.
South Ripley suffered their closest defeat yet this season on Thursday. They fell just short of Southwestern by a score of 50-48. South Ripley found out winning isn't easy when you don't work as a unit and rack up seven fewer assists than your opponent.
The match pitted two dominant guards against one another in Reese Obendorf and Ashley Fulton. Fulton had a solid game and scored ten points along with seven rebounds and five assists. Meanwhile, Obendorf was balling out in the loss, scoring 18 points along with five rebounds.
Meanwhile, Jac-Cen-Del waltzed into their match on Thursday with four straight wins but they left with five. They enjoyed a cozy 58-39 win over Rising Sun. Given Jac-Cen-Del's advantage in MaxPreps' Indiana basketball rankings (they are ranked 102nd, while Rising Sun is ranked 290th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Jac-Cen-Del's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Julia Meyer led the charge by scoring 15 points along with two steals. Another player making a difference was Sophia Sullivan, who scored 15 points along with five rebounds.
South Ripley's defeat ended a three-game streak of wins at home and dropped them to 13-7. As for Jac-Cen-Del, they have been performing incredibly well recently as they've won 12 of their last 14 games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-4 record this season.
Tuesday's matchup is shaping up to be a masterclass in shooting: South Ripley have been dynamite from deep this season, having made 38.2% of their threes per game. However, it's not like Jac-Cen-Del struggles in that department as they've drained 37.2% of their threes per game this season. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
South Ripley ended up a good deal behind Jac-Cen-Del in their previous meeting back in November of 2023, losing 41-22. Will South Ripley have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check back here after the action for a full breakdown and analysis of the contest.
