The Raiders made the half hour trip south tonight for a ORVC macthup against Shawe Memorial. South Ripley came in as favorites and jumped out as such early, 17-0. From that point on the Hilltoppera actually played them even outscoring them by 1. SR is without two of their top 7 kids, junior Drew Volz and freshman Chancie Volz (brothers). 3 sport Hilltopper senior star, Philip Kahn came into the game leading the conference in scoring and increased his average tonight. South Ripley's inside- outside junior duo of Cole Henry and Blaine Ward led the Raiders offensively as well.  The Hilltoppers hung around and put up a good fight despite their slow start to bring the lead down to 11 at one point but could never quite get it into single digits. SR cruised their way to a 78-62 win putting Henry, Ward, and sophomore Bryson Sipples in double figures.

● 6'6 Raider junior Cole Henry led the Raiders in scoring tonight with 23 pts and recorded a double double with rebounds. Henry is a long and athletic kid that is just now scratching the surface of how good he can become. He can stretch the floor from the outside as well at this level go inside and finish over top of the defense. I would like to see him tighten up his handles and create for himself off the dribble going into next year. A summer with a very high level aau team should do wonders for his recruitment and development. Cole has recently heard from schools such as Wright State, Belmont, and Huntington. He is also within 100 pts of hitting 1000 for his career.

● 6'1 SR guard Blaine Ward can certainly light it up offensively when he gets going as well. Him and Cole should really appreciate each other's game because they compliment each other so well on the floor. If teams double down, Ward has volleyball range from the outside and well as the quickness to get to the basket where he is a crafty finisher. Ward's had multiple anticipation steals tonight and fast breaks. There's no reason these two shouldn't lead SR to being considered favorites come sectional time. Ward finished with 16 pts.

● The star of the night was wearing Shawe green and gold, 6'2 senior guard Philip Kahn seemed unstoppable on the offensive end. Kahn was getting baskets going to the rim, from the free throw line, and from deep. He obviously gets the attention from defenses every night and still averages 25+. Tonight Kahn made 25 look pedestrian. He went off for a Shawe single game high of 49 points. Kahn would start for every area school down this way but is playing for thr school where his dad is a top 5 all time leading scorer and current principal. I believe Kahn has a shot to make a HCAC roster next year if he chooses in basketball.

South Ripley has the tough part of their schedule coming up, starting at Lawrenceburg this Saturday. Shawe goes to Rising Sun on Friday for another conference showdown.

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