| 12/12/2009 9:00:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Shawe’s Michael Kring (24) goes high in attempt to stop the drive of South Ripley’s Chase Grider during Friday’s game. Kring scored a game-high 19 points but Ripley came back from nine down to post a 57-54 win. (Staff photo by David Campbell) |
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Hilltoppers let Raiders rally to 57-54 win
Shawe coach Bomholt once again denied 400th career win
David Campbell
Courier Sportswriter
Shawe had South Ripley right where it wanted it, down by nine and in foul trouble on the road.
But the visiting Raiders fought through the adversity and took advantage of Shawe to leave Madison with a 57-54 Ohio River Valley Conference boys basketball win on Friday.
Shawe (3-2, 1-2 ORVC) was seemingly in complete control midway through the third quarter. Junior guard Nico Mingione was shredding the South Ripley zone and two Brandon Scroggins free throws gave the Hilltoppers a 39-30 lead with 4:27 left in the third.
But Ripley recovered, cutting the lead to three by the end of the quarter before the Raiders took control of the game in the fourth by going on an early 9-0 lead to seize a 47-43 lead with 4:16 to play. Shawe fought back and stayed within striking distance, but never led again.
For Shawe coach Jerry Bomholt, the outcome was easy to decipher. While still leading in the fourth quarter, his Hilltoppers suddenly fell apart.
"There was a five possession sequence in the fourth quarter where we missed a one-and-one (free throw), we had three turnovers and we made a basket," said Bomholt, who with the loss remains stuck on a 399 career wins. "We knew it was going to be tough to win. We knew we had to get ahead and try to spread. We only missed two free throws, but we missed them at inopportune times."
The much bigger Raiders (3-1, 1-0 ORVC) had the obvious advantage in size with three players at least 6-foot-6. But for most of the game, the smaller Hilltoppers negated that advantage to remain in control.
Shawe shredded the Ripley zone defense, knocking down 10 3-pointers on the night. Half of those treys came from Mingione, who camped in the corner of the floor and fired away each time he got the ball.
Primarily because of Mingione's lethal shooting, Ripley was forced to switch to a man-to-man defense. Initially, the move seemed to backfire with the Raiders quickly getting into foul trouble. But as the game wore on, the man defense did its job.
Mingione did not score again after the switch to the man and points were hard to come by for the Hilltoppers as a whole. On the other side of the ball, Ripley came alive, led by 6-foot-6 reserve Thad Flemming who came off the bench and took over the game.
Flemming had six points in the first half and added three more in the third quarter, but then scored nine straight in the fourth to give the Raiders the lead for good. It was nothing fancy by Flemming. The big senior simply backed his way into the post and took advantage of the smaller Hilltoppers for easy baskets.
Two Flemming free throws followed by two freebies by Brian Thomas gave Ripley a 51-45 lead with 47 seconds left to play. After trading baskets, Shawe caught a break when the Raiders missed two free throws and the Hilltoppers' Michael Kring was fouled with 4.4 seconds left. Kring hit two shots to close the lead to 55-54.
Sam Stratton hit two free throws with 3.9 seconds left to push the Raider lead back to three before Kring's halfcourt heave bounced off the rim to end the game.
Shawe shot 45.5 percent (15-for-33) compared to 46.2 percent (18-of-39) for the Raiders. The Hilltoppers had two more turnovers than Ripley (10-8) while the Raiders won the rebounding battle easily 27-17.
But to Bomholt, the difference in the game was in the post. Led by Flemming's team-high 18 points and seven rebounds, the Raiders dominated the Hilltoppers inside all night.
"We had 10 turnovers in the game and six came by one of our post players," Bomholt said. "And our two post guys combined for eight points and one rebound. We have to have more than that."
Both Mingione and Kring finished with 19 points to lead all scorers. Kring also had seven rebounds and five assists.
Shawe will attempt to end its two-game losing streak - and finally give Bomholt his 400th-career win - next Friday at Crothersville.
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at Madison
SOUTH RIPLEY 57, SHAWE 54
SOUTH RIPLEY 14 13 11 19 - 57
SHAWE 17 14 10 13 - 54
SOUTH RIPLEY (3-1, 1-0 ORVC) - Fleming 18, (g)Thomas 13, (g)Grider 11, (g)Walters 8, (c)Mayes 5, Stratton 2, (f)Tucker 0, Grossman 0, Hartman 0, Huss 0.
SHAWE (3-2, 1-2 ORVC) - (g)Mingione 19, (g)Kring 19, (g)Jones 5, (f)Scroggins 4, Armstrong 4, Grote 3, (f)Higbie 0.
3-Point Goals - South Ripley 4 (Walters 2, Thomas 1, Grider 1), Shawe 10 (Mingione 5, Kring 3, Grote 1, Jones 1). Rebounds - South Ripley 27 (Flemming 7), Shawe 17 (Kring 7). Assists - South Ripley 8 (Grider 4), Shawe 11 (Kring 5). Turnovers - South Ripley 8, Shawe 10. Total Fouls - South Ripley 15, Shawe 15. Free Throws - South Ripley 17-23 (73.9%), Shawe 14-16 (87.5%). Fouled Out - None. Next Game - South Ripley travels to South Decatur today. Shawe travels to Crothersville Friday.
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