After trailing 20-18 at the half, North Decatur came out of the locker room to outscore the Lady Raiders 21-6 in the third quarter. They extended the lead the final eight minutes to post a 50-31 victory.

“We just didn’t play very smart in the first half,” said Coach Julie Record. “We kept making poor decision after decision. Poor decisions passing, poor decisions shooting and poor decisions on defense.”

At halftime, Record spent a little time motivating.

“I tried a different strategy,” Record said. “I didn’t yell. I know the people that have most control of a game are on the court. I told them ‘It was up to them how this thing comes out.’ We started to play better in the final four minutes and made 21 points in the quarter.”

The Chargers were led by Katie Gahimer who scored 11 of her 13 points in the third period. Hannah Gauck contributed as well as she matched the total by South Ripley in the third period.

Sarah Wallpe led all scorers with 14 points while Ericka Ester posted 11 points for South Ripley. Gahimer, Gauck and Jill Hammersmith all had four assists for the Chargers while that trio had four, three and two steals, respectively.

The Chargers ended the game playing the way they should play, according to Record.

“I think that the last four minutes of the game we played like we should be playing,” Record said. “If we play that way for four quarters, we will be able to stay with anyone. We have to stay focused.”

The junior varsity continued to have difficulty scoring as South Ripley posted a 26-11 victory.

Heather Hayden led the Chargers with six points while Ericka Smith and Michelle Trenkamp added 3 and 2, respectively.

Box score.

North Decatur 50, South Ripley 31

Score by periods:

South Ripley 9 11 6 5 31