Seven to be Inducted into Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame

The inductees will be honored January 10 and 11.

(Ripley County, Ind.) - Seven individuals make up the Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2026. 

The inductees will be recognized in between the consolation and championship games of the Ripley County Boys Basketball Tournament on Saturday, January 10 at Batesville High School. 

An official induction dinner and banquet will be held on Saturday, April 11 at the Tyson Activity Center in Versailles.

Bios for each inductee, put together by Rob Lafary, can be read below

Ted Ahaus (South Ripley)

The 1980’s and South Ripley boys basketball went hand-in-hand and a dominant era of hoops for the green and white was kickstarted by head coach Ted Ahaus.

After three years at the junior varsity ranks, Coach Ahaus took the reins of the varsity program beginning in the fall of 1978 from prior head coach Stan Weber and finished his tenure in 1985 with an overall record of 80-73. In those seven years, the Raiders were not only a three-time Ohio River Valley Conference champion, but also boasted two of the school’s greatest teams. The 1981 version of the green and white took home county and ORVC titles before beating Batesville, Jac-Cen-Del and Milan to win the single-class sectional championship. One week later, South Ripley would clip both Greensburg and Lawrenceburg at the Spartan Bowl in Connersville to hoist a regional trophy for the first time since 1970. It remains just one of two regional crowns in program history.

Coach Ahaus’s team would march to the semi-state at Hinkle Fieldhouse, falling to Shenandoah in game one which wrapped up an incredible 21-5 campaign. One season later, the Raiders shocked many by beating Jac-Cen-Del and East Central to win a second-straight sectional title after entering the postseason with just a 10-10 overall record. South Ripley then took Lawrenceburg to triple overtime in the Connersville Regional before falling to the Tigers in the semifinals.

Away from basketball, Coach Ahaus served 12 years as South Ripley’s varsity baseball coach and led that program to two conference championships and a pair of sectional titles in 1981 and 1987. He also served in administrative roles inside the school corporation for a combined 25 years which included time as athletic director, assistant principal, principal and superintendent. A 1970 graduate of North Dearborn High School, Mr. Ahaus was an inaugural inductee into the East Central Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014 and was also a member of the inaugural Hall of Fame class at Marian College in 1999 after a collegiate baseball career at the school which saw him set several school records, be named a three-time Team MVP and a member of the 1974 NAIA All-America Team.

Mr. Ahaus in 2025 also was recognized alongside his son Steve as members of the next induction class to the South Ripley Athletic Hall of Fame. Coach Ahaus and his wife Vicki also have two daughters, Lisa (Ahaus) Guthrie and Beth (Ahaus) Brewer and the family continues to be a supporter of high school athletics in Ripley County.

Matt Callen (Milan)

Milan boys basketball had been without a sectional championship for 14 years but that all changed when head coach Randy Combs brought to the forefront an exceptional group of young men on the basketball court, one of which was Matt Callen.

A three-time All-ORVC selection, Callen’s prowess on offense made Milan one of the state’s top teams in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. A 2000 graduate, Callen helped lead the black and gold to a 1999 Class A sectional championship over Jac-Cen-Del, the same sectional in which he was named MVP of the tournament, and followed it up with a drubbing of Southwestern (Shelby) to win the program’s first regional crown since 1973. Despite the Indians falling by only four points in the semifinal of the semi-state to Tecumseh, Callen and company’s return for a senior year in 2000 made for high hopes for the tribe.

After a magical 1999 season that saw all the accolades even with a final record of 12-13, Milan was ranked as high as No. 2 in Class A in 2000 en route to an ORVC championship but an upset loss in the sectional to rival Jac-Cen-Del extinguished those high hopes for a state title. However, what a career it would be for Callen as he made his exit from the program after a 19-3 senior season. Callen finished his time in Milan ranked first on the career assists list with 319, fifth on the all-time scoring list with 1,108 points and was a First Team Academic All-State selection while being named a Top 100 player in the state in 2000.

Callen in the classroom served as Milan’s valedictorian in 2000 and that honor would follow him to Franklin College where he would be class valedictorian in 2004. He now resides in the Indianapolis area and maintains a successful career in business and software.

Terry Giesting (Batesville)

While South Ripley perhaps was known as the area’s boys basketball team of the 80’s, the 1970’s was dominated by the Batesville Bulldogs and a part of that final group in 1979 was Terry Giesting.

Finishing his senior year in 1979 as Batesville’s Co-Team MVP alongside Bill Wanstrath, Giesting helped pace Batesville to a 9-0 start during the 78-79 season, eventually finishing 18-5. That 18th victory, a one-point sectional championship win over Milan, solidified Giesting’s importance to the ball club and his performance for the week gave him Sectional MVP honors. While the Bulldogs would fall the following weekend in the regional semifinal to Lawrenceburg, Giesting’s final day in blue and white was enough to land him on the All-Regional Team.

In addition to his postseason honors, Giesting was an All-EIAC selection and averaged 18 points per game for the final 15 games of the season including a career-high 31 points at Lawrenceburg. His 201 rebounds averaged out to 9 boards per night and he was among area leaders with a 56 percent shooting clip from the field and an 82 percent mark at the free throw line.

Majoring in Tool and Die, Giesting took his basketball talents to Jordan College in Cedar Springs, Mich. and was named Team MVP during his tenure, highlighted by a season in which the Suns finished 18-15 overall. Giesting that year averaged 15 points per game and led the team in scoring and rebounding.

Giesting returned to Batesville after college and has been a staple in the community ever since, having coached youth basketball at St. Louis and Batesville while raising his sons, Tyler and Chris. He also initiated the Batesville Basketball Alumni Golf Outing beginning in 2012 and most recently joined the Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame Board of Directors in 2022. He currently serves as vice-president of the board and maintains the organization’s website and annual visual presentations. 

Terry is currently employed at Batesville Tool and Die where he has been employed since his college graduation. He has worked in roles as a designer and Continuous Improvement Manager.

Larry Grills (Sunman)

Whether it was playing hoops at the farm as a kid using a goal nailed to a utility pole in the barn lot or the likes of Bob Raver and Bob Crowell driving him to the gym because of family members tending to that same farm, there was no question that the late Larry Grills loved the game of basketball and it showed as he became a star in the 1960’s for the Sunman Tigers.

An all-around player with a knack for scoring the basketball, Grills played all four years of high school hoops for the Tigers and eventually put together two full varsity seasons during his junior and senior years. In those two years alone, he amassed 589 points and became just one of 10 players in Sunman history to score more than 500 points for their career. Of those 10, Grills now becomes the 8th to be inducted into the Ripley County Basketball Hall of Fame. He scored 212 points during the 1962-1963 season that saw Sunman win the Ripley County Tournament and he followed it with 377 points his senior season which amounted to an 18 point average, an impressive feat given the time period.

Despite a one-point loss in overtime to eventual sectional champion Holton in 1964, Grills’ final game saw him pour in a career-high 32 points. Grills, who also lettered in track and baseball, was named a Sunman Team MVP, All-County, All-Conference and All-Sectional in his time donning a Tiger uniform. After graduating from Sunman, Grills enlisted in the Army National Guard until a medical discharge gave way to a very successful career in the work force.

Grills began his career at Cummins but the life of a truck driver soon intrigued him and Larry would drive for over 25 years for Hill-Rom in Batesville. In 1971, he married his high school sweetheart GeGe Lattire and the two were blessed with sons Lonnie and Tom, both of whom have found ways to follow in their father’s footsteps. Larry passed away in 2012 at the age of 67 after a long battle with injury and cancer but not before fulfilling a life dedicated to work, family and the game of basketball.

Abby (Kirschner) Gesell (Batesville)

Batesville girls basketball has always had a rich tradition of championship success and under that umbrella was Abby Kirschner who helped maintain such a tradition in the 1990s under Hall of Fame player and coach, Donna Hoeing.

A four-year varsity player under Coach Hoeing, Kirschner and the Lady Bulldogs were sectional champions in 1992, 1993 and 1994 and followed it up with a sectional runner-up finish in 1995. Abby was named All-County, All-EIAC and All-Sectional in both 1994 and 1995, and rightfully so given the contributions she gave to Batesville girls basketball. The 1993-1994 season saw her average a near double-double of 8.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game along with 2 blocks a night. That double-double feat would be achieved during her senior season, averaging 11.3 points and 11.2 rebounds while her block total inched up to three blocks per game.

Abby finished as Batesville’s career leader in blocks at 168, graduated ranked fifth all-time with 683 rebounds and was named a 40 & 8 All-Star in 1995. Away from the hardwood, she was also a four-year varsity letterwinner for the Batesville volleyball program and was a two-time selection to the All-County, All-EIAC and All-Sectional teams. Kirschner was the EIAC Volleyball Co-MVP in 1994. She would embark on a four-year collegiate basketball career at Lewis University, an NCAA Division II University.

Abby married Mike Gesell and the couple resides in Batesville with their children Sophie, Molly and Nolan, all of whom are continuing basketball careers. A youth league and travel coach, Abby has given back to the community through both ventures and is a founding member of the Batesville Girls Basketball Association where she currently serves as president. The organization is dedicated to building up a love for the game of basketball for the young ladies of Batesville while also furthering the fundamental development as players.

Ray Tebbe (Batesville)- Meritorious Service Award Winner

The game of basketball has been blessed with many friends but a select group can call themselves a friend and ambassador. Ray Tebbe is among that select group.

A 1970 graduate of Batesville High School, Tebbe played three seasons of varsity basketball for the Bulldogs but his true calling out on the court would come 11 years later when he would begin his journey as a basketball official. Three years later, in 1984, Tebbe officiated his first varsity basketball game, a contest between Elkhart Central and Concord which featured future NBA All-Star Shawn Kemp. Six years later, Ray was on the floor and in stripes when Indiana hoops legend Damon Bailey broke the state’s career scoring record at the 1990 boys basketball regional at Seymour. Both moments have always been regarded by Ray as some of his fondest memories as an official.

And Tebbe has had plenty to choose from after serving as an official for 31 years in both basketball and football. During that span, he has officiated 28 basketball state tournaments, six boys basketball state finals, three girls basketball state finals, three football state finals and has served on officiating crews for five Hall of Fame Classic Tournaments at New Castle. He was also an official for the 1999 NCAA Division III Football National Championship. Given those credentials, it is no surprise that Ray was named the IHSAA’s Official of the Year for the 1996-1997 school year, received the Roy Gardner Award from the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association in 2012 and was an Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Center Circle recipient in 2015.

Ray served as president of the Indiana Officials Association in 1991 and 1992. A graduate of Ball State University and a former educator Shelbyville, Tebbe spent many years in the daytime as an operations manager at Carrier Corp. He and his wife Denise have been married for over 40 years and have two daughters, Karen and Sara. We thank Ray for his service to high school athletics.

Roger Toops (Jac-Cen-Del)

Jac-Cen-Del basketball and Hall of Fame head coach Dave Porter go hand-in-hand. When it comes to Coach Porter’s championship program during his time in Osgood, of course there’s a lot of conversations to be had about his teams and some of the best guard play the county has ever seen. One of those guards was Roger Toops.

Toops played three years of varsity basketball for Coach Porter but many will remember him best for his play during the 1971-1972 season in which Jac-Cen-Del boasted one of its most talented backcourts in program history. The Eagles were Ripley County and ORVC champions during the regular season and then captured the 1972 sectional championship over Batesville, marking the sixth sectional crown under Porter’s leadership. Toops scored 23 points in that win against the Bulldogs and was named to the All-Sectional Team.

One week later in the regional semifinals against Lawrenceburg, Toops sank two free throws in the final seconds to clinch the Eagles a 66-64 victory over the Tigers. Jac-Cen-Del lost to the eventual undefeated state champions in Connersville that night in the regional championship, wrapping up a 19-6 season that saw the Eagle offense average 78 points per game. Following the postseason, Roger earned the team’s Hustler Award, Free Throw Award and Assists Award. He scored 207 points in his senior year which came out to an average of 11 points per game and was named a 40 & 8 All-Star.

Toops was also an exceptional cross country and track competitor at Jac-Cen-Del, helping lead both programs to conference championships. He was also named Most Valuable Runner and succeeded in both running events and the pole vault. Following high school, Roger returned to the family farm and operated it with his dad and brothers. His love for farming continues to this day and he also has spent several years as a welder.

Roger is married to his wife Terri and the couple has four children. He is a member of the Hopewell Baptist Church and currently owns and operates Toops Farms LLC.