SILOAM SPRINGS - The Siloam Springs School Board on Thursday approved the hiring of Tim Rippy to be the next girls’ basketball coach.

Rippy has been the girls’ basketball coach at Gentry for the past six seasons, where he compiled an 89-89 overall record and took the Lady Pioneers to four regional tournaments and two state tournaments in Class 4A.

Rippy is replacing Brett Sanders, who left Siloam Springs after one season in which the Lady Panther went 12-14 overall, 5-9 in the 7A/6A-West Conference and lost in the first round of the Class 6A State Tournament.

Gentry went 13-19 in its final season under Rippy, but got hot late in the season and made the 4A North Regional Tournament championship. The Lady Pioneers advanced to the Class 4A State Tournament, where they lost to Star City in the quarterfinals.

Before taking the job at Gentry in 2007, Rippy was the girls’ basketball coach at Springdale Central.

Rippy comes from a basketball coaching family.

His father is Ron Rippy, the longtime coach at Ozark who will be inducted into the Arkansas High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame on July 12 at the annual Hall of Fame banquet in North Little Rock. Ron Rippy won state titles at Ozark in 1998, 2000 and 2001.

News, Pages 5 on 05/15/2013