Senior Adam Clark had a pretty good night Saturday night.
First, he was selected as the first runner up for Switzerland County Homecoming King. He followed that up with a career-high 22 points – including the game winning basket with six second left – in leading the Pacers to a thrilling 50-49 victory over rival Rising Sun.
The win gave the young Pacers a three-game winning streak heading into this weekend’s road tests at New Washington and at South Ripley; and it raised the team’s overall record to 5-9, with a perfect 2-0 mark in ORVC play.
Adam Clark got the Pacers rolling by scoring the team’s first seven points; and when Quinn Meyer added his first basket of the contest, Switzerland County had moved out to an early 9-4 advantage.
Rising Sun got a pair of freethrows from Jake Willhite to cut the lead down to three; but the Pacers got another bucket from Quinn Meyer and a freethrow from Anthony Dennis to make the score 12-6 with three minutes to go.
After Jake Willhite scored again, Tyler Queen got a rebound put-back bucket for the Pacers; and that was followed by a basket from Alex Curran and a pair of freethrows from Keegan Kincaid, and Switzerland County had a 10-point lead.
A last-second three-pointer by Shiner Josh Uhlmansiek made the score 18-11 in favor of the Pacers at the first break.
Adam Clark went to work again as the second period opened, and his basket pushed the lead back to nine; and after Jake Willhite scored for Rising Sun, Adam Clark again flexed his muscle inside, scoring to keep the Shiners at bay.
Another Jake Willhite basket was trumped by a bucket from Keegan Kincaid; and Jake Willhite’s third straight bucket was negated by a pair of Keegan Kincaid freethrows. When Keegan Kincaid converted one freethrow moments later, Switzerland County again held a 10-point lead – 27-17 – with 4:48 to play.
That’s when the Rising Sun offense caught fire, as the Shiners scored nine straight points to draw back to within one.
Calling a timeout to steady his troops, Pacer coach B.J. McAlister chose a more methodical approach to the end of the half, and his team responded, as Keegan Kincaid and Alex Curran both had baskets in the final minute to play to give Switzerland County a 31-26 halftime advantage.
The third quarter opened with the Pacers getting baskets from Trevor Smith and Adam Clark to swell the lead to nine; but Rising Sun countered with buckets from Tyler Unger and Nathan Hannan.
Adam Clark then powered his way inside for two straight baskets that again put the lead at nine; and after Tyler Jones scored for the Shiners, Anthony Dennis hit a baseline jumper. Tyler Jones then closed the third stanza with a pair of freethrows, but that only cut the lead to seven, and it appeared that the Pacers were going to cruise to a Homecoming victory.
But not so fast.
Nathan Hannan opened the final quarter scoring with a three-pointer that drew the Shiners to within four; and after Alex Curran scored for the Pacers, Kreigh Liggett got free inside to make the score 43-39 in favor of the Pacers.
Again Switzerland County went inside to Adam Clark, and his bucket at the seven-minute mark got the lead back to six; but that’s when Rising Sun again made a run.
The Shiners got baskets from Tyler Jones, Kreigh Liggett, and Nathan Hannan over the next two minutes, and with five minutes to play, suddenly the game was tied at 45-45 and Coach McAlister was again calling a timeout to settle his squad.
Coming out of the timeout, Alex Curran scored to give the Pacers another lead; but Rising Sun followed that with a pair of baskets from Jake Willhite, and with 2:52 to play in the game, the Shiners held their first lead of the night, 49-47.
After another Switzerland County timeout, the Pacers poured the ball inside to Adam Clark, but he was hit with an offensive foul at the 2:19 mark, and the game was put in the hands of the Pacer defense.
With swarming pressure all over the court, Switzerland County forced a turnover when Shiner Tyler Jones fumbled the ball out of bounds.
Adam Clark was then fouled as he worked inside, and he converted one of the charities to cut the lead to one; and again it was the Pacer defense that stood tall and denied another Shiner point.
With 10-seconds remaining, Switzerland County worked the ball around, and when Keegan Kincaid’s shot bounced free, Adam Clark scooped up the rebound, and his put-back with six-seconds remaining gave Switzerland County another lead.
Jake Willhite’s jumper missed the mark at the buzzer, and the Pacers escaped with a 50-49 win.
Along with Adam Clark’s 22; the Pacers got nine points from Keegan Kincaid; eight from Alex Curran; four from Quinn Meyer; three from Anthony Dennis; and two each from Trevor Smith and Tyler Queen.
Jake Willhite led Rising Sun with 16 points; and Nathan Hannan was in double figures with 11.
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In the junior varsity contest, Rising Sun defeated Switzerland County 48-39.
Clint Swanson led the Pacers with 10 points, and he also had four steals and three rebounds.
Hunter Jordan had eight points; Braden Burk and Chase Ritch each finished with six points; and Alex Curran added five points. Anthony Dennis and Austin Clark each finished with two points.