Sophomore Aleiah Thomas broke out with another outstanding game on Tuesday night, finishing with 24 points; but it wasn’t enough as the Switzerland County Lady Pacers fell to Owen County, Kentucky, by a final score of 55-48.
The night was a varsity-only event, and the first quarter was again a close one, as Owen County worked against the Lady Pacer defense for 12 points; while Switzerland County managed 10 on their offensive end of the floor.
Thomas got off to a hot start, scoring five points on a three-point play and two freethrows; while Lexi Lay connected on a three-pointer and Jody Breeck added a basket.
Owen County rode the hot hands of Destine Epperson and Lexie Moore early, as the duo accounted for eight points.
The second quarter was where the game was decided, as Owen County posted 18 points over the eight-minute stretch, while Switzerland County saw its offense hit a frigid spell, scoring just six.
Keirstan Oeffinger, Thomas, and Breeck each accounted for baskets in the quarter.
Epperson had eight points in the quarter; while Moore added six more, and at the break the Lady Rebels held a 30-16 lead.
As cold as the Switzerland County offense was in the second quarter, it was blistering coming out of the halftime break, as the Lady Pacers posted 18 points in the period while holding Owen County to just 14.
Thomas was on fire, scoring 12 points on her own to nearly match the Owen County output. The sophomore had five field goals and a couple of freethrows in the run; and was aided by another three-pointer by Lay and a three-pointer by Kinsley Griffith.
With a quarter to play, Switzerland County had battled back to give themselves a shot at a victory, down 10, 44-34.
The hot Switzerland County play continued in the final stanza, as the Lady Pacers again outscored their guests, this time by a 14-11 count – but it wasn’t enough to overcome the second quarter hole, and the Lady Pacers went down to their eighth defeat in nine games, 55-48.
Thomas had five points in the quarter on a three-pointer and a field goal; while Lay added four more on a bucket and a pair of freethrows. Calleigh Powell had four points to two field goals; and Griffith added a freethrow.
Wins and losses don’t tell the whole story of this team, as the young squad – which has had to overcome the loss of last year’s starting center, Rylee Hankins, for the year due to a knee injury in the fall – has been coming together and fighting hard, but have continued to fall just short early in the year.
On Tuesday night, Thomas had two rebounds and three assists to go with her game-high 24 points; while Lay was in double figures with 10 points, and also contributed two points and two assists.
Griffith had four points, three rebounds, and two steals; Breeck had four points and three rebounds; and Powell had four points. Oeffinger had two points and three assists.
Owen County was led by Moore with 18 and Epperson with 15.
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Switzerland County looks to get on track this Saturday night, as the team travels to Shawe for a varsity-only match up at 6:30 p.m. Then it’s a road game at South Ripley on December 12th before the team returns home to take on Southwestern on December 16th.