Aleiah Thomas scored 16 points as eight different Lady Pacers dented the scoring column in a 54-47 road victory on Saturday night at Henryville.
The fourth quarter was the big difference in the game, as Switzerland County broke out from a close contest to score 25 points in the final stanza to pull ahead for the win.
The first quarter was closely contested, with the Lady Pacers outscoring the Lady Hornets 14-12. Keirstan Oeffinger led the way for Switzerland County with six points; while Maddie Duvall and Jessie Duvall each had a three-pointer and Jaden Harrell connected on a field goal. Allison Horn led Henryville in the first quarter, scoring seven points.
The second quarter saw Henryville pull out to a lead, outscoring Switzerland County 14-7 to carry a 26-21 advantage into the halftime break.
Riley Hunn did most of the damage for Henryville, scoring 13 points; while the Lady Pacers got points in the quarter from Aleiah Thomas with four points on two field goals; and Josie Meyer had a three-pointer.
Down by five to open the third period, the closely contested game stayed that way, with each team scoring eight points.
Thomas drilled a couple of three-pointers to pace Switzerland County, and Maddie Duvall hit the other field goal. Hunn and Horn each had four points in the period for Henryville.
Opening the final quarter still down by five, 34-29, the Lady Pacer offense caught fire in the final eight minutes, scoring 25 points to nearly match their output from the first three quarters.
Much of the damage came from the freethrow line, as Switzerland County was 14-for-19 from the line in the period, and were 16-for-22 for the game from the charity stripe.
Senior center Rylee Hankins was almost unstoppable in the final stanza, as she scored nine points to take control of the paint. Thomas had six points in the quarter, including four from the freethrow line; and Lexi Lay had five points — all from the freethrow line. Josie Meyer hit a three-pointer in the quarter; and Maddie Duvall chipped in a pair of freethrows.
The offensive spurt was enough to outscore Henryville, which had 12 points in the fourth — going from down by five to a seven-point win.
Thomas led the way with 16 points; while Hankins had nine and Maddie Duvall had seven. Oeffinger and Meyer each had six points, Lay added five, Jessie Duvall had three points, and Harrell finished with two.
Hunn led Henryville with 22 points; and Horn had 18.
The Lady Pacers return to action tomorrow (Friday) night with a home game against Rising Sun that will be a chance to regain the “Ruler of the River” trophy. The game will be played in the Pacer Gym, with the junior varsity game starting at 6 p.m.
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In the junior varsity game, Switzerland County defeated Henryville 29-21.
Leading the way for the Lady Pacers was Rochelle Bolton with eight points; while Hannah Hayes and Josie Meyer each had six. Jayden Thomas finished with five points; and Keirstan Oeffinger added two.