Southwestern High School came to Switzerland County for a basketball game Saturday night — but it wasn’t an ORVC battle with the Rebels.
It was a tussle with the Spartans.
This Southwestern is in Shelby County in the central part of the state, and on Saturday night Coach David Todd’s Pacers closed their home schedule with a tightly fought game that saw the Spartans pull away at the end for a 68-59 victory.
The game was close throughout, with two evenly matched teams battling back and forth, trying to break out to a comfortable lead — but neither team would allow that to happen.
It was also a game of outside shooting, with Switzerland County’s Chancey May converting five three-pointers on his way to a team-high 17 points. Southwestern Shelby countered that with the guard duo of Randy Cox and Clayton Napier, who finished with 21 and 25 points, respectively.
The fast-paced game saw the Spartans ease out to a 25-24 halftime lead — but that was only the beginning of the fireworks, as both teams would spend the second half exchanging offensive barrages.
The third quarter got underway with Randy Cox making a three-pointer that pushed the Spartans out to a four-point advantage; but Switzerland County came right back with buckets from B.J. Shelton and Travis Webster to tie the contest. Brandon Jackson then scored to give Southwestern a two point lead, but that was the start of a wild two minutes of basketball.
Chancey May drilled a three-pointer to put the Pacers back in front; but Clayton Napier responded with a trey to take the lead back for the Spartans. B.J. Shelton scored inside to tie the game; and Travis Webster converted a traditional three-point play on a steal and layup that included a controversial goal tending call with Randy Cox slapped the backboard as the shot neared the rim.
With the Pacers now holding a three-point lead, Clayton Napier made a three-pointer to tie the game. B.J. Shelton then hit a three-pointer; Clayton Napier came down and made another; and Chancey May matched that with a three.
Two minutes. A total of 23 points scored by both teams; with 21 of those coming on one type of three-point play or another.
Switzerland County now held a three-point lead, and looked to be pulling away when Mat Deaton scored inside to increase the lead to five, 44-39.
Southwestern came right back, getting a traditional three-point play from Justin Green and a basket by Clayton Napier to tie the game once again. Ben Hickman responded with two freethrows; and the Spartans closed the quarter by getting buckets from Troy Baute and Dusty Kincaid to pull out to a 48-46 lead.
The Spartans two-point lead didn’t last long, as Chancey May opened the final period with another three-pointer, giving the Pacers another lead in the see-saw battle — which tilted the other way when Randy Cox made a jumper from the top of the key. Josh Snow then scored for Switzerland County, but Troy Baute got free inside and scored for the Spartans.
The back-and-forth play continued when Josh Snow scored his second basket in a row, but the Spartan’s got baskets from Randy Cox and Clayton Napier to grab a three-point lead. The advantage then swelled to six on another bucket by Clayton Napier and a freethrow from Brandon Jackson — that freethrow resulting from B.J. Shelton’s fifth personal foul.
Chancey May then cut into the lead with a jumper; but the Spartans got two freethrows from Randy Cox and a basket by Dusty Kincaid to increase the lead to eight with 1:25 to play.
The Pacers didn’t fold, getting another three-pointer from Chancey May to narrow the gap back to five, but foul problems would haunt Switzerland County for the remainder of the contest.
Southwestern made five-of-six freethrows down the stretch to seal the win; and the game ended with senior Pacer Josh Reagan converting a freethrow on the last shot he would take on his home floor to make the final score 68-59 in favor of the Spartans.
Along with Chancey May’s 17 points; the Pacers also got 11 points from B.J. Shelton and eight points each from Mat Deaton and Josh Snow. Josh Reagan, Travis Webster and Ben Hickman all finished with five points.
Switzerland County now closes its regular season tomorrow (Friday) night at Madison; and then open Sectional play next Friday at Lawrenceburg against Southwestern — this time it’s the Rebels.
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Southwestern Shelby also won the junior varsity game by a final score of 39-32.
Leading the way for the Pacers were Zach Getz and Cliff Meyer with six points each; while T.J. Sefton finished with five. Josh Snow and Aaron Moore each had four points; with Kris Hetrick, Jordan Pavy, and Daniel Welch each contributing two points. Devon Ballad contributed one point to the effort.