The Switzerland County Lady Pacers traveled to South Ripley last Thursday night for a conference showdown with the Lady Raiders, but in the end it was South Ripley that dominated the game, coming away with a convincing 50-29 win.
Switzerland County was hampered all night by cold shooting and too many turnovers. For the game the Lady Pacers were just 11-for-43 (25.6-percent) and committed 31 turnovers against the Lady Raider press.
South Ripley didn’t exactly take care of the basketball, either, committing 20 turnovers on the night, but the Lady Raiders provided a steady offensive burst throughout the game to claim the win.
Switzerland County’s offense never really got on track, as the Lady Pacers failed to score in double figures in any of the four quarters of the game.
Back to back three-pointers by Kristen Perry to open the game got Switzerland County to within one point at 7-6 early in the game, but South Ripley just kept methodically moving the ball around, particularly inside to Jessica Foster.
At the end of the first period, South Ripley held an 11-6 advantage.
The second quarter is where the Lady Pacers began to lose control of the game.
A three-pointer by Becca Sittloh narrowed the gap to two; and after Meredith Knollman scored for South Ripley, a freethrow from Trisha Smith made the score 13-10 in favor of South Ripley with 6:23 to play in the half.
That’s when the Lady Raiders turned up the defensive pressure and the Lady Pacer shooting touch went cold.
South Ripley ripped off 11 straight points to grab a commanding 24-10 lead; and Switzerland County went over six minutes without a point until Trisha Smith made a couple of inside buckets in the quarter’s closing seconds to make the halftime score 24-14 in favor of South Ripley.
Bre Hinman scored to open the second half for Switzerland County; and after South Ripley got a bucket from Whitney Walker, a pair of freethrows from Trisha Smith cut the lead to eight.
Kasey King then scored for South Ripley, and with 3:14 to play in the quarter, Hayley South converted a three-point play that drew Switzerland County to within seven.
Again South Ripley went on a run, and over a span of just 40-seconds, the Lady Raiders reeled off six straight points to swell the lead back to 13.
Another basket from Jessica Foster at the close of the period gave the Lady Raiders a 36-21 lead heading into the final period.
South Ripley then opened the fourth quarter on a 10-4 run that pushed the lead over 20 points. Switzerland County managed baskets from Kristen Perry and Trisha Smith, but the damage had already been inflicted.
A couple of more Kristen Perry baskets and a bucket from Hayley South closed out the Switzerland County scoring, and South Ripley eased away for a big 50-29 win.
It was Switzerland County’s lowest offensive output of the season, and the loss dropped the Lady Pacers to a record of 10-9.
Kristen Perry led Switzerland County with 10 points; while Trisha Smith had nine; Hayley South added five; Becca Sittloh had three; and Bre Hinman finished with two.
Jessica Foster led South Ripley with 20 points.
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In the junior varsity game, Switzerland County fell to South Ripley by a score of 27-21.
Mikayla Turner led the Lady Pacers with nine points; while Shelby O’Neal added eight.
Bre Ricketts and Vickie Abbott each contributed two points in the loss.