The Switzerland County Lady Pacer varsity basketball team posted its biggest offensive output of the young season on Tuesday night with a 62-53 victory over Milan – but it was the little things that made the difference for head coach Wayne Ellegood.
“It was our best game rebounding that we’ve had all year,” the Lady Pacer coach said. “We still need to take care of the ball better, but I was pleased with our rebounding effort. It’s something that we’ve been stressing in practice.”
The game was close throughout the first half, with Switzerland County holding an 11-10 lead at the first break; but Milan responded to tie the game at 25-25 at halftime.
The third quarter was the turning point in the game, as Switzerland County outscored their guests 19-7 in the period, salting the game away.
“We built a 15 point lead at one point in the third quarter, but Milan stayed after us,” Coach Ellegood said. “You’ve got to give Milan a lot of credit, they played hard and played well.”
Fueling the Switzerland County attack all night was senior Courtney Cole, who finished with a game high 18 points and also pulled down seven rebounds.
“I think Courtney Cole had an excellent night,” the Lady Pacer coach said. “I think she played a really complete game. That’s what we’ve been working with her to do this season, and I think she’s really responded.”
Milan tried to pull back into the game in the final stanza, outscoring Switzerland County by a 21-18 count, but the explosive third period was too much for the Lady Indians to overcome.
The 62-points scored by Switzerland County in the game was nearly 20 points over their offensive average for the season – which pleased their coach. “It felt good to score that many points,” Coach Ellegood said, “But we gave up more than we’d like to, too. We’re continuing to stress defense and rebounding.”
The road doesn’t get a lot easier for the Lady Pacers, who evened their record at 2-2 with the win. They travel to South Decatur tonight (Thursday) to take on the Lady Cougars, who were ranked in Class 1A at the start of the season.
Along with Courtney Cole, the Pacers saw Amber Smith finish in double figures with 15 points – including a “prayer” from her knees that found the range. Morgan Ross added nine points and seven rebounds to the count; and Tanya Sefton finished with seven points and four assists.
Megan McCarty had five points; and April Thieman contributed five points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Shana Todd had two points; and Maggie Armstrong contributed one point.
Kady Alloway led Milan with 19 points; Jessica Wessler added 18; and Rebecca Haugh was in double figures with 10.
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Switzerland County also won the junior varsity game, winning by a score of 46-28.
Carrie Truax led the Lady Pacers with 13 points; while Kristen Perry finished with eight and Jenna Daugherty had seven.
Katie Rayls also contributed seven points; while Lindsay Scott and Hailee Smith each had four and Lauren Chase chipped in one.