Courtney Higgins leads Lady Pacers to Rivertown victory
The Switzerland County Lady Pacers broke open a close game with a big fourth quarter to defeat South Dearborn 40-37 in the opening round of the Rivertown Classic last Wednesday night.
Lady Pacer junior Courtney Higgins had a huge night offensively, scoring 16 points and pulling down four rebounds in the win.
The first quarter started slowly, as Switzerland County held a 6-5 lead after the first eight minutes of play.
Higgins accounted for all six points in the quarter, with a field goal, a freethrow, and a three-pointer.
Gracie Messmore had a three-pointer and Natalie Rupp added a field goal to account for the Lady Knights five points.
The offenses got rolling a bit more quickly in the second quarter, as Switzerland County posted 11 points in the period while South Dearborn scored nine more.
Balance was the key in the second for the Lady Pacers, as five different players dented the scoreboard.
Bri Stow had two baskets for four points; Halle Archer, Macy Collier, and Lauren Smith each contributed a field goal; and Higgins added a freethrow.
For the Lady Knights, Natalie Cantrell had a big quarter, scoring seven points on two field goals and a three-pointer; while Lakota Vincent had a basket.
At the half, Switzerland County led by a score of 17-14.
Coming out of the lockerroom, South Dearborn had a big third period, scoring 11 points while Switzerland County managed just six to swing the overall score in favor of the Lady Knights, 25-23, heading into the final stanza.
In the third, Archer had a freethrow and a three-pointer for four points; while Stow contributed a bucket for the other two.
Cantrell had a big third for South Dearborn, scoring six points; while Rupp added three and Bernadette Wismann had two.
Down by two heading into the final eight minutes of play, again Coach Brooke Todd’s Lady Pacer offense got rolling. Switzerland County had 17 points in the fourth period alone, and held their opponents to just 12 to earn the victory.
Higgins came up big again in the fourth, converting three traditional three-point plays in the quarter for nine crunch time points.
Collier added two field goals for four points; and Stow had a field goal and a pair of freethrows to also contribute four points.
The final score of 40-37 propelled Switzerland County into the championship game of the tournament on Friday night, where they faced Lawrenceburg, who defeated Rising Sun on Wednesday in the tourney’s other opening round game by a score of 78-45.
Along with Higgins’ 16 and four; Switzerland County saw Stow post double figures with 10 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists.
Archer had six points, six rebounds, and four assists; and Collier had six points and four rebounds. Smith added two points.
Cantrell led South Dearborn with 15 points on the night.