Earlier in the season the Switzerland County Lady Pacer basketball team traveled to Rising Sun and returned with a loss.
At last Wednesday night’s opener of the Rivertown Classic, coach Wayne Ellegood’s squad made sure that there wouldn’t be two losses in a row to their river rivals, posting a 49-45 victory to advance to the tournament’s championship game.
Courtney Cole got things rolling for the Lady Pacers, opening the game with two quick buckets; but Rising Sun then scored seven points in a row to jump out in front.
That lead quickly disappeared when Amber Smith drained a three-pointer; and the Lady Pacers followed that with two freethrows from Megan McCarty and a basket by Amber Smith to match Rising Sun points and knot the game at 11-11.
Rising Sun then finished off the stanza with five straight points by Jaclyn Armbruster, and with one quarter in the books, the Lady Shiners held a 16-11 lead.
A basket by Kayla Ferreira would start the second half and push Rising Sun out to a seven point lead; but the Lady Pacers battled back with run of 11 straight points to take command of the game.
Switzerland County got a pair of freethrows from April Thieman; a three-pointer by Courtney Cole; a basket by Morgan Ross; and two more baskets from Courtney Cole to grab a four-point lead.
Rising Sun answered right back, however, as the Lady Shiners got baskets from Caitlyn Bowman and Kayla Ferreira to again tie the game with less than two minutes to play in the half.
Tanya Sefton connected on a three-pointer, and Rising Sun got a late basket by Caitlyn Bowman, and at the half Switzerland County held a 25-24 lead.
Kayla Ferreira opened the second half with a freethrow that tied the game again, but that was followed by a run of five straight points by the Lady Pacers, fueled by a Courtney Cole bucket and three points from Morgan Ross.
But just when the Lady Pacers thought they were assuming control, Rising Sun’s Jaclyn Armbruster made a three-pointer to cut the lead to two. Morgan Ross then scored inside again; but Tiffany Siekman scored to keep the game close.
The Lady Pacers then got back-to-back baskets from Courtney Cole and April Thieman; and another Courtney Cole basket helped offset a late run of four points by Rising Sun, and after three quarters Switzerland County held a tenuous 38-34 lead.
Tanya Sefton pushed the lead to six with a jumper that opened the final quarter; and both teams took turns trading points through the first half of the final quarter.
Switzerland County got a big lift at the 3:23 mark when Amber Smith drilled a huge three-pointer, but there was no time to celebrate, as Jaclyn Armbruster matched that with a trey of her own.
Rising Sun rode that shot to a run that would tie the game at 45-45 with 2:21 to play, but those would be the final points that the Lady Shiners would score in the game.
Switzerland County got a basket by Morgan Ross and another jumper from Courtney Cole to seal the win and send the Lady Pacers into the championship game against South Dearborn.
Courtney Cole led all scorers with 21 points in the game; while Morgan Ross added nine points and Amber Smith had eight. Tanya Sefton had five points; April Thieman had four points; and Megan McCarty contributed two points to the victory.
Kayla Ferreira led Rising Sun with 15 points; and Jaclyn Armbruster had four three-pointers on her way to 14 points.