Last Thursday night the Switzerland County Lady Pacers fell to the Southwestern Lady Rebels by a score of 41-36 in an exciting and close match up.
The game started out with several attempts from both sides trying to score with no success for the first few minutes.
Finally about three minutes into the quarter, Kodi Driver scored first with a three-point shot.
Kayla Hay from Southwestern then scored twice, giving the Lady Rebels the lead, 4-3.
Kodi Driver then hit another shot — this one worth two points; but it was Kayla Hay once again for the Lady Rebels responding back with two points to make the score 6-5.
Ashley Chase, now with a minute to go in the quarter, finished it off with a three-pointer finishing the period with the Lady Pacers ahead by a score of 8-6.
During the second quarter the Lady Pacers outscored the Lady Rebels 11-7. Again it seemed the ball was back and forth on the court before anyone scored. Scoring first for the Lady Pacers was Amber Smith with two points; but the Lady Rebels responded by two points of their own.
Morgan Ross was then fouled with four minutes left in the first half and was successful at the foul line for two points, now a 12-8 ball game with the Lady Pacers out in front.
Seconds later Sarah Roth scored two for the Lady Rebels, slicing the lead down to just two points.
The ball was stolen back and forth by both teams for about a minute, and then it seemed both teams were confused and forgot who they were playing with — as players in white passed to the team in blue, and vise versa.
With the clock now reading 1:48, Ashley Chase finally took control of the ball and scored two for the Lady Pacers.
The Lady Rebels ended the half by scoring in the last seconds for two points, finishing off a furious and fast-paced half that found the Lady Pacers in the lead with a score of 19-13.
The second half was started out with the Lady Rebels scoring five straight points to slice into the lead of the Lady Pacers, trailing by one, 19-18.
Ashley Chase responded by hitting a bucket for two points giving the Lady Pacers a bigger lead 21-18.
The rest of the period was a see-saw battle, with neither team being able to take control of the contest. Finally, the quarter ended with the teams tied at 26-26.
Amber Smith started the fourth quarter hitting a shot for two points just seconds into the period; but the Lady Rebels responded though hitting a two point shot of their own and once again tied ball game, 28-28.
The game continued to be back-and-forth, and a late run by the Lady Rebels gave them their biggest lead of the game, 38-32.
Switzerland County responded, and with less than a minute to go, Ashley Chase scored two points for the Lady Pacers; but again the Lady Rebels went to the foul line hitting one more to take a 39-34 lead.
With just :17.7 to play the Lady Pacers called a time out, and following that Southwestern’s Jessie Oliver fouled Kodi Driver who went to the line and made both to cut the lead to three, 36-39.
Lady Pacer Tanya Sefton then tried to steal the ball or get a turnover, and Switzerland County fans thought she was successful when a call was made giving the Lady Pacers the ball.
The referees then had a conference with each other and then with Southwestern coach Donna Cheatham. After the conference, the call was reversed giving possession back to the Lady Rebels — to the dismay of the Switzerland County fans.
The game ended with Southwestern at the freethrow line, pulling out a 41-36 victory.
Ashley Chase scored 14 points to lead the Lady Pacers; and Kodi Driver added nine points while seeing her first significant action since returning from knee surgery. Amber Smith chipped in six points, and Ashley Bright added three; while Morgan Ross and April Thieman each scored two points.
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The Girls jayvee team Lost to the Lady Rebels 38-12.
Scoring for the team was Megan McCarty with three points, Shana Todd and Morgan Ross with two points; and Amber Smith and Tanya Sefton each chipped in one.
— Debi Sefton