On Friday night the Switzerland County Lady Pacers basketball team lost its first game of the season to Madison by a score of 64-37.
With only about two minutes to go in the first period, junior Ashley Bright hit a three-pointer for the Lady Pacers that tied the game at 12-12.
With knee injuries to potential varsity starters Kodi Driver and Courtney Cole prior to the beginning of the season, Switzerland County had only four team members — Ashley Chase, Natalie Daugherty, Ashley Bright, and April Thieman — who didn’t dress for the junior varsity game.
Sophomore Amber Smith played in the jayvee game, and then turned around and started the varsity contest. With a squad filled with players in need of experience, Coach Ellegood tried various combinations throughout the game, but couldn’t find a winning formula.
With the four varsity players on the floor for all but the final 28-seconds of the contest, and all of the other players playing in their second game of the night, fatigue could have played a part in the outcome of the game.
The four varsity players were also the ones that scored the first quarter. Ashley Chase had a total of four points in the first quarter; while Ashley Bright had five points.
Natalie Daugherty had two points in the opening period; and April Thieman had one.
Switzerland County was right in the contest, but after the Ashley Bright three-pointer, Madison scored the last six points of the quarter to take an 18-12 lead.
The Pacers began the second quarter down by six; and never got closer than seven the rest of the game.
The second quarter also saw an offensive burst by Madison, as the Lady Cubs double the quarter scoring on the Lady Pacers, 18-9, and both teams went to halftime with Switzerland County down by a score of 36-21.
The third quarter started with Switzerland County down by 15 points, but got a bit of an offensive push when Amber Smith opened the third quarter scoring; and April Thieman had four of her own.
Near the end of the quarter, Ashley Chase added two points after a scare that saw her fall hard to the floor, only to leave the fans wondering if Switzerland County might have lost another player to injury.
Ending the third quarter with a score of 51-30, Madison had managed to extend its halftime lead by six more points.
The Lady Cubs continued that trend in the final period, outscoring Switzerland County 13-7 over the final eight minutes to make the final score 64-37.
Ashley Chase was the only Lady Pacer in double figures with 12 points total. Ashley Bright scored eight points; Amber Smith and Natalie Daugherty each scored six; and April Thieman scored five points.
After Friday nights game Coach Ellegood said. “Our best players didn’t have a very good shooting night and our sophomores will get better. This is their real first time out and they had to play against a pretty good team. But we’ll be okay.”
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The Switzerland County Lady Pacer junior varsity team suffered a 23-5 loss to Madison Friday night to open its season.
Scoring for the Lady Pacers were Tanya Sefton and Brittany Hall with two points each; and Amber Smith had one point.
— Debi Sefton