Switzerland County Lady Pacer coach Wayne Ellegood said his team played their “best 32 minutes of basketball” Tuesday night at Jac-Cen-Del, but after mounting a fourth quarter comeback, the Lady Pacers fell just short, losing by a final score of 46-43.
The win kept Jac-Cen-Del undefeated on the year.
“We were real close,” Wayne Ellegood said of the game. “It was pretty much a team effort. I think we outplayed them, but we didn’t get the win. Hopefully things are going to start bouncing our way in the coming weeks.”
The Lady Pacers jumped out to a 13-8 lead at the end of the first quarter, but senior Courtney Cole got whistled for three early fouls and had to spend significant first half minutes on the bench.
In the second quarter, Jac-Cen-Del came back to outscore Switzerland County 9-8, but the Lady Pacers still took a 21-17 lead into halftime.
Jac-Cen-Del made its run in the third quarter, outscoring Switzerland County 18-10 on the strength of four three-pointers.
“When they made those threes in the third quarter, that gave them the lead on us, but our players didn’t give up,” Coach Ellegood said. “We kept battling and working hard, and eventually we came back on them.”
The Lady Pacer run came in the final quarter, as Switzerland County retook the lead with about three minutes to go in the contest, but couldn’t withstand a late Lady Eagle run at the end.
April Thieman had a good look at a three-pointer to tie the game at the end, and was flattened by her Lady Eagle defender – but with no call by the referees, the game when to Jac-Cen-Del by a final score of 46-43.
“Maggie Armstrong came off of the bench for us and had some really big points,” Coach Ellegood said of his stellar sophomore. “Morgan Ross had a good night, and Amber Smith had some big shots for us down the stretch. It was a really big team effort.”
Maggie Armstrong led the Lady Pacers with 10 points, and she also had two rebounds and two assists. Amber Smith had eight points and three assists; and Morgan Ross had eight points and eight rebounds.
Megan McCarty finished with seven points, three rebounds, and two steals; and Courtney Cole had six points and two steals.
April Thieman had four points, six rebounds, one blocked shot and three steals.
The Lady Pacers return to action Tuesday night at home versus Rising Sun; and then entertain South Ripley on Thursday night.
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In the junior varsity game, Switzerland County defeated Jac-Cen-Del 52-32.
Hailee Smith had an outstanding game for the Lady Pacers, finishing with a game-high 15 points to go with two assists and three steals. Lindsay Scott was also in double figures, finishing with 12 points and picking up three rebounds.
Carrie Truax had eight points; Kristen Perry had six points, three assists, and two steals; and Chelsea Peters and Casey Sharp had four points each. Jenna Daugherty finished with three points.