The Switzerland County Pacers captured the championship of the Rivertown Classic Tournament on Saturday, earning the title with a convincing 63-43 victory over the South Dearborn Knights.
The Pacers opened the championship game by grabbing a quick lead when tournament MVP Travis Webster drilled a three point bucket. Kyle Green then connected on a basket, pushing the Pacers up by five before South Dearborn could get on the scoreboard.
Switzerland County kept up the defensive pressure, forcing the host Knights into bad shots and turnovers – as South Dearborn would only score two baskets in the entire opening quarter.
Switzerland County kept the offense humming, as Kyle Green added two more buckets and Travis Webster followed with two more three-pointers; and by the end of the first eight minutes of play, the Pacers held a commanding 13-4 lead.
The Knights scored a bucket to open up the second quarter; but Travis Webster answered back with a three-pointer – his fourth of the young game. T.J. Sefton then connected on a basket to expand the lead 18-6; and the Knights then answered back with a basket in an effort to stay close.
Aaron Moore and Jordan Hinman then stepped up and added a basket each; but the South Dearborn team went on a short run, scoring a three-pointer, a two point shot and two at the charity stripe for the second quarter.
But Switzerland County answered right back, with Aaron Moore and T. J. Sefton finished up the scoring with a bucket each before heading into the locker room leading by a score of 26-17 – much to the delight of the Pacer faithful.
The second half began with the Knights being sent to the line; but Kyle Green then scored a bucket and Travis Webster followed with a three-pointer and two at the line.
Using an aggressive defense, Travis Webster then stole the ball and passed down the court to T.J. Sefton, who was successful with another basket and was fouled. He then added the freethrow to complete the traditional three-point play, and South Dearborn continued to struggle in figuring out the stingy Pacer defense.
The Switzerland County lead ballooned to 14 before T.J. Sefton added one at the line and Mark Sharp added two from the stripe. Travis Webster and Aaron Moore also spent time at the freethrow line, with each being successful on both attempts.
The Knights would end up converting a three-point play with a bucket and adding one at the line; and they then finished off their scoring for the quarter with a three point basket and another bucket to end their scoring.
Cliff Meyer finished the scoring at the end of the third quarter for the Switzerland County team adding one more point at the foul line to finish the quarter with the Pacers still leading 44-30.
In the final quarter Travis Webster added three points at the foul line, Kyle Green added two points with a reverse lay up and one at the line; and T.J. Sefton chipped one in at the line before the Knights were able to stop the run with a three point bucket.
The Knight trey was too little, too late, however, as the Switzerland County lead jumped to 53-33.
Mark Sharp then connected on a basket and the Knights answered back with one of their own. Travis Webster then chipped in two more at the line and the South Dearborn team answered again with a bucket.
Jordan Hinman connected on another basket; and Travis Webster then stole the ball from the Knights and raced downcourt for a successful layup; expanding the Pacer lead to 61-37.
The last three minutes of play the Knights could only come up with a point at the line, a basket and a final three-pointer, none of which was enough to slow the Pacer attack or cut into the Switzerland County advantage.
The Pacers didn’t need anything more, but Aaron Moore supplied the final icing on the championship cake by connecting on one last bucket, for the Pacers earning the win by 20 points, 63-43.
The top scorer for Switzerland County was Rivertown Classic MVP Travis Webster, who finished the game with 26 points; included five three-pointers. He also had the most steals with six, and finished with five rebounds.
Kyle Green also finished in double figures with 11 points and four rebounds; while T.J. Sefton had nine points and three assists.
Aaron Moore added eight points; Jordan Hinman and Mark Sharp had four points each; and Cliff Meyer finished with one. Kyle Green and Mark Sharp finished with four rebounds each; and Mark Sharp also had five steals during the game.
Along with Travis Webster, Switzerland County was represented on the All Tourney team by T.J. Sefton and Kyle Green.
Switzerland County gets back to action this Tuesday night, January 16th, when they travel to Southwestern for an important ORVC game with the Rebels.