In what may have been the most dominant performance in Rivertown Classic history, the Switzerland County Lady Pacers bombarded South Dearborn by a 56-35 score – it wasn’t that close – on Saturday night to claim their second straight tournament championship.
The Lady Pacers were led in the championship game by senior Trisha Smith, whose 18 points in the title tilt and her 12 points in the semifinal round earned her Most Valuable Player honors.
She was joined on the All Tournament team by three teammates: fellow seniors Kristen Perry and Becca Sittloh; and junior Hayley South.
As with Wednesday night’s 57-26 drubbing of Lawrenceburg in the semifinal game, Saturday night’s championship tilt wasn’t in doubt for very long, as the Lady Pacers raced out to an 8-2 lead that swelled to 17-6 with two minutes to play in the period.
South Dearborn held its only lead of the game when Morgan Tedesco scored to open the game, and that 2-0 advantage quickly went away when Trisha Smith had two straight inside baskets, Hayley South made a freethrow; and Kristen Perry drilled a three-pointer.
The entire first half belonged to Kristen Perry, as the senior finished with 19 of her game-high 22 points before halftime, recording as many first half points as the entire South Dearborn team.
After South Dearborn scored to stop the first streak, the Lady Pacers got a basket from Trisha Smith to negate those points, and after a Lady Knight made a pair of freethrows, Switzerland County went on an 11-2 run to end the quarter holding an impressive 21-8 lead.
Trisha Smith had another basket in the run; while Hayley South also converted a runner in the lane. Kristen Perry accounted for the other seven points, recording a three-pointer, a jumper, and a pair of freethrows – which came courtesy of a technical foul of South Dearborn coach Bob Bressert.
The second quarter saw Trisha Smith head to the bench with her third foul of the game at the 7:20 mark; with South Dearborn picking up a point on a freethrow.
Kristen Perry then hit another three-pointer, her third of the game, and Hayley South followed that with a freethrow. Allie Mathews missed the front end of a one-and-bonus, but Kristen Perry swooped in, grabbed the rebound, and the put back gave the Lady Pacers a 16-point lead. A pair of Kristen Perry freethrows moments later made the score 29-11 with 3:30 to play; and after Morgan Bressert converted a three-point play for the Lady Knights, another Kristen Perry jumper kept the lead at 17.
South Dearborn would get a jumper from Shelby Cutter and a three-pointer from Andrea Cash to get back within 12; and a freethrow by Ashley Watson closed the half with Switzerland County holding a 32-19 lead.
The Lady Pacers removed any doubt on the outcome of the game as the second half got underway, scoring the 14 points of the third stanza to take a 46-19 advantage.
Trisha Smith fueled the run with a pair of buckets and a freethrow; while Kristen Perry had another three-pointer. Bre Hinman and Becca Sittloh also had baskets during the opening run; and Hayley South had a freethrow.
South Dearborn got a pair of baskets from Morgan Tedesco to stem the tide; but Hayley South came right back with a basket; and Trisha Smith capped the quarter with another bucket – and with one quarter to play Switzerland County was eight minutes away from the Rivertown championship holding a 50-27 lead.
The final quarter started with another Switzerland County run, as Hayley South converted a pair of freethrows; Trisha Smith followed with a basket; and Hayley South had a jumper to make the lead 56-27 with 4:42 to play.
Those would be the final points that the Lady Pacers would score, but it was more than enough to secure the victory.
With Coach Wayne Ellegood clearing his bench, South Dearborn scored the game’s final eight points, but the Lady Pacers celebrated as the final horn sounded, and Switzerland County amassed a 56-35 win.
“I’m really happy for these kids,” Coach Ellegood said following the game. “This is a great bunch of kids who’ve really rallied. A lot of teams would have quit after losing a player like Kelly (Kincaid, who is out for the rest of the year with a knee injury). This team’s has rallied, and they’ve all picked their games up a little bit, and that’s what’s made it enjoyable. We’re playing really good basketball right now.”
He had special praise for his three seniors: Kristen Perry, Trisha Smith, and Becca Sittloh.
“They’re not selfish, they’ve got team goals,” the coach said. “I’m sure that this win means a lot to our seniors, but we want to keep it going. We’ve still got a lot of basketball to play. Hopefully we can have a really good season.”
Kristen Perry led Switzerland County with 22 points, and also had eight rebounds and three steals. Trisha Smith had 18 points, nine rebounds, and two steals; and Hayley South was in double figures with 11 points, and had an all around great game with six rebounds, five assists, and five steals.
Becca Sittloh finished with two points and three assists; Bre Hinman had two points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals; and Ashley Watson added one point.
Morgan Tedesco led South Dearborn with 11 points.
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Along with MVP Trisha Smith and All Tourney team members Kristen Perry, Becca Sittloh, and Hayley South; other players earning a spot on the All Tournament team were Morgan Tedesco of South Dearborn and Brittany Camden of Rising Sun.
Switzerland County now travels to New Albany tonight (Thursday) for a game that was postponed due to Tuesday’s winter storm; and then visits New Washington this Saturday for an afternoon contest.