It was a tale of two quarters on Saturday night when the South Ripley Raiders visited Switzerland County.
Two good.
Two not so good.
And those two low scoring quarters were too much to overcome with two good offensive periods, and the Pacers fell to the Raiders by a final score of 59-38.
It was the second and fourth quarters that spelled trouble for Switzerland County, as the Pacers managed just seven points in the second and eight points in the fourth.
Meanwhile, the Raiders scored 19 points in the second and 16 in the fourth to pull away for the win.
The opening period was pretty well balanced, as Switzerland County rode a big quarter from Zach Whitaker, who had seven of the Pacers’ nine points on two three-pointers and a jumper. Hunter Hayes also scored inside, keeping the Pacers close to the Raiders, who managed 12 points over the first eight minutes.
South Ripley was led by Cory Walker with five first quarter points; while Brady Meyer had four points, all on freethrows; and Kaleb Riley hit a three-pointer.
The second quarter saw the Raiders pull away, getting six points from both Meyer and Elijah Roepke; five from Walker; and an inside bucket from Ty Tucker.
The Pacers struggled in the second stanza, getting five points from Dakota Fuller, including a three-pointer; and a bucket in the paint by Justin Green.
At the half, South Ripley had pulled out to a 31-16 advantage.
The third quarter saw the Pacers begin to make some headway, outscoring their guests 14-12 over the eight minute stretch; but there wasn’t a moment when Switzerland County could put together a sustained run.
Caleb Furnish, leading the team in scoring throughout the year, ignited the period with three three-point field goals for nine points; while Hayes had a basket; Green converted a pair of freethrows; and Fuller had a freethrow.
Riley had a pair of three-pointers in the third; while Meyer, Tucker, and Roepke each added a bucket.
Even with the big third, Switzerland County still found itself down by 13 points, 43-30, heading into the final quarter.
South Ripley salted the game away over the last eight minutes, outscoring the Pacers by a 16-8 margin to earn the win.
Furnish had five of those eight, including another three-pointer, while Austin South accounted for the other three on a basket and a freethrow.
The Raiders did their damage at the freethrow line, scoring six points from the line; while Meyer had five of the team’s quarter point total.
At the final buzzer, the Raiders had pulled away to a 21-point lead, winning by a score of 59-38.
Furnish led the Pacers with 14 points; while Whitaker finished with seven and Fuller added six. Hayes and Green each contributed four points; and South chipped in three.
South Ripley was led by Meyer with 17; Walker with 13; and Roepke was in double figures with 10.
The loss dropped the Pacer overall record to 4-6; and Switzerland County is facing a big weekend coming up.
Tomorrow (Friday), the Pacers travel to Rising Sun for a showdown with the Shiners that will count in the conference standings; and then on Saturday the team travels to Trinity Lutheran in Seymour for a contest.
The Pacers will return home next Friday night, January 29th, when New Washington comes in for Homecoming; and that will be followed by a home conference game against Milan on Saturday night, January 30th.
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In the junior varsity game, Switzerland County defeated South Ripley 51-46.
Kyle Whitham had a big game for the Pacers, scoring 16 points while grabbing four rebounds and two assists. Tyler Konkle was also in double figures, scoring 12 points to go along with five rebounds.
Andrew Youngblood continued his outstanding play with 10 points and a pair of rebounds; Dalton Tingle had six points and six rebounds; Zack Wainscott had three points and two rebounds; and both Austin South and Justin Chatham had two points each.