The Switzerland County boys basketball team made their second road trip in two days on Saturday night when they traveled the cold, snowy roads to Milan – but once inside the Indian gym, things heated up quickly.
Hot shooting by the Pacers put the game out of reach early, racing out to a big early lead and then cruising to a 69-41 win.
Brennan Bragg was the big key in the opening quarter, as he accounted for five points as Switzerland County took an 11-2 advantage after eight minutes. Clay Meyer also had a basket in the run; and Mark Sharp had two jumpers to round out the opening scoring.
Things didn’t get much better for Milan in the second period, as Alex Walter opened the scoring with a freethrow, but that was followed by a basket from Kameron Pavy; a freethrow from Alec McAlpine; and a layup by Clay Meyer to swell the lead to 16-3. Zach Elza then scored for the Indians, but the Pacers responded with a three-point play by Clay Meyer; a three-pointer from Kyle Green, and a freethrow by Clay Meyer to make the score 23-5.
After a Milan three-point play, Brennan Bragg moved inside for a basket; and Sean Laub followed that with a three-pointer for the Indians. Alex Walter then scored to bring Milan back to within 12; but Kyle Green closed the first half with a pair of freethrows, and Switzerland County held a 27-13 lead after 16-minutes of play.
Kyle Green opened the second half with a runner in the lane, and following a Milan basket Brennan Bragg scored down low to keep the Indians at bay. The Indians then scored twice to cut the lead to 13 – sort of.
With Milan in possession of the ball and just under six minutes to play, Switzerland County defenders got their hands on the ball, causing a scramble that pushed the ball out of bounds.
Switzerland County’s Clay Meyer leaped into the air, caught the ball, and threw it over his head back onto the court, hoping for one of his teammates to catch the attempt.
Instead, the ball went in Milan’s basket, which gave the Indians two points and gave the entire crowd something to talk about for years to come.
The fluke bucket didn’t deter the Pacers, however, as they came right downcourt and poured the ball into Clay Meyer, who negated his “basket” at the other end with a power move for two points. Noah Hughes then hit a three and Clay Meyer soared in for a tip-in two pointer, and the Switzerland County offense was again hitting on all cylinders.
Milan tried to stay close on a three-pointer by Grayson Miller, but Kyle Green connected from long distance to cancel those points out; and Travis Tackett followed that with a pair of freethrows.
Switzerland County then put the game out of reach with a 10-4 run to close the third period, as the Pacers got a basket and a freethrow from Brennan Bragg; a bucket and a three-pointer from Travis Tackett; and a pair of freethrows from Alec McAlpine.
With eight minutes to play, Switzerland County was cruising with a 53-31 lead.
The final quarter opened with Noah Hughes hitting a jumper and Kyle Green making a pair of freethrows; and after Alex Walter hit a jumper for the Indians, Switzerland County fired off another round of eight straight points.
Brennan Bragg, Clay Meyer, Kyle Green, and Justin Reagan all had buckets in the stretch; which created a 32-point bulge and caused Pacer coach Brian Bowen to clear his bench.
From there Switzerland County wrapped up the game with a basket from Tray Meyer and a pair of freethrows by Keegan Kincaid, and the Pacers had a great trip back to Switzerland County with a 69-41 conference victory in hand.
Balance was again key for Switzerland County, as the Pacers got 14 points from Kyle Green; 14 points from Clay Meyer; and 12 points from Brennan Bragg. Noah Hughes and Travis Tackett had seven points each; Mark Sharp added four; Alec McAlpine had three; and the quartet of Kameron Pavy, Justin Reagan, Tray Meyer and Keegan Kincaid all had two each.
The win pushed the Switzerland County record to 14-2 overall, with a single game this weekend, as Oldenburg Academy comes to town on Saturday night. Friday night was supposed to be the Pacer game at South Ripley, but that game has been moved to Saturday, February 14th, and is supposed to be the first game ever played in the new South Ripley gym.
The start time for the South Ripley game currently sits at 1 p.m. for the jayvee game; but the game could be moved to Saturday evening if neither South Ripley or Switzerland County’s girls teams are playing in the Sectional championship game that night at Milan.
Looming on the horizon is a huge match up next Thursday night, February 12th, with Lawrenceburg comes to town for a showdown, as the Tigers are currently 8-2 overall, and handed Switzerland County a double overtime loss in the opening round of the Rivertown Classic Tournament at the beginning of 2009.
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The junior varsity game at Milan was a thriller, with a Pacer comeback capped by a three-point play by Keegan Kincaid with no time left in regulation sending the contest into overtime.
It was in the overtime period that Switzerland County took control, rolling to a 54-50 win.
Tray Meyer led Switzerland County with 15 points, and also had four rebounds and three steals. Keegan Kincaid finished with 11 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals; and Tanner Ross added nine points, two rebounds, and four assists.
Adam Clark had eight points and five rebounds; Blake Whitham added six points and three rebounds; Alec McAlpine had three points; and Danny Schira finished with two points and six rebounds.
The win moves the junior varsity record to 12-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play.