The Switzerland County Pacer boys junior varsity and varsity basketball teams made the trek to Seymour last Friday night to take on the Trinity Lutheran Cougars, and after a slow start offensively, the Pacers came back with a bang to soundly defeat their hosts by a final score of 71-45.
The balanced offense attack saw five Pacers score in double figures in the game, with eight different players scoring in the contest.
Switzerland County got off to a quick start, getting six straight points from Kyle Green, but Trinity Lutheran hung tough with baskets by Jeffrey Pinnow and Greg Wehmiller to keep the deficit at two.
Switzerland County then caught fire, running off 10 straight points on two more baskets by Kyle Green and buckets by Brennan Bragg, Clay Meyer, and Devon Armstrong. Early in the opening quarter, it appeared to Pacer fans that the game was already well in hand.
Wrong.
Trinity Lutheran responded with a 10-2 run to end the quarter, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Alex Franke that made the first quarter score 18-14 in favor of Switzerland County.
Another three-pointer by Trinity’s Chad VanLiew opened the second quarter and drew the Cougars to within a point; but Kyle Green responded with a three-pointer to push the lead back to four.
Jeffrey Pinnow scored again to bring Trinity back to within two; and after Mark Sharp made one freethrow for Switzerland County; two freethrows by Alex Franke got the Trinity Lutheran crowd on its feet as the Cougars were down by just one, 22-21.
Kyle Green made another three and Mark Sharp followed with a basket in the lane; and after Jeffrey Pinnow made a freethrow, a jumper by Brandon Otter extended Switzerland County’s lead to seven.
Both teams then traded points; and another basket by Brandon Otter and a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer by Devon Armstrong sent Switzerland County to the lockerroom with a 10-point lead, 38-28.
Switzerland County began to build its lead as the second half got underway, going on a 14-5 run behind five points from Mark Sharp; another three-pointer by Devon Armstrong; two buckets inside from Brennan Bragg; and a basket by Clay Meyer.
With 3:42 to play in the period, Switzerland County held a 52-33 advantage.
After Steven Schwipps converted a freethrow to momentarily stop the bleeding for the Cougars, Clay Meyer made another inside basket. Trinity Lutheran then made two straight baskets, but the quarter ended with Michael Haas darting through the middle for the Pacers, and with a quarter to play, Switzerland County held a 56-38 advantage.
Trinity got back to within 16 early in the final stanza, but the Pacers ran off a string of seven points on two baskets by Brandon Otter and a three-point play by Devon Armstrong off of a nice pass from Kyle Green.
After Trinity Lutheran climbed back to within 20; the Pacers salted the game away with baskets by Kyle Green, Codey Turner, and Michael Haas to make the final score 71-45 at the final buzzer.
Kyle Green led all scorers with 18 points; and he was joined in double figures by Devon Armstrong with 11 and Mark Sharp, Clay Meyer, and Brandon Otter – all with 10 each.
Brennan Bragg finished with six points; Michael Haas added four; and Codey Turner chipped in two.
Switzerland County committed only 10 turnovers in the game, with just three of those in the first half. One flaw in the Pacer armor was that the team was just 8-for-16 at the freethrow line.
Alex Franke led Trinity Lutheran with 13 points.
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In the junior varsity contest, Switzerland County defeated Trinity Lutheran by a final score of 39-24.
Travis Tackett led the Pacers with 12 points; while Josh Hon and Noah Hughes each had six and Justin Reagan added five. Danny Schira had four points; and Alec McAlpine, Kameron Pavy, and Cory McFarland all had two each.