The score is not important.
The Switzerland County Pacers played a tough game against the Columbus East Olympians Friday night, 58-25. Although the score may indicate a blowout, the Pacers battled hard for four quarters against the 4A powerhouse.
Scoring first for the Pacers in the first quarter was Ben Hickman at the foul line for two points. He then followed that with two more baskets. Chancy May and B.J. Shelton also scored once each for the quarter. The Pacers played hard the first quarter and ended only behind by three in the first quarter, 13-10.
In the second quarter B.J. Shelton scored in the last seconds for the Pacers, but it was the only bucket that the Pacers would score during the period. The Olympians scored more foul shots in points than baskets, scoring 21 points to balloon the lead to 34-12 at the half.
The third quarter was a long quarter — with no scoring for the first few minutes — then a double technical was called when players from both teams got a little too physical for the referee’s taste.
Columbus East scored several foul shots and added some more baskets during the third quarter, while the Pacers were still trying to find their offensive rhythm, but neither team could sustain any type of offense during the quarter. Mat Deaton — coming back from being sick and missing the game the night before — scored two and Ben Hickman finished the quarter hitting two foul shots, but the Pacers were outscored again in the period by an 8-4 margin.
Travis Webster was sent to the foul line at the beginning of the fourth quarter, adding two more points as part of scoring six straight points for the Pacers. He also added a basket and hit two more freethrows during the stretch, but Switzerland County simply could not get its offense in gear.
Chancey May hit a three-point shot with 3:43 left to play in the game, but those would be the last points that the Pacers would score in the game, falling by a final score of 58-25.
One bright spot for Switzerland County is that the Pacers did improve their free throw percentage hitting 9-of-14 (64.2 percent). The Pacers have been struggling at the freethrow line during the first part of the season.
The top scoring Pacer for the night was once again Ben Hickman with eight points; while Travis Webster added six, B.J. Shelton chipped in five and Chancey May had four. Mat Deaton added two.
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The junior varsity team lost to Columbus East by a final score of 45-31.
Leading the scoring for Switzerland County was Kyle Green with nine points; while Brandon Otter had eight points; and Cliff Meyer and Aaron Moore each chipped in four points. Jordan Pavy added three points; Devon Armstrong had two; and Ryan Peters chipped in one.