The 2022 IHSAA Girls State Basketball Tournament got underway last night at 64 sites. WRBI was in Hanover to bring you round one of 2A Sectional 45.
In the opening game, South Decatur came back from a 12-point deficit in the third quarter to tie Switzerland County at 23. But the favored Pacers pulled away again in the fourth to win 42-31.
Jessie Duvall and Courtney Higgins combined to hit 8-of-9 free throws in the final frame to help seal the victory. Jessie Duvall finished with a game-high 15 points, sister Maddie scored 12 with five coming in the closing quarter and Higgins added six.
Brook Somers topped the Cougar scoring ledger with eight points while sister Makayla and teammate Loryn Pate put in a half-dozen each.
The Westport ladies dominated the boards by a count of 38-18, but the Vevay gals forced the Cougars into 21 turnovers while only committing five of their own.
Game two had two very good and statistically evenly matched teams facing off. So South Ripley’s 18-point victory of 39-21 over North Decatur was a bit of a surprise.
The Chargers went about 14-1/2 minutes in the first half before scoring its first points of the game. South Ripley led 17-5 at the half.
The Raider defense has held a lot of teams down in scoring throughout the season and, again, defense was certainly part of the equation. But there was also evidence of a very young Charger team playing tight as they collectively went 0-for-10 from the line during the first 16 minutes.
Rachel Meyer of the Versailles crew was the only player in the game to reach double figures in scoring. She had 10. Teammates Emily Flood and Katelynn Samples followed with nine and eight respectively.
Kacey Barker’s seven points were best for ND. Madi Allen and Ella Kunz had four each.
The Chargers hit just 1-of-13 shots from the arc and 2-of-16 from the stripe. The Raiders did most of their damage inside making 12-of-21 shots from 2-point range and outrebound their opponent by 11.
So Friday’s semifinals at Southwestern, weather permitting look like this. Switzerland County will play the host Lady Rebels at 6 pm followed by South Ripley and Milan around 7:30.
We thank Southwestern AD Tom Scroggins for the accommodations and hospitality plus coaches, Tyler Johnson, Brooke Todd, Matt Barker and Matt McNew for their information.