Lady Raiders dismantle young Switz. County team

The Trimble County Lady Raiders went after visiting Switzerland County early and often in Thursday’s interstate basketball romp Thursday. The Lady Raiders jumped out to a 23-13 advantage after the first eight minutes of play and never looked back en route to a 62-40 victory.

Dave Taylor

Junior guard Jessie Dunlap (41) gets hammered by Switzerland County's Hailee Lay during the second half of Thursday's game at Bedford. Dunlap scored seven points as the Lady Raiders raced to a 62-40 win

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Trimble’s first quarter offensive display included three treys from junior forward Erin Gonterman and a fourth from junior point guard Paige Black.

“I thought Erin got us started off right,” Trimble Coach Kerrie Stewart said of Gonterman’s threes. “That kind of set the tone. Paige also hit a three in that first quarter and I think that just kind of built everybody’s confidence.”

Trimble fronted by 14 at the halftime break, 38-24, but had a letdown in their offensive effort during the third period.

“You’ve got to give Switzerland County the credit,” Stewart said. “They outscored us that quarter 9-7 and we were in double figures the other three quarters so whether it was just them picking up the intensity defensively or a combination of that and us maybe not being as focused coming back out, but (the Lady Pacers) did some good things and played hard.”

Trimble dominated three of the four quarters outscoring their guests 23-13 in the first quarter, 15-11 in the second and 17-7 in the fourth. The Lady Pacers edged their hosts 9-7 in the third period.

Both teams connected on 53 percent of their field goal attempts in the first half but cooled in the second half. Switzerland County found the mark on a chilly 24 percent in the second half while Trimble hit 36 percent. For the game the Lady Pacers connected on a 35 percent field goal clip while the Lady Raiders ended the game with a 45 percent field goal percentage.

“We had a good shooting game tonight,” Stewart said. “We had three players in double figures.”

Junior guard Paige Black led all scorers with 22 points, including three field goals from beyond the arc. Chloe Griffith scored 12 points and Erin Gonterman contributed 11, also canning three treys. Also scoring for the Lady Raiders were Jessie Dunlap with seven points, Ashley Brierly added four and Jessica Ball, Mila Consley and Katie Gonterman each added two.

“We have a lot of people just doing their job and filling their roles,” Stewart said. “Paige winds up with 22 tonight and that’s what we expect out of her. A couple of times I thought we got a little antsy and fired up one from the outside a little quicker than we needed to but for the most part I thought we showed some patience and drew them out of the zone when we needed.”

For Switzerland County, Sue Galbreath led the way with 15 points, the only Lady pacer to score in double figures. The rest of the lineup contributed well-balanced single-digit scoring. Shelby O’Neal scored, seven points, Hailee Lay six, McKenzie Matthews five, Brooke Todd four and Bre Ricketts three.

“I really liked the Galbreath girl inside for them,” Stewart said. “She had a real nice game. She was impressive. Switzerland County, I think, has got some good things ahead of them and I think we’ve got some real good things ahead of us, too.”

Switzerland County won the battle of the boards, securing 30 caroms to the Lady Raiders’ 25. A glaring statistic on the night, however, was Switzerland County’s inability to control the ball, committing 26 offensive turnovers to Trimble’s seven.

“I thought our defense was pretty solid most of the night,” Stewart said. “Chloe Griffith did an amazing job on the boards again. I show her with a double-double. I think that’s three out of four games that double-figure scoring and double-figures in the rebounding category.”

Trimble’s coach had words of praise for the younger members of her team. Two of the youngest were not available for Thursday’s high school action due to a coinciding game at the middle school level. She told two others—Ashley Brierly and Tailor Brewer—she felt comfortable inserting them into the game early because of their performances earlier in the junior varsity game.

“They’re picking up their game and they’re making it hard sometimes to know who to play because they are all doing what we’re expecting them to do so any given night we might throw one in there and if they’re getting it done they may stay and if they’re not then we’ll move on to the next one until we find who’s going to make it happen that particular night,” Stewart said.

Freshman “Katie Gonterman, she’s in for a minute-15 and gets three rebounds and two free throws,” Stewart said. “You can’t ask much more than that. That was a nice way to cap the night. Those were her first varsity points.”

Trimble was back in action on the road on Saturday night dismantling Williamstown by a 65-37 score. The Lady Raiders, now 3-2, will host Oldham County Friday in a girls’/boys’ varsity doubleheader. The girls’ game will get underway at 6 p.m.