CHILLICOTHE — The Miami Trace Lady Panthers have another meeting coming up with the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers.
Miami Trace parlayed a solid start Thursday night at Larry Jordan Gymnasium on the campus of Southeastern High School into a 46-33 District semifinal victory over the Sheridan Generals.
Miami Trace, now 21-4, will face 22-3 Chillicothe back at Southeastern High School Wednesday, March 1 at 7 p.m.
Chillicothe defeated Warren Thursday, 36-26.
Miami Trace junior Victoria Fliehman was the game’s leading scorer with 17 points. She also led her team with eight rebounds. She had three of Miami Trace’s five three-point baskets.
Junior Tanner Bryant scored 13 with one three. She had seven rebounds and three assists.
Sophomore Cassidy Lovett scored eight points, with one three-pointer.
Freshman Shaylee McDonald had five points, junior Morgan Miller scored two and senior Hanna Reisinger had one point.
For the Generals, senior Jayden Geary led with 16 points. Freshman Kendyl Mick scored nine.
Senior Jalynn Moyer and sophomore Rachel Cooke both scored three points and sophomore Emma Conrad had two.
It was a very fine start for the Lady Panthers Thursday.
Tanner Bryant scored the first five points for Miami Trace with a three and then a two-point basket.
After a three by Jayden Geary, Victoria Fliehman hit a three to make it 8-3, Miami Trace.
After another trey by Geary, Cassidy Lovett scored and Shaylee McDonald hit a bucket to give Miami Trace a 12-6 lead
Geary scored again before Fliehman sank a free throw and Morgan Miller made her presence felt with a basket.
Lovett hit a three and Bryant hit a three at the buzzer to make it 21-8 after one quarter of action.
After that, the game settled down and was very close.
Miami Trace outscored Sheridan, 7-5 in the second quarter to take a 28-13 halftime lead.
Sheridan won the third quarter 11-10 and edged Miami Trace in the fourth quarter, 9-8 for the 46-33 final.
“I thought our experience showed a lot early in the game,” Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley said. “Sheridan seemed to have some nerves and our kids came out ready to play.
“I think our guards did what they had to do tonight which was put a bunch of pressure on them,” Ackley said. “We executed the game plan just how we wanted to.
“It was a great start,” Ackley said. “The last three quarters were what we really expected. Sheridan has some young kids, but, they’re gritty. They scored 99 points two games ago, so, we knew they could score in bunches. They had us extremely concerned coming in. Their freshman ball-handler out front (Kendyl Mick) is as good as any freshman we’ve played against in the five years I’ve been at Trace.
“Geary is very seasoned,” Ackley said. “We did a very good job on her for the most part. But, every time we made a mistake, she made us pay. Our game plan was to let her shoot it and she hits the first two threes of the game and we had to adjust a little bit.
“I was very proud of Sam (Ritenour) and the defense she played,” Ackley said. “Morgan Miller and Olivia Wolffe and Shaylee McDonald, at this stage of the season, to be able to play eight kids, that was huge.
“Vic really stepped up tonight scoring the basketball,” Ackley said. “I can’t say enough about the defense Hanna Reisinger played on the Cooke girl. She had three points. She’s an unbelievable shooter. Hanna pretty much shut her down.
“It was just a total team effort,” Ackley said.
Now Miami Trace gets ready to face Chillicothe for the third time this season. Each team won on the other’s court during the regular season.
“Chillicothe is the defending District champion and they’re the best team until someone knocks them off,” Ackley said. “All we can do is prepare to the best of our ability and come out and give it everything we have. We need to play with a nothing-to-lose kind of attitude. Chillicothe is well-coached and they have great athletes. It’ll take a great game to beat them.”
Chillicothe beats Warren
Chillicothe improved to 22-3 with a 36-26 win over Warren (20-5).
The Lady Cavs were led by senior Osh Brown with 21 points.
Junior Shawnee Smith scored seven, freshman Shawnice Smith had five points and senior Essence Devlin had three points.
For Warren, junior Molly McCutcheon led with nine points.
Junior Kaitlyn Liston scored eight points, junior Peyton Bowe had four points, senior Katie Rauch scored three and freshman Emilia Bowe had two points.
Warren struggled at the free throw line, making just 6 of 15 attempts.
Chillicothe fared a little better at the line, hitting 10 of 20 free throw shots.
Ticket information
Tickets for the Miami Trace Lady Panthers’ District championship game against Chillicothe will be on sale Friday and then again Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the high school’s main office.
Tickets are $6 each and the school gets to keep a portion of the proceeds from the pre-sale tickets.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 21 7 10 8 — 46
S 8 5 11 9 — 33
MIAMI TRACE — Olivia Wolffe 0-0-0; Cassidy Lovett 2 (1)-1-8; Hanna Reisinger 0-1-1; Shaylee McDonald 2-1-5; Morgan Miller 1-0-2; Victoria Fliehman 2 (3)-4-17; Tanner Bryant 5 (1)-0-13; Samantha Ritenour 0-0-0. TOTALS — 12 (5)-7-46. Free throw shooting: 7 of 13 for 54 percent. Three-point field goals: Fliehman, 3; Lovett, Bryant. Combined field goal shooting: 17 of 41 for 41 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 5 of 11 for 45 percent. Rebounds: 31 (9 offensive). Turnovers: 11. Assists: 12. Steals: 11.
SHERIDAN — Jena Wharton 0-0-0; Jayden Geary 4 (2)-2-16; Jalynn Moyer 0 (1)-0-3; Liberty Justice 0-0-0; Kendyl Mick 4-1-9; Mikayla Rhodes 0-0-0; Rachel Cooke 0 (1)-0-3; Emma Conrad 1-0-2; Claire Montgomery 0-0-0; Sara Cooper 0-0-0. TOTALS — 9 (4)-3-33. Free throw shooting:3 of 8 for37 percent. Three-point field goals: Geary, 2; Moyer, Cooke. Combined field goal shooting: 13 of 40 for 32 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 4 of 19 for 21 percent. Offensive rebounds: Turnovers: 16. Offensive rebounds: 9.
