On an unseasonably mild Saturday afternoon, the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers visited Miami Trace High School for an SCOL match-up with the Lady Panthers.
Miami Trace steadily built a lead of eventually 12 points on Chillicothe and was able to sustain the lead against a fourth-quarter surge by the Lady Cavaliers to post a 48-45 victory.
Miami Trace improves to 6-2 overall, 5-1 in the SCOL.
Chillicothe falls to 3-4 overall, 2-3 in the SCOL.
Miami Trace was led in scoring by senior Alexis Schwartz with 13 points, just one away from her career high of 14 scored back in her freshman season.
Sophomore Tanner Bryant had a double-double, with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Juniors Samantha Ritenour and Hanna Reisinger each scored eight points for Miami Trace.
Sophomore Shawnee Smith was the game’s leading scorer for Chillicothe with 21 points.
Junior Osh Brown was next in scoring for the Lady Cavs with eight points.
It may have been a season-low in shot attempts for Miami Trace, but the Lady Panthers made the most of their oppourtunities, sinking 17 out of 26 from the floor for 65 percent.
Miami Trace shot 75 percent from the free throw line (12 of 16).
Chillicothe made 16 of 45 field goal attempts for 36 percent.
The Lady Cavaliers were 9 of 16 from the free throw line for 56 percent.
Chillicothe scored the first bucket of the game, nearly two minutes into the contest.
Miami Trace led 8-4 on a basket from freshman Cassidy Lovett.
Bryant finished the first quarter scoring with a three-point goal to give Miami Trace an 11-6 lead at the end of one.
Reisinger scored first for Miami Trace in the second quarter and Schwartz followed with a three-point basket to give the Lady Panthers a 16-6 lead almost two minutes into the second quarter.
Bryant scored two, then Ritenour scored the next five points for the Lady Panthers as they took a 23-9 lead over the Lady Cavs.
Senior Harmonee Napier scored the last bucket of the half for Miami Trace.
The Lady Cavs went on a 9-2 run in the final two minutes of the half to cut the 14-point lead in half.
Miami Trace led 25-18 at halftime.
Miami Trace built its lead back up in the third quarter, going in front by as many as 12 points with just over a minute remaining in the penultimate period.
Miami Trace held a 40-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Chillicothe battled back until they trailed by just three points, 43-40, with 2:25 to play in the game.
Senior Kyla Johnston made two free throws at the two-minute mark and Lovett hit two from the line to give Miami Trace a 47-40 lead with just over one minute remaining.
Bryant made 1 of 2 from the line with 34 seconds to go.
Chillicothe junior Sydney May hit a three-point shot in the final seconds, but, Miami Trace did not have to inbound the ball as the horn sounded, signaling the end of the game with Miami Trace on the smiling side of the scoreboard, 48-45.
“Lexi’s points were huge today, early,” Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley said. “She loosened Chillicothe’s defense up. Lexi’s very capable of shooting the three and doing some other things, but, that’s never been her role. Her role has always been to play defense and rebound and be solid for us. Today, she stepped up and showed she’s capable when given the opportunity to make some shots.
“We were very concerned with Osh Brown,” Ackley said of the 5-11 junior. “She’s tough to prepare for.
“The Smith girl (Shawnee), she’s a really nice player and a hard match-up for us,” Ackley said.
“I thought everyone contributed,” Ackley said. “Our bench came in and gave us good minutes. Cassidy Lovett, Rachael Campbell and Harmonee Napier all came in and gave us positive contributions.
“I give Tanner Bryant a lot of credit,” Ackley said. “She played like a first team, all-league player today. She took what they gave her. They took her away at times and she made other people better today.
“Hanna Reisinger was huge,” Ackley said. “She played 32 minutes and never came out.”
“We started off slow again,” Chillicothe head coach Patrick Beard said. “We’re down double figures early in the game. That’s something we have to correct. It’s tough to get down double figures on the road and try to come back, I don’t care who you are playing.
“Our effort is great,” Beard said. “We’re moving the ball; the girls are hustling on the floor, doing what we want them to do. We have to become better perimeter shooters. Today, Coach Ackley did a very good job of packing it in on us, not letting Osh catch the ball in a position to score. My young guards have to have the confidence to step up and shoot the ball.
“Late in the game, when we were making our run, there were some loose balls that I felt we should have come up with,” Beard said. “They came up with them and made lay-ups, which is a back-breaker.
“I told the girls after the game that we knew coming into the season that we were going to take some lumps and bumps along the way,” Beard said. “The biggest thing is for us to get better and hopefully we peak at the right time.”
Chillicothe hosts Walnut Ridge Monday and returns to SCOL action on Wednesday with a home game against East Clinton.
Miami Trace is back at home Wednesday, hosting McClain with the j-v game at 5:30 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 11 14 15 8 — 48
C 6 12 11 16 — 45
MIAMI TRACE — Kyla Johnston 0-2-2; Cassidy Lovett 1-2-4; Hanna Reisinger 3-2-8; Harmonee Napier 1-0-2; Tanner Bryant 2 (1)-4-11; Rachael Campbell 0-0-0; Alexis Schwartz 5 (1)-0-13; Samantha Ritenour 3-2-8. TOTALS — 15 (2)-12-48. Free throw shooting: 12 of 16 for 75 percent. Three-point field goals: Bryant, Schwartz. Combined field goal shooting: 17 of 26 for 65 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 2 of 5 for 40 percent. Turnovers: 19. Rebounds: 24 (2 offensive). Rebound leaders: Bryant, 13; Ritenour, 5. Assists: 12. Assist leader: Reisinger, 7. Steals: 4. Steals leader: Reisinger, 2.
CHILLICOTHE — Tanea Cousins 1-0-2; Shawnee Smith 5 (1)-8-21; Shawna Smith 0-0-0; Essence Devlin 0 (1)-0-3; Shawntel Smith 1-0-2; Osh Brown 4-0-8; Jasmine Jordan 0 (1)-1-4; Sydney May 1 (1)-0-5. TOTALS — 12 (4)-9-45. Free throw shooting: 9 of 16 for 56 percent. Three-point field goals: Shawnee Smith, Devlin, Jordan, May. Combined field goal shooting: 16 of 45 for 36. Three-point field goal shooting: 4 of 19 for 21 percent. Turnovers: 16.
