CHILLICOTHE — The Miami Trace Lady Panthers opened the Frontier Athletic Conference schedule for the 2023-24 season with a game at Chillicothe High School Wednesday, Nov. 29.

With the way Chillicothe dominated the offensive boards, a Miami Trace fan could be forgiven if they thought there was no way their team could keep this up and still win the game.

Chillicothe had a whopping 30 offensive rebounds in the game and Miami Trace was able to overcome that to post a 60-55 victory.

Miami Trace came away with the win, committing 24 turnovers and shooting 45 percent from the free throw line.

With the amount of offensive rebounds being what it was for the Lady Cavs, they were able to launch 65 field goal attempts and make 19 for 29 percent.

Chillicothe made 7 of 39 three-point field goal attempts (18 percent) with five of those coming in the second half.

One category that was heavily in favor of Miami Trace and probably in the end tipped the balance to the Lady Panthers was the three-point shooting. It was a very impressive 8 of 9 for 89 percent.

Miami Trace senior Jessee Stewart made 6 of 7 three-point attempts (for 86 percent) and was the game’s leading scorer with 20 points.

Freshman Lauren Guess had her first varsity career double-double, with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Freshman point guard Gracie Lovett scored 15 points and led in assists with five and steals with three.

Junior Ellie Robinette was 2 of 2 behind the three-point line and finished with 10 points and four rebounds.

Sophomore Bella Shull got into the game late and hit two free throws and sophomore Ryleigh Vincent scored two points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Junior Miranda McCloy led Chillicothe with 17 points. She connected on two three-point field goals.

Kiera Archer scored 12 points, making three shots from behind the arc.

Junior Adaline Mendel hit a pair of threes and finished with eight points for the Lady Cavs.

“We know whenever we come to Chillicothe, it’s going to be a tough game,” Miami Trace head coach Kayla Dettwiller said. “They have very athletic, physical kids; they get after it, they hustle. They’re going to push every possession of play.

“They ended up shooting better in the second half from behind the arc than they did in the first half,” Dettwiller said. “At halftime, we wanted to make an adjustment. We wanted to make sure we were keeping them out of the paint.

“We were more willing to give up that outside shot than we were to let them go into the paint,” Dettwiller said. “We already had a couple kids in foul trouble going into halftime.”

The lead changed hands three times in the first quarter. After that, Miami Trace remained in the lead, except for when the game was tied (22-22 with 1:21 to play in the first half and 29-29 with 4:46 to play in the third quarter).

Miami Trace was always able to respond to keep the Lady Cavs at bay.

At one point, Chillicothe pulled to within one point, 45-44, with 4:36 to play in the game.

Guess and Lovett scored after that and Chillicothe hit two threes to one for Miami Trace, including a bank shot.

It was just a two-point lead for Miami Trace with 3:11 to play in the game.

After Miami Trace went 0 of 2 from the line, Guess got a rebound and put back to make it 54-50.

After a Chillicothe miss, Ryleigh Vincent scored.

After a missed shot by Chillicothe and a turnover by Miami Trace, Lovett had a steal and took it in for a layup, extending the Lady Panthers’ lead back to eight points with 1:28 to go.

Shull made two free throws with 36 seconds to play and Chillicothe hit one last three to put the final result at 60-55.

Dettwiller spoke about her team’s youth.

“At one point we had two sophomores, two freshmen and a senior out there on the floor,” Dettwiller said. “We’re extremely young and we’re still playing at a high clip, playing with the lead.

“The lead got down to one point and once that happened, young kids could get in their own heads, but our kids didn’t do that,” Dettwiller said. “They were mentally tough and they kept fighting through.

“I’m really proud of their effort, how much they battled,” Dettwiller said. “Lauren Guess played some huge minutes. She didn’t come out in the second half. She got huge rebounds for us; she was asking for the ball. Those are things we love seeing out of our young kids.

“We have Gracie (Lovett) out front and she’s a freshman,” Dettwiller said. “She’s doing a nice job of handling the ball, handling the pressure. She never lets up on the defensive end, either.”

Miami Trace (now 2-1 overall, 1-0 in the FAC) plays at McClain High School Saturday with the reserve game starting at noon.

McClain lost to Jackson Wednesday, 58-40. The Lady Tigers are now 1-1 overall, 0-1 in the FAC. Jackson is 2-0 overall, 1-0 in the conference.

Chillicothe is now 0-2 overall, 0-1 in the conference and will host McClain Wednesday, Dec. 6.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT 16 13 9 22 — 60

C 11 11 10 23 — 55

MIAMI TRACE — Ellie Robinette 2 (2)-0-10; Gracie Lovett 5-5-15; Bella Shull 0-2-2; Jessee Stewart 0 (6)-2-20; Lauren Guess 5-1-11; Ryleigh Vincent 1-0-2; Zoey Grooms 0-0-0. TOTALS — 13 (8)-10-60. Free throw shooting: 10 of 22 for 45 percent. Three-point field goals: Stewart, 6; Robinette, 2. Field goal shooting: 21 of 44 for 48 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 8 of 9 for 89 percent. Rebounds: 37 (8 offensive). Turnovers: 24. Assists: 12. Steals: 6. Fouls: 21.

CHILLICOTHE — Miranda McCloy 5 (2)-1-17; Avery Cox 3-1-7; Adaline Mendel 1 (2)-0-8; Savannah Knapp 1-1-3; Mallorie McCloy 0-2-2; Kiera Archer 1 (3)-1-12; Alyssa Dudley 0-2-2; Kendra Allen 1-2-4. TOTALS — 12 (7)-10-55. Free throw shooting: 10 of 21 for 48 percent. Three-point field goals: Archer, 3; Mi. McCloy, 2; Mendel, 2. Field goal shooting: 19 of 65 for 29 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 7 of 39 for 18 percent. Turnovers: 16. Offensive rebounds: 30.

Miami Trace wins j-v game against Chillicothe

The Miami Trace junior-varsity basketball team improved to 3-0 on the season with a 25-22 win at Chillicothe Wednesday, Nov. 29.

Bella Shull led Miami Trace in scoring with seven points. She hit her team’s only three-point basket of the game.

Cali Kirkpatrick scored six points, and a trio of players — Karleigh Cooper, Alison Reeves and Katy Bock — each scored four points for Miami Trace.

Nia Brown led Chillicothe with seven points, making her team’s only three of the game.

Ista McNeal scored six points, Alexa Clark had five, Cadie Boltenhouse had three and Natalie Dudley scored one.