Miami Trace senior Austin Boedeker puts up a jump shot near the top of the key, defended by Chillicothe junior Cam Badger (23) during a Frontier Athletic Conference game at Miami Trace High School Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. Boedeker scored 11 points, sharing game scoring honors with teammate Adam Guthrie in a 45-35 victory over the Cavaliers.
The Miami Trace Panthers resumed play in the Frontier Athletic Conference for the 2024 portion of the season schedule on a rainy Tuesday, Jan. 9 in Fayette County.
The Panthers set the pace in the first half of the conference slate, going 5-0 and were aiming to remain atop the standings pending the outcome of the game against the visiting Chillicothe Cavaliers.
Unlike some of the previous games, the Panthers did not enjoy a double-digit lead until midway through the fourth quarter.
The Panthers were able to pull into a lead of as many as 13 points before time expired with Miami Trace winning the game, 45-35.
The Panthers are now 6-0 in the FAC, 10-3 overall.
Chillicothe falls to 5-7 overall, 1-5 in the conference.
Miami Trace maintains a 1.5 game lead over the second place Washington Blue Lions after Washington defeated Hillsboro Tuesday, 65-52.
The Blue Lions are 4-1 in the FAC and Hillsboro is 3-2.
In one other FAC game Tuesday, Jackson defended its home court, 44-36 over the McClain Tigers.
Jackson is now 9-4 overall, 3-3 in the conference.
McClain falls to 1-10 overall, 0-6 in the FAC.
For the Panthers Tuesday, senior Austin Boedeker and sophomore Adam Guthrie shared game high scoring honors, each with 11 points.
Both players had four rebounds, as did sophomore Grant Guess and senior Brady Armstrong.
Guthrie had two assists, one steal and he blocked two shots.
Boedeker led Miami Trace with three assists.
Guess scored eight points to go with the above-mentioned four rebounds as well as one assist and one steal.
Senior Bryson Osborne scored five points to go with two rebounds, two assists and a team-high four steals.
Senior Coleden May scored three points and grabbed three rebounds.
Juniors Trey Robinette and Skye Salyers each hit one three and finished with three points. Salyers had one rebound and blocked two shots.
Senior Ben Mathews got into the game in the final minute for the Panthers.
For Chillicothe, sophomore Cooper Stoneking hit two threes and finished with a team-high 10 points.
Junior Cam Badger scored nine points for the Cavaliers, freshman Caden Cox hit one three and finished with seven points and freshman Andrew Hamman hit one three, ending the game with five points.
Miami Trace got off to a 6-4 lead in a slow-to-develop first quarter.
The lead changed hands with Chillicothe hitting a three and Robinette answering with a three.
The Panthers held a 9-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Miami Trace led twice in the second quarter by as many as eight points (19-11 and 21-13) before Chillicothe scored at the buzzer for a 21-15 Panther lead at the half.
The Panthers have recently seen teams make a run at them at the beginning of the third quarter and that was the case Tuesday night as the Cavs began the second half with a 6-0 run, tying the score, 21-21 two minutes in.
Miami Trace countered that run with a 6-0 series of its own, with two baskets by Boedeker and one from Guthrie to go back in front, 27-21.
The Panthers found something to their liking and it was Boedeker in the low post as Miami Trace made it a 30-23 game with just over one minute to play in the third quarter.
A steal and layup by Osborne late in third gave the Panthers a 32-23 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Chillicothe made it a two-possession lead for Miami Trace with 2:44 to play in the game.
Guess scored following two made free throws by Chillicothe and Osborne went to the line, hitting the first free throw, but missing the second.
The Panthers had an offensive rebound and were content to move the ball around, with precious seconds melting away.
The Cavaliers had fouls to give and began to use those to finally send the Panthers to the line with 1:30 left in the game.
Boedeker made a pair of free throws and Osborne had another steal and basket that put the Panthers up, 43-30.
There was simply not enough time remaining as the Panthers emerged with the 45-35 victory.
Assistant coach Brian Southward, now in his fourth game subbing in for head coach Ben Ackley, knew that Chillicothe, under head coach Pat Beard, would give the Panthers a good challenge.
“(Against) Chillicothe, it’s never, never easy, for some reason,” Southward said. “I don’t know what it is.
“We (were) a little sluggish off the rip,” Southward said. “It was the same thing when we went there. Once we got the ball underneath, we were ready to go after that.”
Boedeker gave the Panthers a needed boost in the third quarter, scoring nine of his 11 points in that frame.
“I always tell them before we come out in the third quarter that the very first three minutes (of the second half are) very crucial,” Southward said. “We came out and they (went on) a 6-0 run and I called timeout.
“I got on them a little bit and they responded,” Southward said. “I saw a mismatch and we went to it and it worked. Boedeker went down there and got the ball and he (scored) three straight times, I believe.”
The Panthers were averaging scoring 62.4 points per game in their first five FAC games.
They were held well under that average, but, at the same time, Miami Trace had been allowing 49.4 points per game in the conference and Tuesday the 35 points scored by Chillicothe were the fewest the Panthers had allowed all season.
Southward was very pleased with the team’s defensive effort.
“We’re back to Boedeker,” Southward said. “I usually put Austin on (the other team’s) best player, which is their No. 13 (Stoneking). I told (Boedeker), ‘you’ve got to get on him.’
“That’s why sometimes you won’t see Boedeker scoring so much, because I need him on the defensive end,” Southward said.
The win gives the Panthers a season sweep of the Cavaliers. Miami Trace won at Chillicothe High School back on Dec. 5, 63-50.
Miami Trace is back in action Friday at home taking on McClain with the freshman game starting at 4:45 p.m.
The Panthers are off Saturday and back in action Friday, Jan. 19 at home against Hillsboro, beginning with the freshman game at 4:45 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 9 13 11 13 — 45
C 7 8 8 12 — 35
MIAMI TRACE — Ben Mathews 0-0-0; Trey Robinette 0 (1)-0-3; Grant Guess 4-0-8; Coleden May 1-1-3; Brady Armstrong 0-1-1; Skye Salyers 0 (1)-0-3; Austin Boedeker 4-3-11; Adam Guthrie 5-1-11; Bryson Osborne 2-1-5. TOTALS — 16 (2)-7-45. Free throw shooting: 7 of 12 for 58 percent. Three-point field goals: Robinette, Salyers. Field goal shooting: 18 of 42 for 43 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 2 of 10 for 20 percent. Rebounds: 23 (5 offensive). Turnovers: 11. Assists: 8. Steals: 6. Blocked shots: 5. Fouls: 6.
CHILLICOTHE — Juan Miller 0-0-0; Dom Barron 0-0-0; Cooper Stoneking 2 (2)-0-10; Andrew Hamman 1 (1)-0-5; Cam Badger 3-3-9; Caden Cox 2 (1)-0-7; Daniel Scissum 2-0-4. TOTALS — 10 (4)-3-35. Free throw shooting: 3 of 5 for 60 percent. Three-point field goals: Stoneking, 2; Hamman, Cox. Field goal shooting: 14 of 41 for 34 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 4 of 9 for 44 percent. Turnovers: 13. Offensive rebounds: 5.
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Miami Trace wins j-v game with Cavaliers
In Tuesday evening’s junior-varsity game, Miami Trace improved to 12-1 with a 37-23 win over Chillicothe.
Julian Baker was the game’s leading scorer for Miami Trace with 14 points. He was 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
Cade Whitaker hit Miami Trace’s only three-point field goal of the game and finished with nine points.
Bryson Yeoman and Connor Napier each scored four points for the Panthers, Dane Wilt scored two and Mason Buchhammer and Blake Boedeker each scored one point.
