Miami Trace sophomore Ryleigh Vincent (left) takes the ball to the basket during a home non-conference game against Waverly Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. She is being guarded by Waverly sophomore Sadie Royster (2). Also pictured for Waverly is freshman Abby Schrader (23).
Chris Hoppes | Record-Herald
On the last Monday in November, with a full moon rising over Fayette County, the Miami Trace Lady Panthers hosted the Waverly Lady Tigers for a non-conference basketball game.
It was the second game for Miami Trace and the first of the season for Waverly.
It was a close contest most of the way, with Miami Trace finally being able to pull away from Waverly in the middle and late stages of the fourth quarter.
Miami Trace improves to 1-1 with a 61-51 victory.
For Miami Trace, senior Jessee Stewart, junior Ellie Robinette and freshman Gracie Lovett each scored 12 points.
Junior Nevaeh Lyons had nine points and sophomore Ryleigh Vincent and freshman Lauren Guess each scored eight points.
Robinette led Miami Trace with eight rebounds. Lovett had seven and Vincent had four.
Lovett had eight assists and Guess was next with three. Lovett also led Miami Trace with five steals.
Junior Caris Risner was the game’s leading scorer for Waverly with 21 points.
Junior Eyra Coe had 15 points, sophomore Sadie Royster scored seven points, freshman Abby Schrader scored six points and junior Sara Pecorari had two points.
The game was tied eight times and the lead changed hands a total of eight times.
The game got a little sloppy at times, Miami Trace head coach Kayla Dettwiller said in her opening post game remarks.
“We came off a break, having Thanksgiving, not being in a routine, we were going to have a little bit of rust,” Dettwiller said. “(We wanted) to play through those mistakes and not dwell on anything that (didn’t) go our way.”
Miami Trace led 4-2 and 8-6 in the first quarter before the period ended with the Lady Panthers holding a 10-8 advantage.
Miami Trace led by as many as five points in the second quarter, but Waverly wasn’t going anywhere and the Lady Tigers led 23-21 at the half.
Miami Trace shot 4 of 13 in the first quarter and 5 of 13 in the second quarter for 35 percent.
Shooting was more on target in the third quarter as the Lady Panthers made 9 of 16 attempts for 56 percent.
Waverly hit the first basket of the second half to take a four-point lead.
The lead changed hands a few times in the middle part of the third quarter.
Miami Trace went on an 8-0 run to take a 39-32 lead with scoring from Guess, Stewart and Robinette.
After a three-point basket by Waverly, Stewart hit a shot at the buzzer to give Miami Trace a 43-37 lead heading into the final quarter of action.
Waverly was able to pull to within as few as four points of Miami Trace with 5:30 to play in the game.
Lyons then hit a three-point basket and Guess connected on two free throws and a bucket as well to give Miami Trace a 54-45 lead
Lovett scored, Waverly hit a pair of free throws and Stewart hit a three to put Miami Trace in front by 11 with three minutes to play.
Lovett hit two free throws in the final two minutes, while Waverly hit one two-point basket and one free throw to put the final at 61-51.
“(There) was something we were looking for and we saw glimpses of it in the first half,” Dettwiller said. “We talked about it at halftime — ‘hey, every time we reverse the ball, they’re leaving our post open. So, we have to make sure we take advantage of that because it’s going to open up our shooters and open up some other things.’ Our kids listened.
“We challenged them at halftime to come out with more intensity,” Dettwiller said. “I thought they came out with a lot more intensity, especially on defense, getting some rebounds.
“On offense, we started looking for more opportunities,” Dettwiller said. “Instead of just putting our head down and just trying to dribble through it.”
Dettwiller was pleased with the balanced scoring from six players.
“It was great to be able to spread the scoring around,” Dettwiller said. “That was something we did well. Neveah scored some early points for us, got us started. Then she got into some foul trouble and that limited her. We had some other kids who were able to score a bucket here and a bucket there.
“It’s really nice and encouraging as a coach to see that we have multiple kids who can score the ball. They want to be aggressive,” Dettwiller said. “That’s something we can build upon as the season goes on. I hope this is a confidence boost for our kids.”
Miami Trace begins Frontier Athletic Conference play Wednesday at Chillicothe with the j-v game scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m.
Waverly will host Zane Trace Thursday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 10 11 22 18 — 61
W 8 15 14 14 — 51
MIAMI TRACE — Ellie Robinette 3 (2)-0-12; Gracie Lovett 5-2-12; Bella Shull 0-0-0; Jessee Stewart 3 (2)-0-12; Nevaeh Lyons 3 (1)-0-9; Lauren Guess 2-4-8; Ryleigh Vincent 3-2-8; Zoey Grooms 0-0-0. TOTALS — 18 (6)-8-61. Free throw shooting: 8 of 16 for 50 percent. Field goal shooting: 24 of 53 for 45 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 6 of 16 for 38 percent. Three-point field goals: Stewart, 3; Robinette, 2; Lyons. Rebounds: 27 (8 offensive). Turnovers: 12. Steals: 6. Fouls: 20.
WAVERLY — Hallie Oyer 0-0-0; Sadie Royster 3-1-7; Caris Risner 6-9-21; Eyra Coe 4 (1)-4-15; Whitley Brown 0-0-0; Sara Pecorari 1-0-2; Abby Schrader 3-0-6. TOTALS — 17 (1)-14-51. Free throw shooting: 14 of 22 for 64 percent. Field goal shooting: 18 of 35 for 51 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 1 of 8 for 13 percent. Turnovers: 11. Offensive rebounds: 6.
Miami Trace wins j-v game with Waverly
In Monday’s j-v game, Miami Trace defeated Waverly, 12-9.
Miami Trace’s Karleigh Cooper was the game’s leading scorer with five points.
Cali Kirkpatrick scored three points and Alison Reeves and Katy Bock both scored two points.
For Waverly, Keelee Rapp led with four points, while Whitley Browns scored three and Lilly Ramsey had two.
Miami Trace’s j-v team improves to 2-0.
