CHILLICOTHE — The Miami Trace Panthers completed a three-game season sweep of the McClain Tigers Tuesday night with a 63-39 victory in the semifinals of the Division II Sectional tournament held at Southeastern High School east of Chillicothe.
The Panthers advance to the Sectional finals where they will play the No. 2 seed Unioto Shermans back at Southeastern High School Saturday at 3 p.m.
Miami Trace senior Cameron Carter was the game’s leading scorer with 21 points. He also had seven rebounds, three assists and a team-leading five steals.
Senior Darby Tyree tallied 15 points. He led the Panthers with eight rebounds and had one slam dunk.
Junior Austin Mathews had eight points and four rebounds and junior Austin Brown scored seven points and grabbed four rebounds.
For the Tigers, senior Devin Carter led with 13 points. He had four rebounds.
Junior Kobe Penwell scored 10 points and sophomore Garrison Banks scored seven and led the Tigers with five rebounds.
Miami Trace rolled out to a 16-2 lead with three minutes to play in the first period.
The Panthers held a 16-7 lead over the Tigers after eight minutes of action.
Miami Trace cooled a bit in the second quarter, putting nine points on the board to another seven spot for the Tigers for a 25-14 halftime lead.
The Panthers erupted for 23 points in the third quarter, keeping the Tigers to 12 for a 48-26 lead.
Miami Trace won the fourth quarter by two points to put the final at 63-39.
“When you get into a tournament situation, sometimes there can be a little extra anxiety and some extra things going on,” Miami Trace head coach Rob Pittser said. “Sometimes it’s difficult to score the ball well, especially early in the game. So, it was pleasing to see us score the ball the way we did early.
“It enabled us to get out in some pressure situations where we got some easy stuff and built a little bit of a lead and then kind of carried on from there,” Pittser said.
“Foul trouble got us in a bit of a pickle there in the second quarter,” Pittser said. “We were a little out of sorts and that falls back on coaching.
“We guarded well enough and took care of the ball well enough and was thorough on offense that we at least played even during that stretch,” Pittser said. “In a 32-minute game there are going to be lulls, some stretches where you don’t score as well. You have to learn how to survive those and move on. We were able to bounce back with a big third quarter.
“Every coach would like to have a kid like Cam,” Pittser said. “Not only can he handle the ball and get you in your offense, but he’s capable of scoring the ball at a pretty efficient rate. We’re very fortunate to have him.
“We had a big contribution also from Austin Mathews tonight,” Pittser said.
“That’s not our game, to dig a hole and try to compete and battle back like that,” McClain head coach Jesse Mitchell said. “Especially with a team that can score. They want to force the tempo, because they can score. We don’t want to force the tempo.
“We have to have a good selection of shots,” Mitchell said. “And we didn’t do that. We played at their tempo. That was our number one key, to control the pace. We knew they were going to double (team) us at half court. We had a couple of things in and we didn’t do it. Some of that’s on me. We didn’t execute tonight and we didn’t shoot it well. They sped us up and that’s what happens when you get sped up.”
McClain says thank you and farewell to five seniors: Dakotah Duncan, Gabri Chiossi, Landree Gray, Justin Osborne and Dakota Irvin.
Tickets: Stop by Miami Trace High School today to purchase tickets for the Panthers’ Sectional championship game against Unioto and also the Lady Panthers’ District semifinal game against Sheridan, which is coming up Thursday at 8 p.m. at Southeastern High School. Tickets are $5 and the school gets to keep 25 percent of the proceeds of tickets it sells.
Scores: In other Division II Sectional games in the Southeast District Tuesday, played at Logan High School, Marietta defeated Circleville, 57-47 and New Lexington edged by Westfall, 47-46.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 16 9 23 15 — 63
Mc 7 7 12 13 — 39
MIAMI TRACE — Cameron Carter 4 (4)-1-21; Darby Tyree 5 (1)-2-15; Austin Mathews 3-2-8; Austin Brown 3-1-7; Heath Cockerill 1 (1)-0-5; Matt Fender 0 (1)-0-3; Wyatt Cory 1-0-2; Dillon Coe 1-0-2; Dakota Bolton 0-0-0; Brett Lewis 0-0-0; Jacob Atwood 0-0-0. TOTALS — 18 (7)-6-63. Free throw shooting: 6 of 11 for 54 percent. Three-point field goals: Carter, 4; Tyree, Cockerill, Fender. Combined field goal shooting: 25 of 49 for 51 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 7 of 16 for 43 percent. Rebounds: 30 (4 offensive). Assists: 14. Blocks: 3. Turnovers: 16. Personal fouls: 16. Bench points: 15. Second chance points: 4. Points off turnovers: 17.
McCLAIN — Devin Carter 4 (1)-2-13; Kobe Penwell 1 (2)-2-10; Garrison Banks 2 (1)-0-7; Landree Gray 2-2-6; Gabri Chiossi 0-2-2; Ethan Cockerill 0-1-1; Dakotah Duncan 0-0-0; Reece Schluep 0-0-0; Gadfrey 0-0-0; Dakota Irvin 0-0-0; Zane Mustard 0-0-0; Trevor Newkirk 0-0-0; Justin Osborne 0-0-0. TOTALS — 9 (4)-9-39. Free throw shooting: 9 of 13 for 69 percent. Three-point field goals: Penwell, 2; Carter, Banks. Rebounds: 21 (6 offensive). Assists: 6. Steals: 11. Blocks: 3. Turnovers: 19. Personal fouls: 14. Bench points: 9. Second chance points: 4. Points off turnovers: 2.
