The Miami Trace Panthers are building toward the end of the 2023-24 regular season and had a home game on the night before the Sectional tournament drawing would be announced.

The Panthers hosted the Tigers of Stivers School for the Arts Saturday night, Feb. 10.

A large crowd turned out on youth cheer night and saw the Panthers post a 57-44 victory.

Miami Trace jumped out to an 11-2 lead.

Stivers ended the quarter with a three-point basket at the buzzer. Miami Trace held a 13-9 lead.

The Panthers’ first quarter was fueled by sophomore Adam Guthrie and seniors Brady Armstrong, Austin Boedeker and Bryson Osborne.

One aspect that kept the Panthers from gaining distance from the Tigers was 1 for 7 free throw shooting in the second quarter.

The Panthers won the quarter, 9-8 and held a 22-17 halftime lead.

At the half, the Miami Trace seventh and eighth grade boys basketball teams and cheerleaders were recognized. The eighth grade team won the FAC tournament.

The Panthers extended their lead to as many as 10 points early in the third quarter.

The Tigers drew to within two points, yet the Panthers were able to move ahead again, with Armstrong hitting a three at the buzzer to put the score at 39-29.

In a similar unfolding scenario to the third quarter, Stivers went on an 8-0 run and again pulled back to within two points, 39-37.

The Tigers could not ever get all the way back, and again the Panthers moved out, this time with a 9-0 run to take a 48-37 lead.

At this point, the game was winding down and the Panthers were able to keep their lead in the 8 to 12-point range.

Sophomore Grant Guess got open and executed a slam dunk for the Panthers.

Sophomores Luke Armstrong and Blake Boedeker got a few moments of playing time late and Boedeker got a huge cheer from his teammates and the home fans when he hit the final shot of the game, a three-point field goal, to set the final at 57-44.

“We never play real well against them,” Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley said. “In the three years I’ve been here, we’ve beaten them twice. It wasn’t our best effort tonight. I thought we were sloppy with the basketball.

“We had a good week of practice,” Ackley said. “I’m not making any excuses, because there’s no such thing as overlooking anybody, but our kids have been looking forward to Tuesday (a home game against Hillsboro) for a long time.

“That’s no excuse,” Ackley said. “We have to do a better job of having (our team) better prepared. And we have to execute better.

“I was proud of our kids that we made plays at big times tonight,” Ackley said. “It was great to get Luke and Blake in for their brothers. I’m happy for them and then Blake scoring was just the cheery on top.”

As for the struggles at the free throw line, Ackley said, “Until three or four games ago, we were shooting almost 70 percent this year as a team. We’ve just struggled. It’s a mental game. Everybody we have shoots a minimum of 50 (foul shots) a day. That’s not what they do on their own. We have kids who come in early and stay after (practice). We definitely have to address (free throw shooting) and keep working on that.”

Ackley, back on the sidelines for the Panthers, appears less demonstrative in his coaching.

“I’m getting better every day,” Ackley said. “Today, I walked 45 minutes after our shoot-around.

“My daily challenge is my diet,” Ackley said. “I love to eat. I did have a fish sandwich last night with a glass of water and some apples with peanut butter. It’s definitely been a challenge.

“This is about more than me right now,” Ackley said. “It’s about everyone who reached out to me, called me or texted me. All our kids. Everyone who’s battled for me. I owe it to them to do the best I can to be the best version of myself. I’m working on it.”

The scoring was well dispersed between eight different Panthers.

Senior Brady Armstrong had four threes and led the Panthers with 12 points. He had four rebounds, was one of three Panthers with four assists and also had three steals.

Sophomore Adam Guthrie scored 10 points and had a double-double with 11 rebounds (seven offensive). He had one steal and blocked one shot.

Guess had 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Austin Boedeker scored seven points. He made one three to go along with four rebounds, four assists, three steals and one blocked shot.

Osborne scored seven points and he hit one three, had four rebounds, two assists and a team-high four steals.

Senior Coleden May scored six points to go with nine rebounds (three offensive) and one steal.

Blake Boedeker hit a three and senior Ben Mathews scored two points.

The game’s leading scorer was Stivers’ senior Amaury Hawes with 14 points. He made one three-point field goal.

Senior Kelvin Cotton-Cash and junior Amarion Jenkins each scored nine points and each hit one three for the Tigers.

Junior Jeremy Daniels Jr. scored four points for Stivers and senior Stephon Robinson Jr. scored two points.

Miami Trace will go for an outright FAC title when they host Hillsboro Tuesday.

The Panthers are 15-6 overall, 8-1 in the FAC.

The Washington Blue Lions are 7-2 in the FAC with a conference game remaining at Jackson High School Tuesday.

The tournament drawing was held Sunday, Feb. 11.

Miami Trace is the No. 5 seed and will host No. 12 seed Hillsboro Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m., so, it will be a somewhat rare back-to-back series between the Panthers and Indians, with both games at Miami Trace. The first game will help decide the FAC champion for 2023-24 and the second will help get on team off on the right foot with a tournament win the following Tuesday.

Jackson is 15-6 overall, 5-4 in the FAC.

Stivers (6-13) will host Dayton Carroll Tuesday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT 13 9 17 18 — 57

DS 9 8 12 15 — 44

MIAMI TRACE — Ben Mathews 1-0-2; Grant Guess 4-2-10; Coleden May 3-0-6; Brady Armstrong 0 (4)-0-12; Austin Boedeker 1 (1)-2-7; Adam Guthrie 4-2-10; Bryson Osborne 2 (1)-0-7; Luke Armstrong 0-0-0; Blake Boedeker 0 (1)-0-3. TOTALS — 15 (7)-6-57. Field goal shooting: 6 of 17 for 35 percent. Three-point field goals: B. Armstrong, 4; A. Boedeker, B. Boedeker, Osborne. Field goal shooting: 22 of 52 for 42 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 7 of 16 for 44 percent. Rebounds: 37 (12 offensive). Turnovers: 14. Assists: 14. Steals: 13. Blocked shots: 2. Fouls: 14.

DAYTON STIVERS — Amarion Jenkins 1 (2)-1-9; Gavin Wright 2-2-6; Amaury Hawes 5 (1)-1-14; Kelvin Cotton-Cash 3 (1)-0-9; Jeremy Daniels Jr. 2-0-4; Jalal Lewis 0-0-0; Bernard Sharp 0-0-0; Jeron Brown 0-0-0; Stephon Robinson Jr. 0-2-2. TOTALS — 13 (4)-6-44. Free throw shooting: 6 of 9 for 67 percent. Three-point field goals: Jenkins, 2; Hawes, Cotton-Cash. Field goal shooting: 17 of 42 for 40 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 4 of 16 for 25 percent. Turnovers: 18. Offensive rebounds: 10.

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Panthers beat Tigers in j-v game

In the j-v game Saturday, Miami Trace defeated Stivers School for the Arts, 59-33.

Julian Baker was the game’s leading scorer for Miami Trace with 17 points. Baker had one three-point field goal.

Connor Napier scored 16 for the Panthers, Cade Whitaker scored eight, Luke Armstrong hit two threes for six points, Ian Rayburn and Blake Boedeker both scored four points and Anthony Huffer and Bryson Yeoman each scored two points.