BEXLEY — The Miami Trace Panthers began a three-game road trip Tuesday with a game at Bexley High School against the Lions.
It turned out to be a tough one for the Panthers as they struggled before falling to Bexley, 53-39.
The Panthers were led in scoring by senior Cameron Carter with 10 points. Carter also led Miami Trace in rebounds with six, assists with five and steals with three.
Senior Darby Tyree had nine points and five rebounds.
The one-two combination of junior Ryan Callahan (19 points) and sophomore Damian Davis (18 points, six rebounds) was tough for the Panthers to overcome on this night.
Add to that senior Shannon Stanley who snagged a game-high 13 rebounds, including six offensive, helping give Bexley a 9-2 edge in second chance points.
The Lions grabbed 32 rebounds, including nine offensive to 17 for Miami Trace (one offensive).
Bexley led 11-9 at the end of the first quarter and 26-18 at the half.
In the second half, Miami Trace briefly pulled to within three points, 29-26, with 3:10 to play in the third quarter.
However, it seemed all uphill on this night for Miami Trace.
Tryee hit a three at the buzzer, ending the third quarter with Bexley in front, 37-31.
Bexley was able to extend its lead to double digits in the fourth quarter and take plenty of time off the clock as they worked the ball around between shots.
“We had a very difficult time from an energy standpoint,” Miami Trace head coach Rob Pittser said. “Most teams have a night or two like this. Now, unfortunately for us, I don’t want to say it’s a pattern at this point, but, this is about the third or fourth time when we’ve gone somewhere and we can’t explain what the problem is.
“We were out of sorts and out of sync tonight,” Pittser said. “We were able to hang around the game for a while, but it got away from us late.
“We need to get rid of this game and get two days of work in to hopefully have some success Friday night,” Pittser said.
Miami Trace, now 7-7 on the season, will play for a share of first place in the Frontier Athletic Conference Friday at Chillicothe.
The Cavaliers are 5-0 in the FAC, the Panthers bring a record of 4-1 to the game.
Also in action Tuesday night, the Washington Blue Lions traveled to Lancaster and fell, 61-33.
McClain lost to Leesburg Fairfield, 55-37, Fayetteville defeated Hillsboro, 63-58, Jackson routed Wellston 50-27, Circleville got by Huntington 49-41, Vinton County knocked off Athens, 73-62, Oak Hill beat Waverly, 65-60 and Logan beat Teays Valley, 58-37.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 9 9 13 8 — 39
B 11 15 11 16 — 53
MIAMI TRACE — Cameron Carter 2-6-10; Matt Fender 0 (2)-0-6; Austin Mathews 1-0-2; Dillon Coe 0-0-0; Dakota Bolton 0-0-0; Adam Ginn 0-1-1; Brett Lewis 1 (1)-0-5; Heath Cockerill 1-0-2; Austin Brown 2-0-4; Darby Tyree 2 (1)-2-9. TOTALS — 9 (4)-9-39. Free throw shooting: 9 of 14 for 64 percent. Three-point field goals: Fender, 2; Lewis, Tyree. Combined field goal shooting: 13 of 36 for 36 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 4 of 15 for 26 percent. Rebounds: 17 (1 offensive). Assists: 16. Steals: 5. Blocks: 0. Turnovers: 13. Personal fouls: 18. Bench points: 9. Second chance points: 2. Points off turnovers: 10.
BEXLEY — Nasir Tucker 0-1-1; Damian Davis 3 (2)-6-18; Shannon Stanley 4-0-8; Will Hoyer 0-0-0; Grant Heilman 0-0-0; Dane Rudolph 0-0-0; Ryan Callahan 7-5-19; Anthony Welsh 1-0-2; Zack Welz 1-0-2; Leo Schottenstein 1-1-3. TOTALS — 17 (2)-13-53. Free throw shooting: 13 of 22 for 59 percent. Three-point field goals: Davis, 2. Combined field goal shooting: 19 of 45 for 42 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 2 of 15 for 13 percent. Rebounds: 32 (9 offensive). Assists: 6. Steals: 10. Blocks: 0. Turnovers: 10. Personal fouls: 12. Bench points: 3. Second chance points: 9. Points off turnovers: 15.
