The Miami Trace Lady Panthers notched their 10th win in a row Wednesday, 53-29 over the visiting Astros of East Clinton High School.
Miami Trace sophomore Victoria Fliehman was the game’s leading scorer with 17 points.
Junior Hanna Reisinger scored 11 and senior Kyla Johnston had eight points.
East Clinton was led by a pair of freshmen, Kaitlyn Durbin and Lacey Peterman, each with eight points.
Miami Trace took a 5-2 lead to start the game.
East Clinton tied the game, 6-6 with three minutes to play in the opening period.
The Astros scored the last bucket of the first quarter to trail, 11-10.
Miami Trace won the second quarter, 17-6, building a lead of as many as 14 points.
At the half, Miami Trace held a 28-16 lead.
In the third quarter, the Lady Panthers expanded their advantage.
Johnston hit a three-point shot near the end of the third to give Miami Trace a 43-23 lead.
A 10-6 fourth quarter in favor of the Lady Panthers gave the home team the 53-29 victory.
“I thought East Clinton did a very good job defensively tonight,” Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley said. “They had a good game plan.
“Once again early, we didn’t make some shots that we normally make,” Ackley said. “We just have kids who are a step fast right now, offensively. I think they’re just trying too hard.”
There was no j-v game Wednesday due to illness and injuries on the part of East Clinton.
Miami Trace (13-2 overall, 8-1 in the SCOL) has a crucial game next up on Saturday, at Clinton-Massie. The j-v game starts at noon.
“Coach (Carlos) Roberts will have them ready for us,” Ackley said. “We’ll have to bring our ‘A’ game in order to compete on Saturday afternoon.”
“Trace is a good team,” East Clinton head coach Steven Gerber said. “They’ve got scorers all over the floor. They’ve got size and athleticism.
“I’ll tell you what; I wouldn’t trade my kids for anything,” Gerber said. “They came out here and battled. Our kids came out and fought from the beginning. Our numbers are down; we’re injured, we’re sick. I thought our kids played well.
“Defensively, we played pretty well,” Gerber said. “Offensively, we struggled at times. We missed some shots. There were a couple of key points in the first half where we let their shooters get loose and they hit a couple of big threes.
“We missed a couple easy shots in the first half that might have turned the momentum,” Gerber said. “We were playing a lot of the time with one senior and then freshmen and sophomores.”
Clinton-Massie fell to McClain Wednesday, 42-30. The Falcons and Lady Tigers are now tied for second in the SCOL, both at 6-2.
East Clinton is at Hillsboro Saturday. The j-v game is slated to start at 5:30 p.m.
Elsewhere around the SCOL Wednesday, Chillicothe beat Hillsboro, 48-37 and Wilmington beat Washington, 52-36.
Chillicothe is now in fourth place in the SCOL at 5-3, followed by Wilmington at 4-4, Washington, 3-6, Hillsboro, 1-6 and East Clinton, 0-8.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 11 17 15 10 — 53
EC 10 6 7 6 — 29
MIAMI TRACE — Kyla Johnston 2 (1)-1-8; Cassidy Lovett 1-0-2; Hanna Reisinger 2 (1)-4-11; Morgan Miller 0-0-0; Harmonee Napier 0 (1)-0-3; Victoria Fliehman 5 (1)-4-17; Tanner Bryant 0 (1)-4-7; Alexis Schwartz 0-0-0; Samantha Ritenour 1-3-5. TOTALS — 11 (5)-16-53. Free throw shooting: 16 of 20 for 80 percent. Three-point field goals: Johnston, Reisinger, Napier, Fliehman, Bryant. Combined field goal shooting: 16 of 57 for 28 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 5 of 15 for 33 percent. Turnovers: 7. Rebounds: 32 (12 offensive). Assists: 10. Steals: 7.
EAST CLINTON — Paige Lilly 0-0-0; Miranda Beener 0-0-0; Marissa Williams 0-0-0; Ciarra Cooper 2-0-4; Kaitlyn Durbin 3-2-8; Kathelyn Talbott 0-0-0; Brehona Davis 3-0-6; Sierra Christian 0-0-0; Kayla Hall 1-1-3; Lacey Peterman 4-0-8. TOTALS — 13-3-29. Free throw shooting: 3 of 7 for 43 percent. Three-point field goals: none. Combined field goal shooting: 13 of 42 for 31 perent. Three-point field goal shooting: 0 of 5. Turnovers: 20. Offensive rebounds: 6.
