Down at half, Panthers rally back to beat Massie

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On an evening that was anything but winter-like, the Clinton-Massie Falcons traveled east to Miami Trace High School for an SCOL match-up Tuesday night.

The Panthers won this high-scoring affair, 80-75.

Miami Trace improves to 11-7 overall, 6-5 in the SCOL.

Clinton-Massie dips to 5-11 overall, 3-9 in the SCOL.

Miami Trace is currently fourth in the SCOL standings, followed by the Falcons in fifth.

“We were down multiple possessions at halftime,” Miami Trace head coach Rob Pittser said. “It was similar to what we were last Friday night (at McClain). I’m kind of disappointed in that. A lot of the same reasons we got down last Friday were the same reasons we got down tonight: a lack of energy and a lack of an attack mentality when we had the ball; a little too passive, a little too timid.

“When you’re playing a prideful group that’s used to competing for State titles in football, they’re going to come in here after you’ve beaten them once and absolutely put their best foot forward,” Pittser said. “We lacked in the energy category. They we’re beating us on toughness plays. They were well-coached and prepared for our pressure.

“We had success pressuring them down at their place,” Pittser said. “They made some great adjustments; their kids were very focused. That forced our hand to go to the zone there in the second half. The zone was good to us. DeAndre (Pettiford) made some shots in the third quarter to help us take the lead back.

“We have to figure some of that stuff out,” Pittser said. “Late in the game, the idea is not to turn the ball over and not to give up uncontested shots and we did both. Those are areas we have to clean up.”

“We came out in the third quarter and, DeAndre shot the ball really well,” Clinton-Massie head coach Dustin Eads said. “We made a few bad decisions with the basketball that led to some easy layups and put us behind the eight-ball.”

The Falcons had 19 turnovers to 11 for Miami Trace.

“That’s kind of the story of our season so far,” Eads said. “We just have to take better care of the basketball.

“Nick Chowning shot the ball really well tonight for us,” Eads said. “He played more of a complete game like we’ve been expecting him to play all season. I was very proud of him tonight.”

The Panthers had three players in double figures, with two of those scoring over 20 points Tuesday.

Junior DeAndre Pettiford was the game’s leading scorer for the Panthers with 29 points.

Sophomore Darby Tyree scored 21 and junior Tyrae Pettiford scored 10.

For the Falcons, junior Nick Chowning led the way with 24 points. He hit five of his team’s nine three-point field goals.

Junior Noah Greathouse scored 18 (including three threes), sophomore Trey Uetrecht added 14 and junior Chris Demler reached double-digits with 10 points.

Greathouse was the game’s leading rebounder with seven. Uetrecht was next for the Falcons with six boards.

For the Panthers, DeAndre Pettiford and Tyrae Pettiford each had six rebounds.

Junior Blake Pittser led the game with nine assists for the Panthers.

Chowning had five assists for the Falcons.

Both teams shot the ball well.

Clinton-Massie made 26 of 50 field goal attempts for 52 percent.

The Panthers hit 31 of 66 shots for 46 percent.

From behind the arc, the Falcons made 9 of 25 threes for 36 percent.

Miami Trace sank 7 of 22 threes for 31 percent.

The Panthers began the game with a 9-3 lead.

By the end of the first quarter, however, the Falcons had gone in front, 19-17.

The Falcons increased their lead in the second quarter to take a 41-33 lead into the locker room.

The third quarter was the one that benefited the Panthers the most, and, conversely, proved costly to the Falcons.

Miami Trace outscored Clinton-Massie, 22-9 in that period to take a 55-50 lead.

The teams combined to score 50 points in the fourth quarter, 25 a side, for the final, 80-75.

Miami Trace is back at home Friday for Senior Night against the Washington Blue Lions. Washington rallied to win at Logan Elm Tuesday, 58-55.

The Panthers then travel to Unioto to take on the No. 2 team in the State in Division II, the Shermans.

The Falcons now play four games in five days, starting with a game at East Clinton Friday. Massie hosts Waynesville Saturday, then has an SCOL make-up game at McClain Monday and then at Monroe Tuesday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT 17 16 22 25 — 80

C-M 19 22 9 25 — 75

MIAMI TRACE — DeAndre Pettiford 8 (2)-7-29; Darby Tyree 9 (1)-1-21; Tyrae Pettiford 3 (1)-1-10; Jacob Batson 1 (1)-1-6; Blake Pittser 1 (1)-0-5; Cameron Carter 1 (1)-0-5; Brad Card 1-0-2; Skyler McDonald 0-2-2. TOTALS — 24 (7)-11-80. Free throw shooting: 11 of 16 for 68 percent. Three-point field goals: D. Pettiford, 2; Tyree, T. Pettiford, Batson, Pittser, Carter. Combined field goal shooting: 31 of 66 for 46 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 7 of 22 for 31 percent. Rebounds: 27 (9 offensive). Assists: 18. Steals: 11. Blocks: 2. Turnovers: 11.

CLINTON-MASSIE — Nick Chowning 2 (5)-5-24; Noah Greathouse 3 (3)-3-18; Trey Uetrecht 4-6-14; Chris Demler 5-0-10; Thomas Myers 2-0-4; Daulton Wolfe 0 (1)-0-3; Bailey LeForge 1-0-2. TOTALS — 17 (9)-14-75. Free throw shooting: 14 of 18 for 77 percent. Three-point field goals: Chowning, 5; Greathouse, 3; Wolfe. Combined field goal shooting: 26 of 50 for 52 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 9 of 25 for 36 percent. Rebounds: 27 (7 offensive). Assists: 17. Steals: 5. Blocks: 2. Turnovers: 19.

Miami Trace senior Brad Card has the ball in the low post during an SCOL game against Clinton-Massie Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016.
http://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2016/02/web1_MTBradCardvsClintonMassie222016.jpgMiami Trace senior Brad Card has the ball in the low post during an SCOL game against Clinton-Massie Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016. Chris Hoppes | Record-Herald

By Chris Hoppes

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Reach Chris Hoppes at 740-335-3611, ext. 1104, or on Twitter @choppes1

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