The Lady Cavaliers of Chillicothe High School made the trip up US 35 into Fayette County to battle with the Miami Trace Lady Panthers Wednesday evening.
This game was not decided until the very final seconds as Miami Trace emerged with a hard-fought 47-44 victory.
Sophomore Libby Aleshire led Miami Trace with 13 points. She also led her team with six rebounds.
Junior Delaney Eakins scored 12 and sophomore Emma Pitstick had seven points.
Junior Magarah Bloom had five rebounds for Miami Trace.
Shawnice Smith was the game’s leading scorer for Chillicothe with 14 points.
Makenzie Greene scored 12 and Zoe Ford and Julia Hall each scored six.
Chillicothe led 11-9 at the end of the first quarter.
Miami Trace had its best quarter of the game in the second, outscoring Chillicothe 16-7 to take a 25-18 halftime lead.
Both teams scored 12 points in the third quarter to set the margin at 37-30 going into the fourth quarter.
Chillicothe scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to pull to within three at 37-34.
Aleshire scored for Miami Trace and that bucket was answered by Chillicothe to keep the difference at three.
Both teams then missed shots and had a turnover on their next three respective possessions.
Miami Trace went on a 8-0 run to take a 47-36 lead.
Miami Trace would not score again in the game.
Chillicothe scored the final eight points of the game to set the final tally at 47-44.
“I’m not sure the way we played the last 10 minutes if we deserved to win, but we’ll certainly take it,” Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley said. “We’ve got kids, even our juniors right now and our one senior who played quite a bit tonight, they’re green as far as game decisions, especially late-game decisions. Boy, will they grow up from tonight and they’ll learn. This will be a great film for us to go over with them.
“We did everything we could do in the last five and a half or six minutes, on both ends, to give (Chillicothe) multiple opportunities,” Ackley said. “Our theme this year is – finish. We’ve got to finish possessions, finish quarters, finish halves and most of all, finish the game.
“Aubrey McCoy and Emma Pitstick and Magarah Bloom, they kept coming back,” Ackley said. “We’ve got tough kids. This was a huge game in the league. I think the league is wide-open.”
Miami Trace (2-1 overall, 2-0 in the FAC) is at Eastern Brown Saturday with the j-v game tipping off at noon.
The Lady Panthers will play at McClain next Wednesday night.
McClain is 2-0 in the FAC after posting a 55-12 win at Jackson Wednesday night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 9 16 12 10 — 47
C 11 7 12 14 — 44
MIAMI TRACE — Sidney Payton 1-0-2; Mallory Pavey 0-0-0; Aubrey McCoy 0-1-1; Magarah Bloom 1 (1)-0-5; Libby Aleshire 5-3-13; Gracey Ferguson 1-0-2; Hillery Jacobs 1 (1)-0-5; Emma Pitstick 3-1-7; Delaney Eakins 6-0-12. TOTALS 18 (2)-5-47. Free throw shooting: 5 of 9 for 56 percent. Three-point field goals: Bloom, Jacobs. Field goal shooting: 20 of 45 for 44 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 2 of 6 for 33 percent. Rebounds: 21 (7 offensive). Assists: 9. Steals: 11. Turnovers: 17.
CHILLICOTHE — Zoe Ford 2-2-6; Makenzie Greene 6-0-12; Julia Hall 0 (2)-0-6; Jacey Harding 0-1-1; Emma Fromm 0-2-2; Aries Barnes 0-0-0; Alysia Cunningham 1-1-3; Shawnice Smith 7-0-14; Avery Erslan 0-0-0. TOTALS — 16 (2)-6-44. Free throw shooting: 6 of 11 for 55 percent. Three-point field goals: Hall, 2. Field goal shooting: 18 of 45 for 40 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 2 of 11 for 18 percent. Offensive rebounds: 12. Turnovers: 20.
