On the first day of winter, 2021, the Miami Trace Panthers welcomed the Zane Trace Pioneers for a non-conference basketball encounter Tuesday night.
A good first and fourth quarter for Zane Trace helped the visitors to claim a 46-38 victory.
Miami Trace was led by junior Andrew Guthrie with 12 points.
Sophomore Eli Fliehman scored eight points, sophomore Austin Boedeker scored six points, senior Ashton Connell and sophomore Garrett Guess both added five points. Connell and Guess each hit one three-point field goal for the Panthers.
Zane Trace had a trio of juniors in double figures with Xzander Ream and Nalin Robinson leading the way, each with 14 points.
Kyle Stonerock scored 12 for the Pioneers.
The lead changed hands three times in the first quarter with Zane Trace having its best scoring period of the game with 19 points to six for Miami Trace.
The Panthers made up much of the deficit in the second quarter.
With Boedeker’s final bucket of the half, the Panthers had pulled to within three points, 24-21, at the break.
After Zane Trace scored to take a 26-21 lead, the Panthers went on an 8-2 run to take a 29-28 lead with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter.
The teams traded baskets in the final two minutes of the quarter that saw the Panthers take a 31-30 lead.
With a pair of free throws from Guthrie and a three-point shot by Guess, the Panthers held their biggest lead of the night, 36-30 with 6:28 to play in the game.
Zane Trace finished the game on a 16-2 run to emerge with a 46-38 victory.
“We played hard,” Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley said. “I’m very proud of them.
“Zane Trace’s bigs remind me of Jackson’s bigs,” Ackley said. “They’re big, strong and physical. I thought they gave us some trouble early.
“Against Jackson, we kind of pitched the tent and called it a night real early,” Ackley said. “Tonight, we didn’t do that. We battled back and our kids fought.
“We played like a young team late,” Ackley said. “They made us pay, they made shots, made their free throws.”
Free throw shooting was arguably the deciding factor as Zane Trace made 14 of 17 attempts from the line for 82 percent. Miami Trace was 2 of 5 from the line for 40 percent.
“We missed a couple of critical lay-ups at inopportune times,” Ackley said. “We had silly, unforced turnovers, which is part of the growing process. That doesn’t make it any easier tonight. I think Zane Trace is one of the better teams in Division III.
“Our team is starting to learn to play defense,” Ackley said. “We’re ahead of the curve there. We have to get better, offensively. I can’t fault our effort. We didn’t look like a 1-7 team.
“We’ve got to look forward and self-evaluate here and get better,” Ackley said.
Zane Trace improves to 5-3 with the win.
Miami Trace (1-8 overall) will host the McDonald’s Holiday Classic Tournament, featuring Greeneview, London and Madison Plains, Tuesday.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
MT 6 15 10 7 — 38
ZT 19 5 6 16 — 46
MIAMI TRACE — Eli Fliehman 4-0-8; Garrett Guess 1 (1)-0-5; Ashton Connell 1 (1)-0-5; Bryson Osborne 1-0-2; Bryson Sheets 0-0-0; Austin Boedeker 3-0-6; Andrew Guthrie 5-2-12. TOTALS — 15 (2)-2-38. Free throw shooting: 2 of 5 for 40 percent. Three-point field goals: Guess, Connell. Field goal shooting: 17 of 40 for 43 percent. Turnovers: 14.
ZANE TRACE — Ben Nichols 0 (1)-0-3; Carter Hill 0-3-3; Braden Jarrell 0-0-0; Nalin Robinson 3 (1)-5-14; Xzander Ream 3 (2)-2-14; Kyle Stonerock 5-2-12; Austen Ison 0-0-0; Carter Langley 0-0-0. TOTALS — 15 (4)-14-46. Free throw shooting: 14 of 17 for 82 percent. Three-point field goals: Ream, 2; Nichols, Robinson. Field goal shooting: 19 of 45 for 42 percent. Turnovers: 7.
Panthers win j-v game against Pioneers
In the j-v game Tuesday, Miami Trace defeated Zane Trace, 38-35.
Brady Armstrong was the game’s leading scorer for Miami Trace with 22 points. He hit three three-point field goals.
Shay Salyers scored 14 points (with two three-point baskets) and Skye Salyers scored two points.
Landon Jarrell led Zane Trace with 12 points.
Brock Jarrell scored eight points and Ezra Rippeth scored seven.
