The Hillsboro Indians visited Miami Trace High School on a cold first Friday of 2022 for the second meeting of the season between the two Frontier Athletic Conference and long-time rivals.

Back on Dec. 3, the Panthers played at Hillsboro High School and lost that game, 66-48.

Friday night, the game was much, much closer, with the Panthers pulling out a thrilling 52-50 victory in overtime.

The game was tied at the end of each period of play.

It was 17-17 at the end of the first quarter and 26-26 at the half.

The score was knotted at 35-35 after three quarters of play and 43-43 at the end of regulation.

The Panthers had a trio of players reach double figures in scoring with junior Andrew Guthrie scoring 19 points. He unofficially had a double-double with double figures in rebounds, many from the offensive glass.

Sophomore Austin Boedeker hit four of the Panthers’ six three-point field goals on his way to scoring 17 points and sophomore Garrett Guess hit two threes and scored a total of 12 points.

Sophomore Eli Fliehman scored two points and sophomore Bryson Osborne had the game-winning basket, saving his only two points of the game for the very last second.

In overtime, Miami Trace won the tip, but turned the ball over.

Hillsboro’s Ethan Parry hit a three to give his team a 46-43 lead.

Both teams missed on their next possession before Boedeker hit a three-point shot with 2:55 to play, tying the game, 46-46.

Hillsboro missed on its next shot attempt and Guthrie was fouled. He made one of two from the line and after another Hillsboro miss and foul, Boedeker scored. He converted the old-fashioned three-point play to give the Panthers a 50-46 lead with 1:12 left in overtime.

Hillsboro missed on its next trip down the court, but Miami Trace committed a foul.

Hillsboro made one of two from the line to make it 50-47 with 43 seconds to play.

Hillsboro began to quickly use up the fouls it had to give.

Miami Trace went to the line for a one-and-one, but missed the front end.

One of the keys to the game was rebounding, especially Miami Trace’s crashing of the offensive boards for second chance opportunities.

There were no points resulting from this rebound, however.

Hillsboro missed another shot, but Parry drained a three to tie the game, 50-50.

With about five seconds to play, Miami Trace went down and got a shot off. The shot was no good, but Osborne came up with the ball and scored, the ball bouncing on the rim a couple of times after the horn sounded before it fell through the hoop.

The Panthers’ bench erupted and players practically carried Osborne the length of the court before surrounding him at the other end of the gymnasium with their most exciting win of the season thus far.

“We’re really proud of our kids,” Miami Trace head coach Ben Ackley said. “They’ve been working hard. We’ve been on a little roll here (the win was the Panthers’ third in a row after starting the season 1-9). It seems like some things are starting to catch.

“We’ve made some adjustments, but mostly it’s just the kids growing up,” Ackley said. “Tonight we started four sophomores and it’s a learning process. These kids have been thrown into the fire. Other than Hayden Hunter and Drew, we didn’t return any (players with varsity experience) at all.

“Our decision-making is going to get better, but boy did they battle,” Ackley said. “We’ve been shooting the ball a lot better from the perimeter.”

Blue Lions beat Jackson

Elsewhere in the FAC Friday, Washington traveled to Jackson and won that game, 62-53.

Both teams had four players in double figures, led by Washington’s Reico Colter with 25.

Also for the Blue Lions, Tanner Lemaster and Isaiah Haithcock each had 12 points and John Wall scored 11.

Raleigh Haithcock scored two for Washington.

Boston Campbell led Jackson with 14 points. Jacob Waters scored 12, Tristan Prater scored 11 and Nate Woodard scored 10.

Taking a look at the updated FAC standings, McClain is in first place at 4-1 and Chillicothe is second at 3-2. Those teams were scheduled to play Friday, but did not.

Hillsboro is now 3-3 in the FAC with Washington and Jackson tied at 2-3 and the Panthers now 2-4.

Miami Trace (4-9 overall) will host former South Central Ohio League opponent Wilmington Tuesday.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT 17 9 9 8 9 — 52

H 17 9 9 8 7 — 50

MIAMI TRACE — Hayden Hunter 0-0-0; Eli Fliehman 1-0-2; Garrett Guess 2 (2)-2-12; Bryson Osborne 1-0-2; Austin Boedeker 2 (4)-1-17; Bryson Sheets 0-0-0; Andrew Guthrie 9-1-19. TOTALS — 15 (6)-4-52. Free throw shooting: 4 of 8 for 50 percent. Three-point field goals: Boedeker, 4; Guess, 2. Field goal shooting: 21 of 53 for 40 percent. Turnovers: 12.

HILLSBORO — Ethan Parry 1 (2)-5-13; Quintin Captain 2-1-5; Steven Kibler 0-0-0; Canaan Griffith 1-0-2; Spencer Wyckoff 0-0-0; Jayse Middleton 0-0-0; Bryce Parsons 3-2-8; Bentley Watson 1 (2)-0-8; Hunter Price 3 (2)-2-14. TOTALS — 11 (6)-10-50. Free throw shooting: 10 of 14 for 71 percent. Three-point field goals: Parry, 2; Watson, 2; Price, 2. Field goal shooting: 17 of 55 for 31 percent. Turnovers: 10.

Hillsboro wins j-v game with Panthers

In Friday’s j-v game, Hillsboro beat Miami Trace, 32-26.

For Miami Trace, Trey Robinette led with 10 points. He hit two three-point baskets. Shay Salyers scored eight points, Skye Salyers scored six (with one three-point field goal) and Gaige Stuckey scored two.

Tate Davis led Hillsboro with 10 points.

Steven Kibler scored seven, Nic Burns and Beegan Bloomfield each scored five points, Korbin Adams hit one three for three points and Garet Thompson scored two.

Miami Trace is now 8-4 overall.