The McClain Lady Tigers visited Miami Trace High School Saturday, Nov. 26 to open Frontier Athletic Conference play for the 2022-23 season.

Miami Trace won the game, 40-32 to even their season record at 2-2.

McClain dropped to 0-2 with the loss.

Senior Hillery ‘Bean’ Jacobs was the game’s leading scorer for Miami Trace with 13 points. She hit one three-point field goal. She also shared the team lead in rebounds with five. She also had two assists and one steal.

Miami Trace sophomore Nevaeh Lyons scored 11 points and hit one three-point basket. Lyons had two assists and led her team with four steals.

A quartet of Panthers — seniors Kaelin Pfeifer and Hillary McCoy, junior Jessee Stewart and sophomore Ellie Robinette — each scored four points.

McCoy, Pfeifer and Stewart each had two assists and Robinette had one. McCoy had five rebounds and senior Mallory Lovett had three.

For McClain, junior Lily Barnes and sophomore Anna Eikenberry led in scoring, each with eight points. Barnes hit the Lady Tigers’ only three-point field goal.

A trio of players — seniors Payton Pryor and Jaden McCoy and sophomore Kenzie Wise — each scored four points.

Juniors Kaitlyn Jett and Haylee Havens both added two points.

McClain outscored Miami Trace 9-0 from the free throw line and crashed the boards for 19 offensive rebounds to two for Miami Trace. The Lady Panthers had a total of 16 rebounds.

McClain had 18 turnovers and Miami Trace had 17.

Miami Trace began the game leading 4-0. It was 7-4 Miami Trace at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Panthers increased their lead to 11-4 with 5:28 to play in the first half.

McClain cut the deficit to two points with 2:40 to play in the half.

Miami Trace held a 14-13 halftime lead.

The turning point in the game was the third quarter, with Miami Trace outscoring McClain, 16-7 to take a 30-20 lead with eight minutes remaining.

McClain pulled to within six points, but could draw no closer as Miami Trace emerged with the 40-32 victory.

“I thought we played hard,” McClain head coach Jarrod Haines said. “We had trouble scoring the basketball.”

Despite the 19-2 offensive rebounding advantage for McClain, the Lady Tigers made 11 of 45 field goal attempts for 24 percent.

Miami Trace converted 19 of 40 shot attempts for 48 percent.

“Defensively I thought we played really hard,” Haines said. “Our kids aren’t going to quit and they didn’t.

“We had some kids step up,” Haines said. “Anna Eikenberry, a sophomore, played really well for us and Kenzie Wise came in and gave us good minutes as a sophomore.

“We’re kind of learning some new roles and we’re getting there,” Haines said.

“It was a battle tonight,” Miami Trace head coach Kayla Dettwiller said. “McClain is a tough competitor. They have kids who compete and are very athletic.

“Our kids did a nice job,” Dettwiller said. “They bought-in on the game plan. The things we worked on in practice, they were prepared for (during) the game.

“Tonight I thought our team played really well,” Dettwiller said. “On defense, they did a good job of communicating. On the offensive end, we shared the ball pretty well.”

McClain hosts Chillicothe Wednesday.

Miami Trace hosts Hillsboro Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT 7 7 16 10 — 40

Mc 4 9 7 12 — 32

MIAMI TRACE — Ellie Robinette 2-0-4; Kaelin Pfeifer 2-0-4; Hillary McCoy 2-0-4; Jessee Stewart 2-0-4; Navaeh Lyons 4 (1)-0-11; Zoey Grooms 0-0-0; Mallory Lovett 0-0-0; Hillery Jacobs 5 (1)-0-13. TOTALS — 17 (2)-0-40. Free throw shooting: 0 of 5. Three-point field goals: Lyons, Jacobs. Field goal shooting: 19 of 40 for 48 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 2 of 11 for 18 percent. Rebounds: 16 (2 offensive). Assists: 11. Steals: 8. Fouls: 17.

McCLAIN — Payton Pryor 1-2-4; Luca Matesic 0-0-0; Kenzie Wise 2-0-4; Jaden McCoy 0-4-4; Haylee Havens 1-0-2; Kaitlyn Jett 1-0-2; Lily Barnes 1 (1)-3-8; Anna Eikenberry 4-0-8. TOTALS — 10 (1)-9-32. Three-point field goal: Barnes. Field goal shooting: 11 of 45 for 24 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 1 of 11 for 9 percent. Turnovers: 18. Offensive rebounds: 19.

McClain wins j-v game with Miami Trace

In the j-v game, McClain defeated Miami Trace, 30-22.

Miami Trace’s Katy Bock and McClain’s Lillie Saunders shared top scoring honors, each with 10 points. Saunders had one three-point field goal.

For Miami Trace, Bella Shull and Mya Babineau both scored four points and Cali Kirkpatrick and Hannah Binegar each scored two points.

For McClain, Brenna Wright scored nine, Brie Cummins had seven points (with one three-point field goal) and Katie Cook and Kenzie Wise both scored two points.