The Miami Trace Lady Panthers hosted Chillicothe on Wednesday, Jan. 25 in a Frontier Athletic Conference basketball game. The two teams met back on Dec. 10 and the Lady Cavaliers came away with a narrow 55-53 victory.

After the opening quarter, the Lady Panthers held on to a 10-8 lead, a quarter in which they never trailed.

Chillicothe took its first lead of the game with five minutes to go in the half, 13-12. The Lady Panthers regained the lead with just over a minute to go before halftime, as sophomore Ellie Robinette caught the ball at the right wing and drilled a three-pointer to make it 15-14. With 27 seconds remaining, a free throw from Nevaeh Lyons made it 16-14 which was the halftime score.

The third quarter saw several lead changes, with neither team leading by more than one possession. That changed when Savannah Knapp of Chillicothe banked a shot as time expired to give the Lady Cavs a 28-24 lead going into the final period.

Chillicothe converted an old-fashioned three-point play to start the fourth quarter, extending its lead to seven points. Miami Trace responded with a three from Hillery “Bean” Jacobs, a steal and a layup from Hillary McCoy, and a steal and a jumper from Robinette to tie the game at 31 with six minutes to go.

Another three-point play from the Lady Cavs would allow them to regain the lead with 5:12 to go. Two more free throws would give Chillicothe a 36-31 lead with under four minutes left.

Chillicothe would tack on four more free throws to extend the lead to nine, their largest of the game.

Jessee Stewart would end the run with two free throws of her own to get it to a seven-point deficit for the Lady Panthers.

With 42 seconds left, Lyons grabbed an offensive rebound for Miami Trace and put it back in to cut it to 45-40.

Jacobs connected on a three-pointer as time expired but the comeback attempt fell short, with Chillicothe winning 47-43.

Statistically for Miami Trace, Jacobs led the team with 14 points, followed by Kaelin Pfeifer with 12, Robinette with five, and Lyons, McCoy, and Stewart with four points each.

Statistically for Chillicothe, Kierra Archer led the team with 14 points, followed by Avery Erslan with 11, Paige Huggins with eight, Avery Cox with six, Nyanna Hatfield with four, and Savannah Knapp and Miranda McCoy each with two points.

Miami Trace (11-8, 5-4 in FAC) plays again on Monday at home against Lynchburg-Clay with a 7 p.m. varsity tip.

Chillicothe (13-4, 7-2 in FAC) plays again on Saturday on the road against Athens with a 1:30 p.m. varsity tip.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

MT 10 6 8 19 — 43

C 8 6 14 19 — 47

MIAMI TRACE — Ellie Robinette 1 (1)-0-5; Kaelin Pfeifer 6-0-12; Hillary McCoy 2-0-4; Sue Morris 0-0-0; Jessee Stewart 1-2-4; Navaeh Lyons 1-2-4; Mallory Lovett 0-0-0; Hillery Jacobs 4 (2)-0-14; Ryleigh Vincent 0-0-0. TOTALS — 15 (3)-4-43. Free throw shooting: 4 of 7 for 57. Three-point field goals: Jacobs 2, Robinette. Field goal shooting: 18 of 50 for 36 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 3 of 13 for 23 percent. Rebounds: 23 (10 offensive). Turnovers: 17 Assists: 6 Steals: 13 Fouls: 21.

CHILLICOTHE —Savannah Knapp 1-0-2; Nyanna Hatfield 2-0-4; Avery Cox 2-2-6; Miranda McCoy 1-0-2; Avery Erslan 1 (1)-6-11; Paige Huggins 2-4-8; Kendra Allen 0-0-0; Kierra Archer 3-8-14. TOTALS — 12 (1)-20-47. Free throw shooting: 20 of 27 for 74 percent. Three-point field goals: Erslan. Field goal shooting: 13 of 33 for 39 percent. Three-point field goal shooting: 1 of 4 for 25 percent. Turnovers: 22. Offensive rebounds: 10.