The Miami Trace Lady Panthers saw their season come to an end last night as they fell in the Girls Division II District Semi's to # 1 seed The Vinton County Lady Vikings 53-39 at Southeastern High School.
It started out rough for the Lady Panthers as they couldn't buy a bucket going scoreless through nearly the entire first quarter. Vinton County jumped out to an 11-0 run before Miami Trace finally got on the board and was able to score five straight to trail 11-5 after one quarter of play. What looked the beginning of a Miami Trace going into the second quarter turned out to be just the opposite as Vinton County opened up the quarter going on a 10-2 to extend their lead to 22-7 halfway through the half. The Panthers rallied behind two three point shots by a couple of sophomores, Gracee Stewart and Magarah Bloom but the Lady Vikings outscored the Lady Panthers by three to take a 23-14 lead into the half.
The Panthers shot 23% for the half on 6-26 shooting including those two three point shots. They committed 12 turnovers but out rebounded Vinton County 16-12 including 5 offensive. Vinton County shot 43% in the first half on 10-23 shooting, they knocked down 3-7 from beyond the arc and were 0-4 from the free throw line.
Shay McDonald was a bright spot for the Panthers as she scored 15 second half points and Olivia Wolffe scored 8 of her 10 points in the second half as well but any time Miami Trace would try to go on a run, Vinton County had an answer. And that answer came from behind the three point line as they knocked down six second half three's, four of which were by Freshman Lacie Williams.
The Panthers were outscored 17-12 in the third quarter and played Vinton County even in the fourth 13-13 but they were never able to get the game within single digits as the game and the season came to a close with 53-39 loss.
McDonald led the way for Miami Trace with 21 points, Olivia Wolffe had 10, Magarah Bloom and Gracee Stewart each had 3 and Delaney Eakins had 2. Total shooting the Panthers were 17-58 for 29% and were 5-21 from three for 24%, they only attempted two free throws and missed them both. They had 21 turnovers and pulled down 34 rebounds. They finish with a 16-8 record.
Vinton County was led in scoring by Lacie Williams' 21 points, Morgan Bentley had 12 and Josie Ousley had 9. On the night they were 22-53 from the floor for 42% and were 9-20 from beyond the arc for 45%, they also didn't make any free throws on eight attempts, they committed 23 turnovers and had 25 total rebounds.
Vinton County (21-1) next plays in the Division II District Championship against Washington Court House on Thursday, Feb. 28th at 7 p.m.