It truly was a "tale of two half's" Tuesday night at the Panther Pit as Miami Trace fell to Jackson 69-46.
The Panthers came out of the tip on fire, moving the ball around, finding the open player and knocking down shots and forcing Jackson into uncomfortable offensive situations to take a 17-10 first quarter lead. The Panthers cooled a bit in the second quarter and it was played more even as Jackson outscored them 14-13 but the Panthers held on to 30-24 halftime lead.
Jackson shot just 22% from the field on 7-32 shooting in the first half behind stingy defense by Miami Trace but did knock down 10-12 free throws to keep the game in reach. Miami Trace shot 10-26 in the first for 38% but was able to knock down three 3 point shots.
In the second half Jackson came out of the locker room pumped up and used a full court press that Miami Trace couldn't beat and forced the Panthers into 15 second half turnovers that Jackson turned into 22 points. Miami Trace only managed to knock down five shots in the second half and only managed 17 total points in the two quarters. Jackson on the other hand scored 45 second half points, 17 of which came from Senior Cooper Donaldson who finished with a game high 23.
Miami Trace (0-6) finished the night shooting 15-49 for 31%, knocked down 4-14 three point shots, committed 25 turnovers and were 12-18 from the free throw line. They were led in scoring by Kyler Conn's 13 points, Trevor Barker had 12 and Austin Brown had 10.
Jackson 5-1 (3-1) finished shooting 27-73 for 30%, were 2-15 from beyond the arc, committed 14 turnovers and shot 21-32 from the free throw line. They were led in scoring by Cooper Donaldson's 23 points, Caleb Wallis ahd 15 and Treylan Davis added 12.