Miami Trace moves to 2-0 in league play with a hard fought 47-44 victory of the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers.
Chillicothe jumped out to an early lead Wednesday night behind strong play from senior Shawnice Smith who had the Cavs first 6 points and 8 of their 11 total points in the first quarter. Midway through the first coach Ackley called a time out and changed defense on Smith and from their Miami Trace took over. The first quarter ended with the Panthers trailing 11-9 but they went on an 8-0 run and ended up outscoring Chillicothe 16-7 in the second quarter to take a 25-18 lead into the half.
The Panthers forced Chillicothe into 12 first half turnovers, while committing 9 themselves. Chillicothe out rebounded Trace in the half 14-9 and both teams shot poorly from the free throw line all night, Trace was 3-7 and Chillicothe was 2-5.
The second half saw both teams playing each other even, as each team scored 12 points in quarter and the Panthers were able to stay on top 37-30 going into the final frame. Miami Trace was able to increase their lead to 47-36 with just minutes remaining in the game before the Cavs stormed back and scored the final 8 points of the game but fell just short as time expired on the Cavs with them losing 47-44 and falling to 1-1 in the league and 1-3 overall.
Miami Trace moves to 2-0 in the FAC and 2-1 overall. On the night they committed 23 turnovers, pulled down 17 rebounds shot 6-12 from the free throw line and were 20-47 from the field for 43%. They were led in scoring by sophomore Libby Aleshire who had 13 points, Delaney Eakins added 12, all in the second half. Miami Trace travels to Eastern on Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. tip off.
Chillicothe finished with 27 turnovers, pulled down 24 rebounds, were 5-9 from the free throw line and shot 18-38 from the field for 47%. They were led in scoring by Shawnice Smith who had 14 points and Makenzie Greene added 12. Chillicothe next plays this week against Fairfield.