After beating Miami Trace by 30 points earlier this season, Chillicothe ran into a scrappy and improved Panther team on their home floor Friday night. A late Cavs 13-4 run carried them to a tough 62-53 road win.
The Chillicothe Cavaliers could never quite put away Miami Trace for three quarters at The Pit. The Cavs would lead by 10 and see the Panthers cut it to four.
Chillicothe led 46-36 heading to the final quarter, but Miami Trace came out with an 8-0 run and suddenly Chillicothe only led 46-44 with five minutes to go.
The Cavs were able to answer with a huge Jayvon Maughmer three and a Vincent Roper steal and layup to stop the Panther surge. Chillicothe got threes from Tre Beard, Brandon Noel and another for Maughmer to maintain their lead at 10 through the final four minutes.
Maughmer was big in the second half and led all scorers with 22 (after 24 on Wednesday night). Beard added 17 and senior Chris Postage notched a season high 12, all coming in the first half.
Coach Eric Huffer gave great credit to Miami Trace who mixed up their defenses with lots of zone to force the Cavs out and shooting a lights out 66% from the field. Huffer also commented that the Cavs were maybe not as focused as he would have liked. “We did buckle down defensively late and got that big steal from Roper,” said Huffer.
The win keeps the Cavaliers tied for the FAC lead at (5-1) along with Washington Court House.
Both teams scorched the nets from the floor. Miami Trace shot 88% in the final quarter missing only one shot. The Panthers hit 23-35 shots for 66%. The Cavaliers were 23-42 for 55% and for the third straight game shot over 50% from the three point line, going 12-22 on trifectas.
Miami Trace was led by junior Austin Mathews with 13 and junior Kyler Conn with 10.
After 4 games in seven days, Chillicothe is off till next Friday when the host FAC co-leader Washington CH for first place.
Listen to the replay of the Cavs win on our podcast link below...