The Chillicothe Cavaliers went toe to toe with Division 1 State Champion Cincinnati Moeller for one half of scintillating basketball. A final second basket by the Crusaders gave them one of their few first half leads 38-35 at intermission.
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The third quarter saw Moeller knock down 11 of 12 shots and hit three of three foul shots, while the Cavs hot shooting cooled off on 2 of 7 from the floor. The Crusaders scored on every possession in the period.
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Coach Eric Huffer felt the big difference was Moeller’s depth of 8 players, six of them being possible Division One prospects. The other key was foul trouble for Cavalier Vincent Roper who showed why he may be one of the top defenders in the state before having to sit.
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Cincinnati’s stats were unbelievable. They were 31-41 from the field (76%) and 10 of 10 from the foul line. The Crusaders scored 17 points off of 14 Chillicothe turnovers, mostly in the telltale third period.
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The Cavs were not bad either, hitting 18 of 33 for 55%. The Blue and White hit 6 of 10 threes in the first half, but just 2 of eight in the second half. Chillicothe was 7 of 8 from the charity stripe on the night.
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The terrific trio of Jayvon Maughmer, Tre Beard, and Brandon Noel scored 49 of the Cavs 51 points. Maughmer hit for 20, Beard 19, and Noel battled against Big Ten prospect Logan Duncomb (6’9” junior) for 10 points.
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Duncomb led the Crusaders with 23 while 6’4” senior guard Max Land added 23 most all in the second half.
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Coach Huffer said he told his team that they showed they could play with a team ranked in the top 25 in the USA for a half. “We have to keep working on our depth. Beyond our four returning senior starters we didn’t have a lot of experience but those guys are coming.”
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As WBEX analyst Lou Postage commented, “It was big boy basketball in front of a packed house.”
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The Cavaliers (7-1) have little time to rest as the go to FAC co-leader Jackson tomorrow night with both teams 4-0 in conference play.
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