The Miami Trace Lady Panthers secured their 7th Sectional Championship in the last 9 years with a 44-30 victory over the Unioto Lady Shermans, Thursday night.
Unioto took an early lead by knocking down two 3-point shots on its way to a 10-8 first quarter lead. Sloppy play plagued the Lady Panthers in the first as they committed nine turnovers, but they only trailed by 1 point.
Miami Trace, who hadn’t been in the gym since its win over Hillsboro on Saturday, turned it around in the second quarter, outscoring the Shermans 13-7 to take a four-point lead into the half, 21-17.
The second half started off slow with a combined eight points in the third quarter, but the Panthers held a 26-20 lead. Closing out the third and through the start of the fourth quarter, Unioto went on a 10-0 run and was able to get as closer as three points until Panther senior Magarah Bloom took over. During a two-minute span, Bloom scored nine-straight points and had multiple steals to put the Panthers back up by double digits and seal the Sectional Championship.
Bloom finished with 11 points and was named the “Player of the Game”. The Panthers were led in scoring by sophomore guard Hillary Jacobs’ 12 points. Unioto was led in scoring by junior Avery Miller’s 10 points. Miller was the only Sherman in double figures.
Unioto finished the season (8-12), while the Panthers (15-5) move on to the District Semis next Tuesday against the Southeast District's #1 seed Sheridan, who defeated Washington Court House, 59-13.