Chillicothe inches past Miami Trace to continue undefeated streak
CHILLICOTHE − As the final buzzer blared, Chillicothe players watched as a last-second field goal attempt by Miami Trace circled the rim and plummeted to the floor.
Roars erupted from fans in the bleachers as the Cavaliers stormed toward their bench in celebration. In spite of a nine-second sequence where the Panthers threw up two shots in a last-ditch effort to force overtime, the Cavaliers held on. By the skin of their teeth, they escaped with their fifth win in as many games after stalling out the Panthers 55-53 at Chillicothe High School on Saturday night.
Chillicothe coach Anthony Gordon didn’t relax until the ball hit the hardwood. His stomach had been in knots all day. Miami Trace, while not riding an undefeated streak like Chillicothe, was still third in the conference standings. If there was a chance that Chillicothe’s hot start be extinguished, he knew it might come Saturday.
“(My stomach) was lurching before the game,” Gordon said. “I knew we were going to get Miami Trace’s best. We always do. I just knew it was going to be that kind of ballgame.”
Saturday might’ve ended on a different note. Chillicothe had only built up its two-point lead after Nyanna Hatfield buried a free throw with nine seconds left on the clock. A seven-point margin − with which Chillicothe had entered the half − was the widest gap it mustered after halftime. Miami Trace hounded Chillicothe for 16 minutes and outscored it 27-22 in the second half.
But the Panthers’ final two field goal attempts, including the ill-fated shot at the buzzer, fell flat. Hatfield’s free throw capped off a night in which the Cavaliers’ relied on their performance from the free throw line. Their lead came about because of it. 11 of their 15 points in the first quarter alone were scored off from the free throw line.
The Cavaliers have hammered away at their free throw performance as of late. Gordon wasn’t satisfied with recent results from the line and made it a focus during the week of practice leading up to Saturday.
It was bitter work, but the results showed.
“We knew we needed to lock in,” Jacey Harding said. “If we missed a free throw, just get back on defense and not let them shoot an easy 3-pointer to get up by one point. Not even let them shoot and have the game tied. Being at the free throw line is a lot of pressure, but you’ve just got to take your time and knock it down.”
Harding ended the night with 17 points, 10 rebounds and a steal, and she was one of two Cavaliers to score in double figures. The senior never made more than two field goals in any quarter, but she paced her shooting out and kept the Cavaliers afloat.
She wasn’t alone. Eight different Cavaliers scored throughout the game. Hatfield picked up eight points on Saturday, and Avery Erslan shouldered much of the offensive burden in the second quarter. Erslan scored eight points in the second quarter alone, and almost half of the Cavaliers’ points in that span came from her. The senior punched out of the game with 16 points and three rebounds to her name.
“We expect it from her, it’s getting her to expect it from herself,” Gordon said. “She’s a double-digit kid. She’s going to score double-digits every time out as long as she stays assertive on the defensive end and on the rebounding.”
The Cavaliers are a breed apart from what Gordon saw last season. The winning streak doesn’t hurt that perspective, but he believes the change has come at a fundamental level. Maturity is the most prominent takeaway. The Cavaliers are different this season. They’re older, play with swagger and have been battle-tested enough to outlast their toughest opponents early in the season.
Had the Cavaliers from last season played on Saturday, the winning streak would’ve ended right then and there.
But Chillicothe held on long enough to keep itself and its winning streak alive.
“What I saw as a team last year who would have lost that game,” Gordon said. “I saw maturity. I saw a team that was resilient. They came in and out of every huddle with confidence. That’s something we didn’t do last year and we lost a lot of close games. This year we’ve played in two really, really close, nail-biting games and been able to prevail. It’s just a difference in maturity.”
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