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Tigers lose to Miami Trace

The Highland County Press - Staff Photo - Create Article
McClain senior Andrew Potts is shown during Friday's game vs. Miami Trace. (HCP Photos/Jim Jones)
By
Jim Jones, The Highland County Press

It was a packed house that filled the McClain gymnasium Friday night to watch the McClain Tigers and Miami Trace Panthers battle on the hardwood, and after four quarters of action, it was the Panthers who came out on top with a convincing 66-46 victory.

The win evened the Miami Trace record to 2-2 on the season (2-0 in the Frontier Athletic Conference), while McClain saw their overall record fall to 1-2 (0-2). Like in the first two games of the season, the Tigers played well in the opening quarter on both ends of the floor, and the score was deadlocked 14-14 after one.

It was a fast-paced and action-packed period that saw McClain lead for the biggest part of it, with senior Andrew Potts scoring six points to lead the Tigers.

But like in Tuesday’s game against Jackson, the third and fourth quarters saw McClain really struggle to score points, while their opponent, this time Miami Trace, put up big offensive numbers on the scoreboard.  

Another factor in the Panthers surging ahead was that McClain had no answer for 6-7 sophomore Adam Guthrie, who was almost unstoppable over those two periods. Miami Trace outscored McClain 14-7 in the second quarter with Guthrie accounting for 10 of those points, all coming from inside the paint, to give the Panthers a 28-21 halftime lead.

The third frame was an even bigger struggle for the Tigers on both ends of the floor, as Miami Trace basically put the game out of reach by outscoring McClain 23-7 and taking a 51-28 advantage. The Tigers did manage to win the fourth quarter, 16-15, but the damage had already been done in the two previous quarters.

Guthrie picked up his third foul early in the third period and sat out most of the second half but still managed to be the game’s leading scorer with 20 points.

Potts, who was the game’s leading scorer in the first half, was held scoreless in the second but junior Micah Parks ended up with a team-high 12 points for McClain with nine coming in the second half.

McClain (1-2) travels to Chillicothe next Tuesday, Dec. 12 to battle the Cavaliers.

Individual scoring for McClain: Micah Parks 12, Andrew Potts 11, Jordan Bell 6, Owen Sykes 6, Jayden Allison 6, Zane Adams 3 and Seth Weller 2.  3-pt field goals Bell 2, Potts 1. The Tigers were 14-of-22 from the foul line for 64 percent.

Miami Trace was led by Guthrie’s game-high 20 points, followed by Grant Guess, who chipped in with 11. The Panthers made 18-of-22 free-throws for 77 percent.