Presented by Chillicothe VAMC
Zane Trace earned a 48-31 victory at Piketon Friday night, in typical Pioneers fashion.
Patient… methodical… look for the open shot… take it… get back and defend.
It’s the pattern Gary Kellough’s teams have had success with for many years. The win kept Zane Trace atop the Scioto Valley Conference Boys Basketball standings at 8-2, a half game ahead of Paint Valley.
“Consistency’s been our thing the last month” said Kellough. “When we’re consistent, we have good guard play and stuff, we’ve been making good runs. In our last three games, we’ve given up under 40 (points) and the defense end right now is what’s igniting our offense.”
The two clubs traded baskets in the first period with a draw at 12-12. Then the Pioneers put together a 9-0 run to go ahead 21-12. They would maintain at least a six-point edge until the Redstreaks rallied to cut the deficit to 27-23 at the half.
In the middle two quarters, Zane Trace outscored the Streaks 29-17 and held Piketon to just eight second half points.
Piketon’s Kyle Miller credited the Pioneers defense for keeping his team in check in the second half.
“They did a great job of contesting everything… bumping us off our cuts, which is something we’ve prided ourselves on during this good stretch of play” said Miller. “And they hit shots. They executed. They deserve the credit.”
Xzander Ream led all scorers with 18-points while the Pioneers inside trio of Kyle Stonerock (10 pts.), Nalin Robinson (9 pts.) and Donavin Baker (7 pts.) combined for 26-points.
Piketon had hopes of keeping pace with the SVC leaders, but suffered a setback dropping their conference record to 7-4 and 9-8 overall. They’ll travel to Paint Valley Saturday night. The Bearcats are 7-2/9-8 after a 71-60 win at Westfall Friday.
Meanwhile, Zane Trace keeps chugging along with an 11-5 mark overall and the 8-2 record in SVC action, They’ll head to Frankfort for a meeting with Adena Saturday. The Warriors fell short to Unioto 71-68 in overtime.
The other SVC game saw Southeastern pick up a 62-48 win at Huntington.
Box Score: Zane Trace (48); Xzander Ream, 18; Kyle Stonerock, 10; Nalin Robinson, 9; Donavin Naker, 7; Ben Nichols, 2 and Carter Hill, 2. Piketon (31); Tra Swayne, 13; Levi Gullion, 8; Declan Davis, 4; Kydan Potts, 3; Garrett Legg, 3.
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