Derrick Webb, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CHILLICOTHE — Midway through Wednesday’s first quarter, three Chillicothe basketball legends stood at center court.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
On one side was Abby Bunstine, on the other was Osh Brown, and in the middle was the newest member of the school’s 1,000 point club — Jacey Harding.
Harding joined that group with a jumper at the 3:16 mark in the first quarter of a 69-60 win over Hillsboro in Frontier Athletic Conference play. The senior scored a game-high 20 points, leading the Cavaliers to their fourth win in as many tries this season.
“Jacey has absolutely helped us change the culture here,” Chillicothe coach Anthony Gordon said. “She’s the kid you want leading your program. She’s good to the younger kids, brings great energy to practice and can flat out score the basketball. It’s nice to see her get to this milestone. The fact that her teammates were so eager and happy for her says a lot about her.”
While Harding spearheaded Wednesday’s charge, she had an abundance of help as well. Eight different Cavaliers graced the scoring sheet and six different players had five points or more.
That was a needed commodity as a youth-filled Hillsboro roster packed a punch on the offensive end.
“I thought, offensively, we were great. We probably left a few points out there by missing some shots close to the basket but we ran our stuff pretty effectively,” Gordon said. “Defensively, I felt there were a few lapses. We were out of position a few times, which resulted in us sending [Hillsboro] to the free throw line. But that’s something that should be easy to fix.”
Tale of the tape
Hillsboro’s Blake Herdman gave the Indians (2-5, 0-3 FAC) a 2-0 lead with a pair of free throws but Chillicothe’s Avery Erslan and Nyanna Hatfield quickly answered, putting the Cavaliers ahead 4-2 — and Chillicothe (4-0, 3-0 FAC) never trailed again.
After Hillsboro’s Addy Miles tied the score at 6-6 with 4:14 to go in the first quarter, Harding made it an 8-6 tally with her 999th and 1,000th career points. That was the start of a 6-0 run to give the Cavaliers a 12-8 lead with 2:23 to play.
Harding would score five more before the quarter’s clock ran out, giving her team a 17-12 lead heading into the second.
PHOTOS: Images from Chillicothe’s win over Hillsboro
Rylie Scott cut the deficit to 17-14 with a bucket at the 6:56 mark in the second before Erslan and Harding pushed the edge to seven at 25-18 with 3:58 left in the first half. Herdman would later make it a 27-24 game before Harding and Huggins made it 31-24.
Chillicothe’s Miranda McCloy then closed out the half with a 3, handing the Cavaliers a 34-24 edge at the break.
“I’m super pumped about Paige. She hasn’t played a game on this floor since tearing her ACL. This was her first game back,” Gordon said. “We had a nice environment, and I’m sure she was nervous. But she settled right in and gave us a huge senior contribution.”
In the third, the Cavaliers began to create separation.
Huggins scored to begin the second half before Kiera Archer joined the party with back-to-back 3s, extending the lead to 44-27. Harding, Erslan and Hatfield would all score before the quarter ended, Erslan doing so twice, to make it a 56-40 lead after three.
“Avery is playing at another level right now,” Gordon said of Erslan. “She’s playing great on both ends and she’s probably the biggest reason, aside from Jacey putting the ball in the basket, why we’re 4-0.”
In the fourth, Hillsboro continued to chug along, chipping away at the deficit. Between Herdman, Kobie Miles, Peighton Bledsoe and Kyra Boyd, the Indians were able to outscore the Cavaliers by a 20-13 margin.
But the deficit was too large to overcome as Chillicothe put away a fourth consecutive victory.
“This team, on their own, came up with the mantra of ‘unfinished business’ and we have that on our warm-ups,” Gordon said. “That comes back to last year. We were in a really good position to win the FAC title. We lost Paige to an ACL injury and Emma Barnes to a high ankle sprain. We ended up finishing second in the league, so it’s unfinished business for us. That’s the attitude. This team has bought into that and I feel like the sky’s the limit for us.”
Stat book
Harding added 11 points and four assists to her 20 points while Erslan ended the night with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Huggins also chipped in with 11 points, eight boards and three dimes while Hatfield added eight points.
The Indians were led by Herdman, who logged a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds while Bledsoe had 11 points, five rebounds and two assists. Addy Miles finished the evening with 10 points, Scott added nine points, six rebounds and four assists, and Kobie Miles ended with seven points and eight rebounds.
What’s on tap
While Hillsboro looks to get back on track on Saturday against Whiteoak at Hoosier Gym in Knightstown, Indiana, Chillicothe is back in action the same day, hosting Miami Trace in a pivotal FAC matchup.
“We have got to get better defensively,” Gordon said. “We’ll sharpen up some things on the offensive end but defensively, we have to get better.”
BOX SCORE
Hillsboro: 12-12-16-20 — 60
Chillicothe: 17-17-22-13 — 69
Hillsboro: 22-61 FG, 12-25 FT, 4-12 3pt., 40 rebounds (Herdman 12), 22 turnovers, 12 assists (Scott 4). Scoring: Herdman 13, Bledsoe 11, A. Miles 10, Scott 9, Boyd 8, K. Miles 7, Fraley 2.
Chillicothe: 28-60 FG, 10-19 FT, 3-10 3pt., 36 rebounds (Harding 11), 14 turnovers, 13 assists (Harding 4, Erslan 4). Scoring: Harding 20, Erslan 14, Huggins 11, Hatfield 8, Archer 6, McCloy 5, Cox 4, Allen 1.
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