John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — In its third game in five nights, Circleville rode a white-hot start to continue the winning ways on Wednesday night.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Behind the sister duo of Maddie Blakeman and Morgan Blakeman, who combined for 22 of the team’s 39 points, the Tigers took home a 39-27 victory to pick up their 13th win.
After back-to-back baskets from Morgan Blakeman and Faith Yancey to start the game, Morgan Blakeman buried a wing 3 to force a Panther timeout less than two minutes into the game.
“I honestly never shoot well in warm-ups so I never know how the game is going to go,” Morgan Blakeman said. “I’m literally probably the streakiest shooter ever. So I shoot a couple and if they come off my hand right, I keep shooting. But I know when to stop, too. I just try to stay consistent.”
After grabbing that 7-0 lead, the Tigers (13-3) never looked back, building their lead to as much as 14 points in a decisive victory that could have district seeding implications.
The Panthers (11-7) battled back throughout the night, largely due to an outstanding performance from Hillery Jacobs.
The senior scored at all three levels for the Panthers, rebounded the ball well and even had a trio of blocks to help on the defensive end.
Jacobs, along with junior Jessee Stewart, provided nearly all the offense for Miami Trace on a night where the Tigers’ defense played at an elite level — an effort led by Yancey and Maddux Bigam.
“[Yancey] gives one-hundred percent and she’s always going to go hard,” Maddie Blakeman said. “She’s always getting open on cuts and looking to the basket to score on fastbreaks. She puts points on the board.”
BY THE NUMBERS
Circleville shot only 40.5% from the field, but held Miami Trace to a lowly 23.1% from both the field and from 3-point range. The Panthers did shoot a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line, but could not get there enough to cause a dent in the scoreboard. The Panthers outrebounded Circleville (24-23), but also had 19 turnovers in the loss. Circleville finished the contest with 15 turnovers, but luckily for the Tigers, the majority of those came when the game was out of hand. Circleville had 11 assists on 17 made shots, with Morgan Blakeman passing out a game-high four helpers.
“It’s really nice to have a girl that’s 5-foot-11, pushing 6-foot, who can defend,” Morgan Blakeman said of Bigam. “She can guard any girl, on the perimeter or on the post.”
While Morgan Blakeman got things going early for the Tigers, it was Maddie who ended up leading the Panthers in scoring. Maddie, a freshman, didn’t have her shot going early, but she used her size advantage to get to the basket for some easy scores.
“I knew I hadn’t been shooting the best so I made my way to the basket,” Maddie Blakeman said. “I’m pretty good at that, so my teammates set screens for me and made it easier for me to score that way.”
Then, in the second half, it was Gabby McConnell who hit the dagger 3 for Circleville.
The Panthers had clawed their way back into the game after a scoring flurry from Jacobs cut a 10-point halftime lead down to as close as 25-21. But McConnell took and made her first triple of the game from the corner, before Maddie Blakeman hit another on the following possession.
It was all but over from there.
“Gabby plays a lot of the middle of our 2-3 [zone defense] that we’ve been playing a lot lately,” Morgan Blakeman said. “I think she is very good at that. She’s one of our bigger bodies, so she’s a great defender. Then, she and Maddie bring the ball up, so I never worry if we’re not going to get the ball across [midcourt].”
Miami Trace turned the defensive pressure up in the final quarter, but couldn’t cut into Circleville’s lead, despite forcing eight fourth quarter turnovers.
Once the Tigers began to break the pressure, McConnell and the Blakeman sisters dribbled out the clock for the team’s eighth straight victory.
Circleville is back in action on Friday, traveling to Amanda-Clearcreek, while the Panthers try to get back in the win column on Wednesday, hosting Chillicothe.
“This was big,” Maddie Blakeman said. “But we want to keep winning and keep this streak going. We’re trying to get the best [tournament] seed we can.”
BOX SCORE
Circleville: 13-9-11-6 — 39
Miami Trace: 5-7-9-6 — 27
Circleville scoring: Ma. Blakeman 12, Mo. Blakeman 10, Yancey 8, McConnell 7, Bigam 2.
Miami Trace scoring: Jacobs 16, Stewart 7, Pfeifer 2, McCoy 2.
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